Giving Back via Photography - Remembering Don Matthews

Back in 2011, armed with new Nikon D7000 in hand, I ventured down to Chehalis - that be Washington - to witness and shoot a vintage motocross race.  First motocross race I attended since 1983 or so, after being very involved with dirt motorcycles as the teenager and young (alleged) adult.

Event was a stop on the AHRMA national race series.  Also the first time shooting an event with a DSLR camera.  Being the (ex) old school motocrosser and (re) born photographer, turned out to be a fun day and I scored some decent photos.

Shortly after the race, I posted the photos here on the ol' blog and to Facebook with some nice comments from folks.  Cool.  Then late in 2013, I dug through the Pile-O-Pics and posted a few to various vintage motocross related sites on Facebook.

Folks recognized one of the racers as Don Matthews, who had recently passed away. Two different people contacted me asking to use the photos for upcoming commemorative events.  

Of course, I agreed...

This event in California used one of the photos for event t-shirts.  To add another old school motocross twist, Brad Lackey's shirt company produced 'em.  Folks sent me one of the shirts, turned out pretty cool.

This event held in Oregon, my photo used for the trophies.  Nicely done.  Folks involved sent me a few examples.

For reference, the original photos.

I didn't know Don Matthews personally, but feel honored to have contributed to his memory in some way.  From the comments on Facebook and my emails with the folks involved, Don appeared to be the well loved figure in the vintage motocross community.  I was glad to play a part in the celebration of his life via photography.

Life can be short.  Ride on, have fun, keep things in perspective...

Blue Angels - In November?

My iMac is bursting at the seams with pictures, hard drive full enough to effect performance.  I have one Firewire drive I use for backup, time to get more drastic and move/archive pics to another drive for storage.  This way my pics are sitting on two drives once moved off the iMac.

Drives do fail, so better keep an archive on at least two external drives.  Trust me on that.  You can then also move one drive off site - work place, neighbors house - just anywhere not under the same roof.  Then you're covered in case of fire, theft, or other scenarios you don't wish to think about.

While moving my Pile-O-Pics around, came across a few shots from the summer.  The Blue Angels visit Seafair every year and I've hit the show occasionally over the years.  This time finally armed with a decent camera, my Nikon D7000.  Thought I'd post a few for pondering, better then fermenting unseen on a hard drive.  That's my take on photography anyway.

Considering I've never shot an air show in my life, jets blowing by at crazy speeds, 70 - 300 mm lens at the ready, I didn't do too bad.  Add in sweat literally stinging my eyes due to the heat, amazed I caught anything at all...

Oh yeah, should also mention, the Blue Angels are loud.  Uh, really loud.  An insane cool noise though.  With that, I'm out.  Hope you enjoyed the pics.  Until next time...

Nikon D7000 - Failure 'R' Us

My Nikon D7000 camera, barely a year old, died suddenly last weekend.  Ouch.  Every image now contains the blurred black bar as pictured, along with a sick sounding shutter, complete with blinking Err message.  Game over.  After some Google searching, appears I'm not the only one to experience this.

I'm seriously bummed, since I really dig this camera and use it a lot.  It was a 50th birthday present from my wife, and really kick started my interest back into photography.  After checking the receipt, discovered it died nine days out of the one year warranty period.  Double ouch.  And I actually didn't unbox the camera for two weeks after receiving it, but I have no way to prove that, so purchase date it is.

Being without the camera bums me out more then potentially paying for the repair.  Great camera, and I'd consider buying another D7000 body as a spare and/or to have an additional camera to shoot races, lessening the need to swap lenses.  At $1200 per body, that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

I called Nikon on Monday and talked to a rep.  He didn't promise it being covered under warranty, though gut tells me it'll be covered.  I hope. Camera now shipped off to repair center in California, no idea how long it will be gone.

After whining about my plight to Facebook friends, old coworker pal offered to loan me his Nikon D60, since he also owns a D7000 - along with yet another photographer pal of mine sporting a D7000, who offered me his D80.  Lots of spreading the camera love, pretty cool.

I picked up the D60 this week, curious to try out the lower end end of Nikon DSLR range and compare to my D7000 - which will hopefully return soon...

The Digital Photography Book - Book Review

I've been dabbling with photography once again, courtesy of a new digital SLR camera. I've always taken pictures with the old Point 'N' Shoot, various examples sprinkled throughout this very blog. Most being just snapshot quality and that was the intent - telling a story - nothing fancy.

I'm attempting to bump it up a bit, also an excuse to get the ol' brain working on something besides bikes. Decades ago I goofed around with the 35mm format, so I'm not completely starting from scratch, though I'm just the amateur hack. The digital SLR also allows action photos, something seriously lacking shooting with the Point 'N' Shoot.

Along with the new camera - 50th birthday present from my wife (nice, eh?) - I've read a pile of photography related books. Out of the pile, this one, loaned to me by a fellow coworker bike/photo/gear-head pal, stands out: The Digital Photography Book, by Scott Kelby.

At first glance appears to be super beginner oriented, dig in a bit and that's not the case. This book is chock full of great tips written in a laid back, humorous, super easy to understand format. I read it cover to cover, then flipped through a few times since. I picked up and learned a few things every time.

Once I return the book to its rightful owner, may pick up a copy for myself. I've also discovered there's a second and third volume available. That will also be on the agenda. If you mess around a with photography at all, well worth checking into.

Nice job Scott Kelby...