Back to Work

Well, last time I wrote in here, I had just killed my first turkey on our own farm. That was great, but I also was having some major problems with my cameras and or lenses. For whatever reason, I couldn't get much of anything in focus. I had tried different camera/lens combinations and still had the same result. A rental camera that arrived was going to be the answer, until it produced out of focus images as well. I was at my wits end. However during a conversation with Mary Britton Senseney of Realtree, she offered that she had a similar problem at one time that was not with the cameras but with the card reader. Duh! I had left my regular card reader at home accidentally and was using my back-up. It never crossed my mind. She was right. I had my regular card reader overnighted and all is once again right with the world.

The turkey hunting is still going strong, although I have yet to get my second. I am content though with having gotten rid of the Kentucky curse. My friend here, Steve Bailey and his 10 year old son Curtis managed to double recently on a pair of great birds one afternoon. That's the photo above. Another reason for the photo with this blog entry is to exalt the power of the reflector. Or two in this case. Available light made for an OK photo, flash filled in the shadows OK too, but the reflectors kept the light color better, filled the shadows, put catch lights in the eyes, and brought the colors of the feathers in the birds to life. As much as I love my Pocket Wizards, and couldn't do without them in some situations, I now use reflectors as my "Go To" outdoors, as fill and rim lighting in the studio, and always carry a small one with while walking the hills with the camera, just in case.

There is still plenty of work to finish here for several clients, then a meeting at Realtree in GA., and then another meeting that is being set up in TN about the possibility of me doing a day long outdoor photography seminar at a lodge this summer. I've never done a seminar on photography but I am really looking forward to it. I will make it home at the beginning of May to attend an RMEF banquet that we donated a hunt to from Straight Creek Outfitters, (Bailey and myself), and then back to KY, GA, and TN.

The Curse is Gone!

Well that's the good news anyhow. Got my first ever turkey, or deer for that matter here on our farm in Kentucky. The hunt lasted less than two hours of opening morning. I've been trying to get a turkey or deer here for about four years now. Seemed like a curse to me. Whatever, it's over now. The unfortunate part is now you have to see my mug in the blog. Don't stare too long and you'll eventually get over it.

I've gotten to work on some of the projects I had planned on and received a couple other days of work that were a pleasant suprise. The bad news is I have both of my cameras acting up andnot wanting to work properly. Looks like they'll be headed to Nikon in the morning. I have a rental body that will arrive and fill in while the others are out for repair. What are the odds of having the same, or similar problem with two cameras at the same time? I think the "Curse" has found a whole new venue.

Weather of recent has been rather poor but we have managed to get a few days of photo work in. I need a whole lot more nice weather to finish what I've started. We'll start getting visitors for hunting at our lodge here in the next couple of days and then it should be steady with people coming and going for the next three weeks.

The sun just popped out so I'm going to try and get a few shots in, "While the sun shines", as they say...