Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

I got into Reno at 11:30 p.m., east coast time, so I was too killed to blog last night and then this morning it was straight to the airport and press center to get set up. About noon everything was finished and I had a few minute to walk around the tarmac. Now to make great images you need, a great subject, (no problem there), great light, (real problem there), and the right tools to work with, (did this stuff with the new P7100 – so no sweat), lastly you have to know how to approach that great subject, (you can be the judge of that?).

So here is the result of my walk around at noon.

O.K., the results may or may not be all that hot, but at least we know you can shoot under not so great light, and if you’re careful you can at least do passable stuff. From top to bottom; just happened to see the open toolbox and the wrenches and that shot alone made the walk around worthwhile. The next plane down is the Hawker Sea Fury, September Fury, owned and flown by Robert “Hoot” Gibson. The Sea Fury was a British WWII vintage fighter that came out too late to see much action in WWII, however got heavy use in he Korean conflict, having shot down a jet.
The next wonderful nose art is on Rod Lewis’ F7F Tiger Cat, this plane was formerly called the
“Big Boss Man” this translates to the “Boss Lady”.

Midnight Express is one of four T-6 Texans owned by Dennis Buehn. One of the favorites at the Races is the “Rare Bear” owned by Lewis Racing. The Rare Bear is a F8F Bearcat. Below that shot is a kiddy peddle version of the Rare Bear. Next is another Dennis Buehn T-6 Texan named Midnight Miss III, which I’ve had the great pleasure of flying in with Dennis a couple of years ago.

A stop for a cold pop led to the next attempt at art. I think the ice cold Pepsi was better than my shot. My next shot was inspired by an article by fellow tech rep Sam Garcia. Sam loves to shoot pavement and capture the textures and patterns. In his article on the Nikon website link below he showed a shot that caused me to stop in my tracks when I looked down while walking an saw this
drain grate. Like I’ve said many times, it doesn’t take much to entertain me. Tami Buehn’s, Dennis’
bride’s T-6 Texan, Midnight Rendezvous. Finally Wayne Cartwright’s T-6 Texan, Six Shooter 44.

When shooting under high contrast light, try to crop tight, and eliminate distractions that will really stand out, then go for rich colors that will benefit from the strong light. Also work hard at angles that eliminate as many hot reflections as possible.

In the morning I will be out for a sunrise and some, hopefully, great light. We will see the difference in tomorrows blog entry.

God bless,

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: All images made with the Nikon Coolpix P7100.

Black and White Conversion using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.0.

It is my understanding that my Close-up Class – Part 1 will go live on Kelby Training this week. In celebration I shot my pepper shaker in the kitchen this morning. When your sixty five this is what
amounts to a celebration. This Sunday I’m celebrating something far more meaningful, my Lord is
alive, and I have friends like you guys and gals. I’m still very touched by your outpouring of concern this last week, and I won’t forget it.

I will be flying out to Reno for the annual air races on Monday afternoon. For those of you that like airplanes this will be a good week for you, for the rest of you I will try to find other ways to show how to shoot at an event devoted to aviation. This is one of my favorite weeks of the year, I love the shooters I see out there, and you know how much I love airplanes. This will be my 6th trip to the races and I am going to challenge myself to find some new ways to approach a, now familiar subject.

Watch for this week for
the release of my new
class, I’m excited to
see how it turned out
myself, you never know
how it looks since your
on the lens end of the
video camera.

Stayed tuned and pray
that God will give me
some interesting missions
out in Reno. I’m always
excited about what He
will do when we tell Him we are ready to serve Him.

the pilgrim

Next entry, Tuesday of this week.

* Nikon D7000 – 85mm Micro Nikkor DX f 3.5 Top shot 3 exposure HDR in Photomatix Pro

As I mentioned in Thursday’s blog entry I’m helping a friend’s widow sell his gear. He has several items that I think are well worth considering for anyone that is in the market for items like these,
the price is reasonable for her and a good deal for interested parties, win – win. Above is a rare classic from Nikon, a 50-300 ED f 4.5 lens, this lens is big and heavy but really sharp and a classic, they are asking $650. but would entertain an offer. Below is a real steal, this is the Nikkor
600mm IF-ED f4 lens in absolute mint condition with a Arca Swiss plate and case. The current auto focus version of this lens goes for almost $12,000. They are asking $2,999. for this manual focus version. Once again I would entertain and offer for them. This is one of the sharpest long lenses Nikon has ever made! I just bought the little brother to it, the 400 f 3.5 manual focus and love it.

I’ve pictured below some of the other items they have for sale, I will say again everything I’ve seen
from the estate has been pristine, Tom really took great care of his gear. If anyone is interested in any of these items contact me by email with offers. billfortney@earthlink.net
The price on each item is their asking price.

If you have any interest in
any of these items shoot me an
email with your offer and
shipping address, if they accept
it I will arrange for shipment to you and let you know where to send a check. This is one of the big advantages of shooting Nikon (sorry slipping into tech rep mode), because we never changed out F mount all these lenses and accessories still work on all our pro and semi pro SLRs. In a future
entry I’m going to go old school and show what great work can still be done with the older manual lenses, and yes I picked up several items myself. These are good offers and they would, as I said,
accept offers.

Have a great weekend and thanks again for your prayers.

the pilgrim

I don’t deserve the kind of friends and family that I have, but yet I have them and you, it must be grace. Grace is unmerited favor, I sure have gotten a lot of that. I wanted to let you know that you are also mighty prayer warriors as well. Got a call from my wife an hour ago, she said my cardiologist has called with yesterday test results. Her simple answer was, “you passed.” Apparently they could find nothing to be concerned about, except my looks, and that is far more complicated medical issue to fix. No, the scans and test revealed no significant blockage, and a good strong, albeit old heart. So thank you so much for your prayers, only God knows what kind of shape I was in before the praying started. Suffice to say, I’m indebted for your kindness.

As a tech rep I get constant calls and emails from customers seeking help with repairs. My advice is always the same, send it to a good repair facility, that stocks the necessary parts to get the camera or lens back into like new condition. Fixing broken people is not the same. It seams that some of the reasons we don’t function the way we should is a lack of the right parts. It has been said, and I believe it’s true, that man has a big empty space in side, it’s the shape of God. Nothing else will fill it and nothing else will help us to perform and live as we should. We can deny that we have the hole, but that doesn’t make it go away. We can try to fill it with material possessions, but they will never be enough to fill the hole. We can medicate ourselves, and fill it with alcohol, but that won’t fill it either. Maybe the most dangerous thing we an do is try to do it all ourselves, fill that hole with self, that certainly doesn’t work, trust me on this one, I know.

No, we all need God in our lives, we need His love, no one loves us more. We need His forgiveness, He forgives when no one else will. We need His strength, we aren’t strong enough to face this life alone. We need His fellowship, no one wants to be our friend as much as He does. We need to believe in Him and worship Him. What out there is more worthy of our love and devotion than He is? We need to fill that God shaped hole with God.

I’m glad to mark one more thing off my list, that might have taken me away from this life, but I’m not thrilled to keep living, just to keep being alive. I’m glad because I’ve been given a few more days, weeks, months, or years, to live for Him. I was never alone, and I haven’t been for along time.

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: D7000 and 24-120 AF-S VR. Shot in Kanab, UT, standing with some of my best shooting buddies.