I get no respect, everyone thinks I don’t work hard, so here is the proof, I do.  On assignment working on a holiday, St Patrick’s Day, on a Sunday even.  I put in three hard hours with only a good breeze, a pink cooler full of ice (hey, I’m secure enough in my manhood to have a pink cooler!!), and a reasonably comfortable chair, but hey it’s the weekend, wonder what my workmates are doing, bet their taking the day off!!!!  No respect, I tell you, no respect.  So what did I get accomplished in my grueling 3 afternoon hours???  Here is some of the shooting I did from the gazebo with some of the other participants in the Topix 2013 Event.

 

 

I did get a chance to wring out the new 80-400 some today.  In a word, drop dead spectacular, let me put it another way, I will buy one in a couple of months when I hang it up at Nikon!!!! For me, I don’t need the speed, or cost, of a 200-400, and I think this lens is at least as sharp!!!  The VR is just beyond belief, I got some really sharp images at 600mm (on a DX camera it’s a 120 to 600 f 4.5-5.6!!!!)  With the new VR I was able to get tack sharp images at 600mm at a 1/125th of a second!!!!  Look at the example below, first shot is full frame, 600mm, hand held, 1/125th of a second, second shot is a 100% crop out of the first, just sick!!!!

 

 

If I wasn’t working so hard, I would be having a great time!!!!

 

Smiling through this whole thing…..

 

the pilgrim

Well, after a full day on airplanes, Sherelene and i got into St. Maarten!  It turns out a cruise ship got stranded at the Island when it lost propulsion and all 4,000 passengers had to be flown to Miami, so the sky was filled with jets waiting their turn to land, we circled for almost an hour.   All is well that ends well and I got in in time to meet with my contact for the event Robby, who kindly waited for us at the airport and got us directed to our hotel.  After meeting with Robby and getting a run down on the event, we unpacked and went our for sunset walk and dinner.

 

Tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s Day and my grandson Elijah’s birthday, he turns eight!!!  Happy Birthday Elijah, they even celebrate your birthday in Caribbean!!  I spent the rest of my first evening looking across the table at the woman of my dreams, and the love of my life!  Before the work begins tomorrow, it was great to have a nice dinner with her enjoying a nice Island breeze!

 

Blessed beyond measure,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…..and the Chicken Cordon Bleu…..and you thought all I liked was Cheeseburgers!!!

I’m leaving early tomorrow for my wildest Nikon assignment ever, shooting landing airlines on St. Maarten Island in the Caribbean!  You’ve probably seen these videos on You-tube, as commercial jets land right over the beach on this  Dutch/French Island.  Over 100 international photographers will gather this week to shoot these images and I will be there for Nikon to join in the fun!!  The sponsors of the event are a local dealer, Boolchands,  and they have provided us a hotel location where we can shoot down from a balcony onto the runway as well as shooting from the beach illustrated here.  I’m planning numerous shots with super wide angle lenses, fisheyes, and telelphotos shooting as the planes approach.  I look forward to posting images all this coming week.  Should be great fun meeting and working with shooters from all over the world on this project!

 

I just, meaning ten minutes ago, got a box with the new D7100 and the 80-400 inside!!!!  These will be put to great use shooting the planes!  I am planning on buying both these things from Nikon when I retire June 3oth!!!   This will be a great test to be sure I want to add them to my arsenal!  Life is just too much fun!!!!!!

 

 

These images were pulled from the picture section of Google.  Can;t wait to try and make some of my own.   More to come soon!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

After the WPPI show was finished today I went someplace I’ve wanted to go to for a long time, the Neon Graveyard!  This is a living history museum of Las Vegas past.  When I was college age, my brother Homer and I accompanied our grandparents on a trip through out the west, with a stop in Las Vegas.  Back then (about 45 years ago), Most of Las Vegas was down on Freemont Street and most of these signs were hanging!!!!  OIt was nostalgic to walk through this graveyard of neon sign that I and Homer once saw in use!  Wow, how time flies when you’re having fun!

 

Enjoy;

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim