More on the Nikon D3

Last night I used a Nikon D3 for the first time to shoot the Broncos/Packers Monday Night Football Game. I shot the game at 3200 ISO at a shutter speed of 1/2000 at F 2.8 with a 400 mm lens. Amazing results. The 3D auto focus was quick and followed the your subject throughout the play. Much better than the D2H's auto focus. The buffer was frustrating at first because the camera I was using would shoot a burst of about six or seven frames than stop as the camera caught up. Then you could shoot again. I had the settings set for JPEG at normal and it still did that. Other photographers trying out the D3 didn't have a problem so it may have been the test camera I was using. The downfall could be a non-issue by the time the production cameras come out later this year. The thing that amazed me the most was the lack of noise at high ISOs. Look at the pictures above. Even in the tightly cropped picture of the ball the detail and lack of noise is unbelievable. Fellow Gazette photographer Mark Reis explained it well when he told me the D3 could be the biggest advancement in photography since the switch from film to digital. I think he's right.

A ghost story

Gazette reporter Melissa Cassutt and I produced a video about the ghost stories at Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs to accompany our print story about ghost stories in the Colorado Springs area. Check it out. Story telling with video is different than print. After playing with the medium on this project, I really think photojournalists should embrace video, not be afraid of it.

Amazing results from the Nikon D3

Gazette photographer Kevin Kreck is using a loaner Nikon D3 for the World Series in Boston. As you can see from above, the sharpness and detail in the image is unbelievable. And to think this was taken at night in the rain. Too bad the game wasn't as good as the camera Kevin is using to capture the action.

Boys of fall

Today I had to shoot a fall Little League game for a story about the Colorado Springs ball players who know all about playing the sport in October, unlike the Major League Colorado Rockies who are new to the fall baseball and the post season. The hard part was how do you make it look like fall when it's 79 degrees outside? I tried many things like shooting the snow-capped Pikes Peak in the background as the little guys warmed up and the autumn leaves on the ground with the player in the background, but nothing seemed to work that well for me until the wind started blowing. (A winter storm is predicted for tomorrow) I noticed the wind would blow the leaves against the back stop for a couple seconds at a time. I stood behind homeplate and was able to grab the shot on top for the story. And the advice the young players gave to the Major League Rockies: dress in layers.

Patagonia photo contest

Patagonia retail stores are holding a photo contest called "Capture a Patagoniac" inviting customers to submit a photo of themselves or family members engaged in
activities from rock climbing to fly fishing while wearing Patagonia
clothing. Customers will then be asked to vote for the entry that best
captures the Patagonia spirit of adventure, outdoor pursuits, and/or
environmentalism.
Patagonia will award $100, $75 and $50 gift cards to three
finalists per store based on the number of votes. All finalists from
the retailer’s 23 stores around the country will then be eligible for
a random drawing for the grand prize, consisting of a trip for two to
Vietnam courtesy of Backroads Travel
Company.
Photos must be submitted in stores between October 15-31.
Customers will vote on entries displayed in the store from Nov.
1-11. Store winners will be announced on Nov. 15 based on the
number of votes. The grand prize winner will be drawn and announced on
Nov. 27.
For more information on the "Capture a Patagoniac" contest, please
visit Patagonia’s website at http://www.patagonia.com/

Catch Rockies fever and photos

The Colorado Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 3-2 in 11 innings last night to take a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. Gazette photographer Kevin Kreck shot the game and The Gazette photo staff will follow the action till the end. Visit http://www.gazette.com/interactives/rockies1012 to see more of Kevin's photos as well as images from The Associated Press staff. We'll post a slideshow from every game till the end. If you can't find the slideshows on The Gazette website, the slideshows' addresses will be the same as above except for a different date after www.gazette.com/interactives/rockies. Example: Game 3 on Sunday will be www.gazette.com/interactives/rockies1014.

Under the rainbow

Gazette photographer Bryan Oller found this nice feature of a rainbow from Bear Creek Regional Park in Colorado Springs today. Nice moment.

Aspen shadows

With the recent snow in the high country I wanted to shoot pictures with snow and aspens. I traveled to the St. Elmo area Wednesday in search of those aspen pictures. I drove to the top of Tin Cup Pass, but never found what I was trying to capture. No color like reader Erik found in Mueller. On top the Aspens were bare and below where the aspens still had leaves there was no view of the snow-covered peaks. The light, on the other hand, casted some hard shadows on the bark so I focused on the texture of the aspens. The aspen bark made for some interesting pictures. I guess sometimes you just have to be open to what happens in front of you.

Mueller's gold

Reader Erik Crider shot these pictures of the fall colors and his little hiking buddy at Mueller State Park last week. I was up at St. Elmo and Tin Cup Pass today. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. On the pass the aspens are beyond peaking, but down below there was still some color. Erik, thanks for sharing with us.