Weekly Wildflowers April Fools Edition

In an effort to both get out and blog more (counter-productive as it may seem) I'm going to try and post pictures of wildflowers I see as I take walks through local parks. This week I went to Hazel Landing Park and found (from top left clock-wise) Spring Beauties, Violets (purple and white), and Whorled Milkwort. Of course there was also dandelion, clover and garlic mustard, but I didn't pick those on the hike.

Spring Beauties

Bonus round: There was a barred owl hooting as well. Now for the April Fools part - The purple violets hadn't opened yet, I didn't think they were violets at first - I even took them home to ID them, and the barred owl may have been another person, but if that is the case, it's the best barred owl impersonation I've heard.

Quick Trip to Lafayette

I went up to Lafayette last week to meet with Jacklyn and Jarad about their wedding photos and while I was there I got to stay with some friends I haven't seen in a while.

This, this is Kevin and his "Hey guys
I might switch to Canon" face.

Firstly, my good friend Kevin is moving to Los Angeles in about 2 days from now to start his career path towards becoming a world-renowned Director of Photography.

So if any viewers out there in the LA region have a job that needs to be filled - hit him up.

Best of Luck Kevin, and remember, Orange on Teal = Summer Blockbuster!

Triathalete? Check. Photographer?
Check. Ph.D.? Sooo close...

Next up, I hung out with Andy quite a bit. I do have to say one of the best things about Andy (aside from his personality, open couch, and a bunch of other stuff) is that he's got a bunch of fun toys and is willing to let me mess with them. So this weekend I took a 1d mk3, 100mm IS macro, and 24mm f/1.4 out for a spin in the woods. Here are the results:

[Click images to view larger]

Self Portrait. Hand held, f/1.4, 4lbs of camera - not easy or
comfortable for that matter.

Seriously, the 24/1.4 was made to be shot wide open,
its not worth the price tag for anyother use.

I think I have fallen in love with the 100mm IS macro.

No, seriously, its sharp, its a great focal length for
macro as well as portraits (Kevin's pic - look at his eye!)

It's ridiculously sharp.

Did I mention IS, because it has 4 stops of it...

Oh and it's price tag won't break the bank
clocking in at just under a grand before tax/shipping.

Because who doesn't want to get closer to this guy...?

One more thing about the 100mm IS Macro - the IS is killer when shooting video. Don't believe me? The video below was shot with the 100mm hand held (with a viewfinder). The only issue I have is when you start to pan it lags, but just once, before it recognizes you aren't just shaking.

Canon 100mm L IS Macro Handheld Test from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

a quick 2 shot test of handholding (with viewfinder) the Canon 100mm L IS Macro lens on my 60D. I think I've found a new object to drool over....

South Island Road Trip

Here it is - my two week Easter Holiday road trip in five minutes.





its okay viewed at full screen - but the video quality isn't so hot (shot with canon G9, Panasonic Lumix something or other, and Canon S5IS)

Waimakariri Revisted part Deux

Okay, so Wes and I went back to the Waimakariri River tonight, I have a feeling this place will be visited many more times in the coming months, But as long as it keeps delivering scenes like this, I won't mind at all!

Martell 2

hangin' around Martell after "lab," lol.

D300, First Shots

There is a lot to this camera. I mean A LOT. It will probably take me a month to learn all the ins and outs of this bad boy and even then, I won't really know them all since I probably won't be using them all.

Here are some shots I took today with my lensbaby while waiting for class.

Happy Hollow Park

Well, its Sunday. That means its time to go for a walk. Since I'm living at a new place this year, I needed to find a new place to shoot (since the other park is now about 2 miles away). I went to Happy Hollow Park, its very - shall I say - Linear. It is basically one walk-way that follows a seasonal stream. not a lot of variety, but still more interesting than my room.

With that said, I really need to get a macro lens (I'm shooting for the Nikkor 105mm with a set of extension tubes).

4 things

Over the last two weeks, I have managed to do 4 things:

1) get healthy enough to go back to work (finally)
2) go through Scott Kelby's book "7-Point System for Photoshop CS3"
3) my office supply post (done at home)
4) this post

note the last three have been done in the last week.

anyway, I'll finally be going back to camp this week and hopefully that should lead to more posts and great images. Unfortunately I sent my laptop in to get the hard drive replace (finally) so I'll have to scrounge around people's computers at camp for CS3. Well, until next time....












PS: If you'd like to donate to the Michael needs to pay for a hotel room, food, and lens rental for my trip to Yellowstone in October with Moose Peterson, feel free to send me checks or cash (sorry I can't swipe a card anywhere that will help).

Summer Camp Week 3

We (the foresters) spent a lot of time doing inventories and such this week so not as many pictures this week - thank goodness for a nice sunset last night to save the week.

Summer Camp Week 2