Summer Nights

I visited an old family friend in Gainesville yesterday. Murray Lasley was my grandfather's best friend from grade school on. I lived in Gainesville for four years as a student at the University of Florida. I only went to visit Murray once when my grandfather died.

Until recently, I never appreciated what he means to me, to my family. He's a priceless piece of history that is slowly fading away. Part of me, as I am finding, is without doubt linked to him.

Murray has had a stroke and broken his hip since I saw him a year and a half ago, but the young man is still there.

He's been legally blind now for over 20 years. Glaucoma began to slowly take his sight in his mid-20s. But his stories are vivid and his mind sharp. He's speaks slow, but with purpose. And every word is worth hanging on to.

As I drove home with his stories fresh in my mind it began to rain. It was a typical summer shower in Florida. The kind of weather I remember from countless nights on the marsh, watching the heat lightning dance above the palm trees.

It didn't rain long enough to wet the ground, just long enough to create a low, thick steam.

I drove into Ponte Vedra Beach just after the sun went down - my favorite time of day - when the world turns a dense shade of blue.

I stopped at the beach just in time to take this double exposure on my D700.

NCAA LAX Championship

Bill and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore covering the Men's Division 1 Lacrosse Championship tournament. The weekend ended with a leading off in this week's magazine and a multimedia that was posted the morning after the championship game between Notre Dame and Duke.

British Journal of Photography

Check out the story on Bill done by the British Journal of Photography. The story was done on an array of prominent international photographers in different disciplines.

Backstage on the Backside

Bill and I have created a multi media at the Kentucky Derby for the last three years. Each year we've learned something new about how to shoot video with the DSLR cameras. This year, while Bill shot with a Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 lens supported on a heavy duty Manfrotto tripod, I decided to go light. I spent the whole time walking around with a Cinevate DSLR shoulder rig as support. This allowed me to be extremely mobile while still remaining steady. Check out this quick backstage video to see some footage.

Where the Wind Comes from

Here in the South the wind is created by the old ceiling fan steadily pushing a gentle artificial breeze over us as we work to edit our latest music videos. It's delicious.

The over the high Plains of Western Nebraska some of the most spectacular cloud paintings roll along, pushed by the constant winds.

When I was a child there was never a still moment. I had no idea there was a place where the air was heavy and motionless.

And then I moved to Mississippi and Florida.

When I have a chance to go home, either in my mind or actually traveling there, it's always the big sky that I think of first.

Sneak Peek: Cason at Kona

With summer coming and the Florida heat making itself at home again, Bill and I are hitting one of our favorite photo spots with one of our favorite kids. Cason Kirk was 12 the first time we shot him at Kona Skate Park. He was just starting out in the competitive skating world. We were testing the multi media waters and the new hybrid Nikon DSLR, the D90.

Things have changed since then. Cason is now 14. He has braces, is about 6 inches taller and is an accomplished skater with numerous sponsorships and championship trophies.

Bill and I have also grown up a bit. We've learned a thing or two since our first days at Kona. The DSLR camera technology has changed dramatically. The Nikon D3s is our favorite camera, for video or stills, on the market. The imaging capabilities are growing every day.

Our supports are changing as well. We now travel with at least six Manfrotto tripods, where we used to only carry two.

We've also learned ways to incorporate some motion. The Atlas Linear Tracking System by Cinevate gives us the motion capabilities of a cinema dolly with only a fraction of the foot print.

But it's not all work. Our friends at Kona have clever ways of using old car tires.

Bill's 9-year-old daughter Havana was the first to try it out, but not the last.

Never a bad way to spend a Wednesday.

From the head of Zeus

Our multimedia project from the Derby is on SI.COM

Using Athena, we can anticipate and execute multiple images with one camera and lens combination remote precisely. The gimbal is controlled with software running on a laptop, for us that's a Macbook pro. It allows us to not only remotely tilt, shift, pan, level or roll the head holding the camera but also to program in and name a number of preset positions. The live view feature of the Nikon D3s lets us see what the shot looks like and control the camera using Nikon's Camera Control software.

Old Order

The countryside clothes lines outside Gap PA took me decades and miles home to western Nebraska and a silent salute to my Mom whose hard work, practicality and sense of order define my thoughts.

Old friends, new vision

Being a Sports Illustrated staff photographer I get type cast--so many people just assume that sports is all I do, and all I want to talk about. Wrong and wrong. So this weekend when I was spending time with my friend Bill Fortney looking at images on his iPad, I was embarrassed to admit I had forgotten what a wonderful range of work the man has done.

His aerial imagery is so superb that I had done to him what I hate being done to me.

It was a treat being reintroduced to the breadth of work he has created.

Digital Photo Pro

Digital Photo Pro has a print and online feature on Bill.