Monthly Archives: July 2011

Yesterday I had lunch with Jim Begley, and he shared RC Concepcion’s new book with me which has a piece on his work featured in it. It brought to mind just how fortunate I am to count such wonderful people as friends.

First, RC, wow what a talented man and what a great warm human being. I never spend time with RC that I don’t think how fortunate NAPP is to have him as part of the team. He is one of the most giving, considerate gentlemen that I know. In spite of his enormous talent, he is so unaffected by it.
RC is a real joy to spend time with. By-the-way, his newest book, The HDR Book, is a must have if you are into or thinking about getting into HDR. It is, like all his books, easy to read, and filled with great information. Congratulations RC, well done my friend.

Second, Jim Begley. Ever since we met a few years ago at a church photo class I was doing, we have become great friends. He and Chuck Summers, (coming up next), have become spiritual mentors, and wonderful photography buddies. Jim has an incredible eye and has worked hard to become a technical master of his craft. Jim’s HDR work takes a back seat to no ones. As hard as i’ve tried to capture the feeling in Jim’s work, I’m still miles away, and know I will never catch up, as I see his talent continuing to grow exponentially. More than all of that, Jim is a real friend, a man I admire and a person I know I can count on. Speaking of people you can count on…….

Third, and certainly not last is Chuck Summers. Chuck’s and my friendship goes way back. We met many years ago in the early GAPW (Great American Photography Weekend) years. Chuck has been a steady, devoted friend, who has prayed me through more circumstance than you can imagine. Fellowship with Chuck has been a real highlight of my life. Chuck is an immensely talented shooter and a gifted writer. Chuck is a pastor and I’m honored to be part of his flock.
I highly recommend that you visit his blog; http://www.seeingcreation.com it will greatly bless you.
He does Seeing Creation with another great friend Rob Sheppard.

One of God’s greatest gifts to us are friends. I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been to get to work and play with such great people as Scott Diussa, Bill Pekala, Mark Kettenhofen, and the rest of the NPS team. To hold such life long friends as Don Nelson, my brother Homer Fortney, Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, Charles Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Jack Graham, and countless others. The joy of new friends like; Jim Haverstock, Snake Barrett, Chuck Barnes, Larry Williams, Susan Scharenburg, Raymond Jabola, Carl Turner, Ron Pinkenburg, Tim Isaacson, and countless others that make me smile when I think of them. I know I’m leaving names out, please forgive me, you know I love you dearly.

I can’t make a list without saying my best friend, and the love of my life is Sherelene. No man ever had a better friend or partner.

God has richly blessed me with wonderful people to share this great life with. Thanks to all of
you for allowing me to be your friend…….

Most of all, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Blessings,

the pilgrim

Photo Note: RC’s book photographed with a D7000 and 24-120 lens.

I’m working on my next Kelby Training class entitled, “Learning to See Photographically”. This is the class i’ve always wanted to build and teach. I have been inspired by the work of many photographers, and one great book, Developing the Creative Edge in Photography, by Bert Eifer.
This book, my copy is filled with highlights and written notes, was a major factor in helping me organize my plan to attempt to become a really good photographer. I’ve taken information from that book, and added some form books by Freeman Patterson, and Tony Sweet to try and construct an outline to base this new class on.

I think the biggest problem I’ve had as a photographer is over-complicating everything. I think it takes age and experience to sort out those issues, and I’ve got plenty of both. My desire is to pass on my sheer enthusiasm and excitement about photography to those I get the chance to share with.
One of the greatest discoveries for me was actually forced on me. Working for Nikon as a tech rep we get a big shipment of new Coolpix cameras a couple of times a year. In the early years with Nikon I would open one or two and try it and put it back in the box frustrated and never use it again. The problem was that early on the shutter lag made it impossible to capture an exact moment and the over all quality of the images fell short of my more familiar DSLRs. Over the years very steady improvements have been made and last year when the P7000 came out it turned out to me the camera I had been waiting for. I found it to operate almost as fluidly as my big Single Lens Reflexes and it made stunningly beautiful images. Then I tried the P300, much the same camera in a smaller package and the S9100 once again very similar but with a super long range zoom reaching all the way out to 450 mm.

I love all these little guys but the P300 has become my take everywhere camera, let me explain why and what a small pocket camera can do for you. Before I get complaints form friends that bought a P7000 on the basis of my rave reviews, I still use it and love it and still have a P7000
of my own, but the P300 works better for me for several reasons which I will explain shortly.

When do I use a small pocket size camera? All the time! I carry a P300 almost everywhere I go because it is truly very small and easy to have with you. Any camera that you do not have with you can’t make images. The P300 is small enough to actually fit in your breast pocket or on a very small holster on your belt.

Why the P300 over the P7000? I love them both, but the P300 has a maximum aperture of f 1.8 which is huge when you want to shoot in low light without flash, which describes a lot of what I shoot with it. It also has a zoom range of 24 mm (yes I said 24 mm) to 100 mm. I would love a little more on the long end, but having 24 mm wide angle makes up for it. If I really wanted more
focal length on the long end I would take the S9100 which goes out to 450 mm!!!!! it also goes to 25 mm very nearly a 24 mm. It is slightly larger than the P300 but not much more so.

What is the advantage of the smaller Coolpix cameras? 1. You always have it with you, so no missed shots. 2. It does not intimidate people you want to make a photograph of. I’m finding most people don’t care it all if you “snap” and image with your “little” camera. Pull out a cinder block size camera and watch how people react. Using the LCD panel on the back ( sure which they tilted ), it’s not hard to shoot way over your head or low to the ground, and you will get shots you would miss with a big DSLR.

What features do you like about them? I love the scanning Panno feature, just set it for easy panorama and shoot an image (either 180 or 360 degrees) and the camera stitches it together and does a fantastic job. All three cameras shoot Hi Definition Video, the P300 and S9100 shoot 1080p with stereo sound recording and the video looks fantastic. The 720p from the looks very good too. The P7000 is ruggedly made and the 28 mm – 200 mm zoom range is nearly perfect, would be perfect if it slipped back to 24 mm. The lens though is super sharp with ED glass.

Which to choose??????? I use the P300 as my everyday always have it with me camera. I use the P7000 when I want to do more precise work and need the extra reach. I would also use the S9100 but I can’t get it out of Sherelene’s purse without her noticing……..

The bottom line is this, photography is about capturing those special moments and those things that really excite us. If you don’t have a camera with you, you can’t make the photograph. Now that the Coolpix cameras have, come of age, I can tackle almost any shot and know I can get a very usable image, maybe even a great one! The thing I love the most is the images below, would never have been captured if I hadn’t had one of my little buddies with me.

Happy shooting, and God bless,

the pilgrim

My Coolpix Gallery

I slipped it out of her purse!

Today, in Kentucky an earthquake of over 10.0 on the Richter Scale happened in Georgetown, the crack ran all the way from Kentucky to Moab, Utah. The Pilgrim found another 4.85 pickle burger! Here is the back story, Scott Diussa stopped off for late night beer at the Ruby Tuesdays next to our hotel, in friendly conversation some folks at the bar he was told about a great place in Georgetown to get a burger. He asked all the right questions, about how they prepared them, and they gave him all the right answers. The man and woman he was speaking with were very familiar with the place, in fact the young lady was Sheri Gruchow who helps run Fava’s. Fava’s is one of the oldest continuously run family restaurants in America. This great place started serving in 1910. The latest owners are Jeni & Howard Gruchow, and they are doing any previous owners proud. Everyone at our table, Berrie Smith, Scott Diussa, and myself, all had great meals.

This 1/2 pound monster was pre-
pared to perfection, medium,
juicy, toasted bun, and real
mayonaise, and Homemade
chips too….. So now we have a
East Coast and a West Coast
Champion! I would walk a
country mile for either Fava’s or
Milt’s burgers. They are slightly
different, but both great. If any
of the other folks that purport to
make great burgers took a lesson
form these guys, the world would
have a lot more great Cheese-
burgers……..

Photo by Berrie Smith

A great burger is always a joy, but
when the people that run the place is
are as great as the Gruchows and
B.C. at Milt’s you enjoy the meal all
the more.

The original restaurant had a bar with
old time red top stools. When they
took it out a friend of the restaurant
offered to paint the scene at the top
of the page. It just makes the place
along with and extensive collection of Mickey Mouse memorabilia.

I would like to thank Jeni, Howard and Sheri for their commitment to running such a great restaurant. Equally, I always love dropping by Milt’s Stop and Eat in Moab, Utah to visit with B.C. My hat goes off to all of you for doing such a great job for your customers.

It’s just to much fun, being the pilgrim, thank you Lord, it is a great life………………….
And I’m home tomorrow!

the pilgrim

*Photo Notes: All images
with the Coolpix P300

NASCAR is great place for color for color sake, check out some of these paint jobs. If it ever clears up I’ll try to get some cars actually moving…. This is the a great thing to do if you can’t be at home on the lake with your sweetheart. Bless you guys, thanks for stopping by….. It’s great to know your out there…….

the pilgrim

The last shot dedicated to my great friend Jim Begley, shot hand held, three frames with D3s, learned that
from him!!!!!!!!! HDR, reduced saturation, Photomatix Pro, Painterly.

Couldn’t resist, funny local sign…..

*Photo Note: D3s, 24-120 AFs VR and Coolpix P300.