Photogaboutit

Our little guy Levon entered this world on December 12, 2013. It's been an adventure already and we can't wait for more. It's great having a kid as a full time prop. Enjoy the photos. More to come! Less than two weeks old and already a cover boy! "Oh my God, I'm breathing air. Wow!" "Man, this Paul Simon rocks!" He shoots, he scores!! Screw Teddy Bears, I know what I really want. "Enough pics of me already, now it's your turn to smile." The fresh bun is out of the oven.  Asleep in Papik's arms. Cheaper than babysitters. Feet are so cute. Still at the hospital in his little swaddle. His first nap outside his mom's belly. "Wow, this is so cool!"

Update: Yes, I know that's not Bela. But it's my favorite pic of the set. Richie Stearns. So, I had been looking forward to the Bela Fleck Banjo Summit for a while, and it did not disappoint. We went to the Paramount Theater in Rutland, an hour away, and saw some of the best music ever. The format was great too, because the musicians and the styles of music changed almost every song, so it never got dull. Richie Stearns has a really interesting voice. When I saw him last, it was at another banjo summit at the Egg in Albany, NY. He sang a song about the twin towers and going into Iraq, that left an imprint. He plays clawhammer, but puts it through effects pedals and makes some crazy good noise. Bela Fleck and his wife Abigail Washburn. She has a great voice and can sing in many styles, and Bela, well, if you've seen him before, you know. On this stage stood about half of the most famous banjo players ever. Bela Fleck is a pure genius, and I think most would ...

It's nice to discover a cool waterfall, or series of small cascades and nice swim holes, only a half mile out of the way on the trip back home from work. A locals' favorite, I haven't been here since I was a student, a long long time ago. Playing with an ultrawide lens has been a liberating experience. I'm just glad I didn't liberate my camera down the falls. By using a three stop neutral density filter, I was able to keep my aperture at f/11, maintaining a massive depth of field but eliminating the effect of diffraction when using even smaller apertures. A benefit of low water flow is the ability to get shots that would otherwise be too dangerous. The parking is just off True's Brook Road, 0.8 miles from the junction with NH route 12A just south of the "strip." Water is pretty low right now, but it's still very beautiful and the pools are warm and deep enough for a solid dip in just the right spot. Low water also allows me to explore the r...

So I'm busily spending every last minute working on a book for Falcon Guides about waterfalls in New England. I need to visit, map, write about and photograph 100 waterfalls throughout New England. Today I visited four more, one of which is Beaver Brook Falls in Keene, NH. It's just three quarters of a mile up an old closed road, paved but experiencing the effects of nature's quick work. Anyways, the falls, although nice, are really nothing to write home about. However, I noticed these incredible spots of light on the water shining through the canopy, leaving a cool top and lighting up the red-brown tannin-rich water. On top of that, the large white bubbles emanated from the base of the falls. Ten to twenty second exposures revealed a bubble outline with streaks as they slowly migrated downstream. It actually seems as if these are creatures swimming upstream. I used a three stop neutral density filter to enable especially long exposures. Anyways, I went there...

Why have I been absent for a month and a half? I guess one word sums it up nicely. Life. I wish I had a better excuse but alas, I've just been so darned busy. At least I made it six or seven months before having my first unplanned blogging sabbatical. Good news in the works though, as I've got some great content lined up. Check out these new pics from my budding passion, aerial photography. I'm using a DJI Phantom Quadcopter with a GoPro Hero 3 black. The learning has just begun, and so has the upgrading. Right now I'm figuring out how to attach a lightweight camera that produces high quality photos with as little extra weight as possible. Stay tuned, but check out a few pics from my first flight on campus. I can see my office and my home mountain (Ascutney) from this view. Well, my GoPro can. Finally, I'm able to look down on academics.

Well, on Friday those of us in Hanover who happened to be outside around four in the afternoon were treated to a beautiful double rainbow. I rushed outside, ran through the Hopkins Center out onto the green, where there were no less than fifteen people taking pictures. Anyways, each of these photos is composed of about a dozen vertical photos stitched together. I can't say I'm happy to see rainbows (signifying rain) and green grass on the winter solstice, but it was a nice photo opp. Now, bring on the snow!

I don't know much about hockey. Dartmouth won 4-2. I enjoyed it. I did however realize that I am not much better than a novice when shooting this, and other fast paced team sports. Anyways, I don't have much info, but here are a few keepers. I'd love to hear any feedback you may have about these shots. I take advice too!

First year students at Dartmouth College run around the bonfire during Homecoming festivities. In my role as the Dartmouth College Photographer, I get to photograph many of the great traditions that are a hallmark of the school. None play so large a role in one's memory than the Homecoming Bonfire. You can check out a set of images on the Dartmouth Flickr stream . In addition to a parade through town and a number of speakers in front of Dartmouth Hall, the first year students are encouraged to run around the fire their class year number (ex. '16) plus 100. So this year the students were supposed to run 116 times around the fire! I'm privileged in my role to get some cool angles, such as inside the roped area close to the fire as well as a view from Baker tower out onto the green. Students run around the fire while the almost-full moon shines above. I had two favorite shots from the night. One was a long exposure from the tower, blurring the movement of the gerb...