I Want One – File Under Lit’l Boy
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In The Field
The San Joaquin Kit Fox, among the first critters to be listed as endangered back in the Nixon years. I’ve not been working with it that long, I’m only going in the my 24th year of photographing this very charismatic species. This photo is a couple of years old and is a collared animal that lived just west of Bakersfield, CA where I just arrived. I got the call that pups were out so I raced down tonight to be in place in the AM. When I first started working with the SJKF, a senator said their being listed as endangered would keep Bakersfield from growing. The lodge where I am right now typing was a field where we watched the SJKF 24yrs ago and if you look at Bakersfield, it’s doing anything but not growing. In fact, all of my original locations for kit fox are now paved or cemented over. So the kit fox has “adapted” to become an urban critter (photographed them inside a new Wal Mart two years back). I’m again working with a favorite biologists, Brian who I’ve known almost since the beginning of my career and is the world authority on foxes, wolves and the like. So, blogging might be on the light side the rest of the week since kit fox do their thing anytime of the day and with pups, are quite active day and night. I’ll blog if I can and if I can’t, you’ll know I’m somewhere in Bakersfield watching and photographing one of my favorite critters. Oh, yeah, they are most definitely part of my next book :-)
Photo captured by D3, 200-400VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
The Clock vs The Darkside
I really hate clocks!!! I’ve written so many times about time and the crunch for time I really feel often working be the camera. In aviation, when those props turn, the HOB turns and that’s money going bye-bye! There is also that weather thing. When you have a small window in the weather, you go now or you don’t go at all. The flight has to be safe, damn the photography! I would love to have the time when I see a shot like this to set up the tripod, pull out the split grad and do it “right.” That wasn’t the case as thunder woke me at 06:30 and all I could say was, “Damn!” I was to be at the field at 08:30 for a 09:00 flight. I called at 07:30 for an update. “Not good, bad weather all around, call back at 08:30.” At 08:30 the phone call was real brief, “Get here now!” So off I drove like a mad man to get to the plane in time to basically get in the T-6 and go. So here’s this photo I saw as I walked furiously to the T-6. No time to do it “right” as I have no tripod or split grad and no time, I have just a body & lens, period!
Then, I got a 5min pause as vehicles are moved away from the plane (I didn’t wait, removed them in PS). The B-25H was backlit and the clouds in the background are to die for so my only “quick fix” for the situation is handheld HDR. This shot is a 2 image HDR and I’m taking all this time to write about it because, well, it’s on the verge of Elvis on Velvet in my book. And, I kinda like it! I’m not sure if I should feel guilty about that or not. I really love the look and feel of the engine/prop. I’m not totally in love with the fuselage but I’m not hating it either. I did this with Nik’s HDR Efex Pro which gives me a ton, ton of options for going “natural” to totally whacked. But here’s the deal, the plane is backlit! Lighting it either with flash or HDR, it’s not where the sun is shinning so anyone who knows light will see, it’s not natural! And when shooting on the run, what are your options…shoot or don’t shoot. For the moment, I like the image but that might change with time. Damn, there’s the time thing, again!
Photo captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital
Rogue Grid
Light modifers hit my office almost daily and most just don’t light my fire. The new Rogue Grid though is pretty dang cool! The first thing that caught my attention is it is so damn compact! It comes in its own case but if takes up no space, you could put it in your pocket even. The next thing is how the “nest” grid upon grid to make the angle less and less. That’s ingenious! Lastly how it all attaches so simply to your flash without requiring velcro all over your flash. This isn’t the onlyRogue flash gear in my bag and I have the feeling, there is more to come. Nicely done Rogue!
Express Keys
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