Aug
18

I started the day in Rapid City, SD (which is where my iPhone charger still is unfortunately) and headed south past Mt. Rushmore and through the Black Hills. Then I took Nebraska’s Route 20 east. Route 20 is a scenic byway called “Bridges to Buttes” and it’s gorgeous. Ahead in the distance, I could see two cumulonimbus cells over-developing (meaning the two biggest thunder storms you’ve ever seen were blackening the sky). It looked like two giant nuclear bombs went off.

I passed one of the cells and the clouds were about 500 feet overhead and swirling hard. It was looking nasty! I motored on until I reached Ewing, NE and the cell moved into the path of the road. You can’t see in the video, because the darkest part of the cell was behind the trees, but the skies were black. I also began to notice that I was no longer passing cars in either direction and the cities were basically shut down. Something was clearly wrong.

I looked at the GPS, and it said the nearest lodging was 20 miles ahead (that ain’t gonna happen!) and 20 miles behind (that ain’t happening either, as the storm I passed was right over that city.).

I chickened out, made a u-turn and I pulled over. A local guy pulled over in his car and asked me if I needed a place to ride out the storm. I did! I ended up spending the evening with the family if Bill and Pat Graber. Bill runs a first-class and award-winning trucking company out of Ewing with his wife Pat. His son Michael and Michael’s wife Erin just got a new Peterbuilt that was absolutely gorgeous. They run livestock to Texas and back. Bill’s daughter Jaimie has a hair dressing salon in town and lives just a few blocks away. She’s got an extremely cute little two-year-old boy who was just adorable.

We rode out the storm in Bill’s shop, had a couple of brews and enjoyed some pizza. Jaimie said a few times that she has the best parents in the world, and that her family were the most giving people. She’s absolutely right! The entire Graber family were some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

Several of the Graber’s friends stopped-by the shop during the evening and thanks to the Grabers, this will probably be the highlight of my trip. New friends! It’s a beautiful thing. Hopefully I can repay the shelter someday in San Clemente.

Aug
16

Aug
15

Today I had the good fortune of stumbling into the gallery of David Brookover. David is a Jackson Hole, WY based fine-art photographer. David shoots mainly 8x10, but also dabbles in medium-format and uses a Nikon D3X for shooting wildlife. David graciously provided me with an interview, and he’s allowed me to grab some of the low-res images from his website for this post.

In the online images, you can see his eye for framing and processing. But that only tells a tiny fraction of the story. David has mastered the workflow and a great deal of his craft is in the printing. And let me tell you what … his prints are phenomenal. I suspect that most hobbyist shooters these days capture digitally, process via Aperture or Lightroom, and output to a website. His attention to printing (and of course his terrific eye) separate him from the pack

I find David’s work fascinating because there is a great deal of tilt, shift, rise/fall, and swing in large-format photography, and he uses it generously along with a good amount of digital processing, and yet the finished product seems natural and organic. You wouldn’t guess that so much manipulation has occurred, and yet it has, but with a delicate hand and a restraint that comes from a true master.

As a lifelong photographer, I typically shoot my own pictures and don’t think about buying other people’s photos for myself. I’d own a Brookover print in a second! He’s that good. If you’re in Jackson, stop by the gallery. You won’t regret it. www.brookovergallery.com

 

Interview should be up in the following post.

Photos in the gallery credited to David Brookover, with permission courtesy of The Brookover Gallery online.

Aug
14

Here’s what I’m riding cross country. It’s a BMW R1200R. It’s considered a “Roadster” in bike terms, but that just means it is a cross between a sport bike and a touring bike, and it has no fairings. There is a tiny windscreen to keep the wind off of my chest, but my head is in the clear air. I’ve got better visibility than bikes with big fairings. My bike is extra custom because I’ve got JAG35 15mm rods and rod blocks, and I can mount cameras in 5 places! On the center stand, it works like a tripod. Shot this with the Nikon D7000. I added a touch of flash fill. Typically when I add flash fill it’s at -3 and slow/rear curtain for just a glimpse. I was going for the same effect here, but I had to jack the flash up to +1 to compete with the sun. Processed in Aperture. Highlight recovery on the blown-out clouds us with the curve tool in extended range. I added vignette (as I often do …), and some other magic special sauce.

Here’s what I’m riding cross country. It’s a BMW R1200R. It’s considered a “Roadster” in bike terms, but that just means it is a cross between a sport bike and a touring bike, and it has no fairings. There is a tiny windscreen to keep the wind off of my chest, but my head is in the clear air. I’ve got better visibility than bikes with big fairings. My bike is extra custom because I’ve got JAG35 15mm rods and rod blocks, and I can mount cameras in 5 places! On the center stand, it works like a tripod.

Shot this with the Nikon D7000. I added a touch of flash fill. Typically when I add flash fill it’s at -3 and slow/rear curtain for just a glimpse. I was going for the same effect here, but I had to jack the flash up to +1 to compete with the sun.

Processed in Aperture. Highlight recovery on the blown-out clouds us with the curve tool in extended range. I added vignette (as I often do …), and some other magic special sauce.

Departure First Fuel All good road trips have dinosaurs Hot August Nights Hot August Nights 2 Biggest Little City Sweet!

Day one of the trip from San Clemente, CA to Reno, NV. This was my first day with Jehu’s GH2, so I goofed around with the 8.5 Fisheye a bunch. Here are some snaps from the day. I’ve got some great video footage from the Hot August Nights hot-rod rally. I’ll try and get it edited tomorrow.

Long day on the road today, over 500 miles. One of my longest ever. Shorter day tomorrow means more time to shoot and edit!

Aug
13