Head in a Cairn, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C. | Panasonic G1 and 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens; exposed 1/400 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 200.

Today, while walking around the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill, Elizabeth and I stumbled upon this sculpture.  It reminds me a bit of the cairns that Andy Goldsworthy has made for his projects; however, before jumping to conclusions, I should note that no credit was to be found near the sculpture.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading to the Outer Banks to check out Bodie, Hatteras, and Roanoke Islands, and to return to Ocracoke Island for the fist time since 2005.

Tags: Lumix G1
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Flying over Memphis | Panasonic G1 and Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED lens; exposed 1/640 sec. @ f/8, ISO 100.

Oh, to have a wide-angle lens for the G1!  Thanks to Olympus and to David Rees, the department chair of the photojournalism sequence at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, I have a 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED lens for my Micro Four-Thirds format for testing.

This lens is the only alternative to Panasonic’s 7-14mm f/4 wide-angle zoom, which is, unfortunately, ridiculously expensive.  Not that the Olympus zoom is inexpensive.  I’ll have more thoughts as the summer progresses.

Tags: equipment, Lumix G1, Olympus 9-18mm, Reviews
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In the fall of 2008, I relocated to Columbia, Mo. to enroll at the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s graduate program. I’ve met wonderful people–graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, staff, and many locals in Columbia–who have made this an amazing, if trying experience. On Saturday, after four semesters, many of the people in the cohort I matriculated with received their degrees. It was a bittersweet moment to realize that it’s over for some, but not quite for all.

Tags: friends, photojournalism
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MKT Trail (Draft One) from David Kennedy. (Note: video defaults to 1080P playback, so if it loads too slowly, turn HD off)

This morning I showed my Picture Story class what is really my first draft of a video and photographic essay the MKT Nature and Fitness Trail in Columbia, Mo.  The nine-mile trail connects to the state-wide Katy Trail in McBaine, Mo.

This is in rough form, unfortunately, because the past couple of weeks have been consumed by my proposed project to fulfill the requirements of the M.A. program here at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.  Before I begin work on that project, which will take me back to Lake Michigan, I will be working to improve this essay.  Foremost, I plan to speak with Brett Dufur, author of The Complete Katy Trail Guidebook, as well as Columbia’s former mayor, Darwin Hindman, who was a champion of projects like the MKT Trail and Stephens Lake Park.

That said, if you have any other suggestions for people to talk to whose voice would strengthen this piece, I am all ears, so to speak!

Tags: EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D, MKT Trail, nature, video
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Bridge over the Flat Branch Creek | Canon 5D Mk. II and 16-35mm f/2.8 II lens @ 16mm; exposed 1/5 sec. @ f/8, ISO 400.

One more landscape before I post the first draft (well, what will be the “final” for my Picture Story class) of my essay on the MKT Trail on Thursday.

Tags: EOS 5D Mark II, landscapes, MKT Trail, nature, pictorial
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Flat Branch Creek, MKT Trail, Columbia, Mo. | Canon 5D Mk. II and 16-35mm f/2.8L II lens; exposed 2.5 seconds @ f/18, ISO 100.

I was out this evening, working on some more pictures and video for my project on the MKT Trail that runs through Columbia, Mo. and connects to the Katy Trail in McBaine, Mo.  I’ve been meaning to get into the creek beds, and wore quick-dry pants and sandals with that purpose in mind the other day, but wound up staying dry because many of the creeks are precarious to get down to when you’re laden with camera gear.

Today, however, while walking along a stretch of the trail near the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Garden off of Stadium Boulevard, I found great access down to Flat Branch Creek.  Now, my jeans are hanging up to dry, because the only way to get an appropriately low angle was to kneel down behind my tripod, which was only inches above the running water.

As always, comments and criticism welcome!

Tags: EOS 5D Mark II, landscapes, MKT Trail, nature
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Panning blur, MKT Trail, Columbia, Mo. | Canon 7D and 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens; exposed 1/6 sec. @ f/8, ISO 400.

Yesterday, while gathering some video and making images of the “real” nature offered to the people of Columbia along the MKT Trail (vis-a-vis the artificial nature at Stephens Lake Park), I made an unintentional panning blur.  Hand-held.  And it didn’t suck.  As Artie Morris would say, “you gotta love it!”

Normally, the trick to and panning blur is to have the camera on a tripod and to slowly pan downwards.  This is hard to do on a ball head, but easy to do if you have  a big lens mounted on a Wimberley or other gimbal-style head, or if you’re using a video head.

Usually, the hardest part is going slowly enough on the pan that you get the effect that you want, but not so slow that it just looks out of focus!  Start with a shutter speed of 1/15 second and slow down from there.  In this example, my exposure compensation in aperture priority brought me to 1/6 sec. before I even realized it–I just heard the slow shutter and cursed under my breath.  Only when I looked at it did I jump for joy.  Then I tried making more blurs, and they all failed!  Again, you gotta love it.

Tags: EOS 7D, MKT Trail, nature, panning blurs, pictorial
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Our dear friend and colleague Josh Bickel will be saying goodbye to the University of Missouri after receiving his M.A. in the spring of 2009 and serving as the director of photography at the Columbia Missourian for the 2009-2010 school year. Just as I’m preparing to leave town, so is he. So long, Josh, and thanks for all the fish!

Oh, and now I can post embarrassing pictures of him because he’s not going to be my “boss” for much longer!  Sorry, man…and best wishes.

Tags: friends
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