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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Sunday, December 2, 2012

A passing of an age. fdphotovideo

On Friday night I left the light in www.ffphotovidoe.com  go out for good..  I've had the site up for almost 10 years but lately with the new www,speedovision.com site showcasing motorsport events, It became more and more obvious,that maintaining three sites were just to much of a chore. So it's God Speed and Following Winds to you and all the joys you brought to countless children over the years. Well maybe that part is made up.

To every thing turn turn turn, there is a season and a purpose under heaven.  

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

How do you spell "Train Wreck"?

For starters try this example  www.dougmillerphotos.com!

I noticed I hadn't done much with this website since I spun off  www.speedovision.com and www.dougmillerphotos.com from www.fdphotovision.com, while trying to add the Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla! event. It became apparent this puppy need a major overhaul both to structure. and content.  Well there's no time like the present. Please bear with this mess until I can redress, and redo..  What's that I hear Mr. Anderson, sounds like old 99 a coming down the track.  I better get started quick.   

 

Monday, November 19, 2012

Dance they said, and it was good. Update

This year events seem to be few and far between. Almost at the last second, my young Child Bride (CB) and her dance companion decided to attend Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafl at the Pasha Land restaurant in Gaithersburg MD. Reservations were made over the phone for the following night (Sunday) and the excitement slowly started to build for both of us.  Her, because she loves the Dance , and has so for almost 35 years. Me, it was an event, my real passion, photographing events.  I have my favorites but as a rule, The Middle Eastern Dance events are not on the top of my list.. Don't get me wrong, I love photographing Middle Eastern Dancers of all shapes and sizes. And what's not to love, the colors, movements, music? No what's not to love is the venues.. It's a real challenge to capture a worthwhile images of the dancers in a High School Gym, Senior Center, parking lot or worse. Which with small exception is where they are. Fact of life, the girls love to dance where ever they can to show off their skills, and to do this "You takes what you gets."  

But I have, as they say, digressed.  We both went into our usual preparation modes, hers are not for public consumption, mine are more of a mechanical nature.  Batteries  to be charged, cameras & lens' needed to be selected. Which always proves to be a dilemma.  Most times not knowing the where's why and whens of the venue always makes it at best, a guess.  This time not being different, I  decided to travel light  with the 5DMII, a 50mm f/1.2, 100mm f/2.8, and one flash to deal with what ever lighting situations were presented.   

When we arrived at Pasha Land at the appointed time, I was a bit distressed to see the restaurant was really not that large, and was packed with dancers and guests, with space  already at a premium . which built when we came to find out our reservations had more or less,  "flown the coupe".  Lucky for us the owners daughter did some magic logistical redirection and we were ushered to our table, right out front.  This was much appreciated by CB and friend as they almost were out on the dance floor. For me any use of the 100mm F/28, was ruled out. The only other bullet I had was the 50mm f/1.2 which was still a little long for this space.  ("Darn why didn't I pack a wide angle?" )  As the excitement built, drinks ordered, menu choices made, I stated to realize the pickle i was in. When the dancers started to line up for the first group dance, the front line was only a foot and a half away from the front of the lens.

Nor perfect but Oh well, time to make some lemonade.. It's only pixels anyway.  The music started, the light dimmed (I wish) and the magic started. Knowing things were far from perfect but I  would get what I could i sat back, stretched my right pointer finger and started firing away.  The rest of the afternoon was a blur of whirling dancers, delicious food and trying to get that "perfect shot.  

A note of apology to the dancers, I was unable to capture "keepers" of all the dancers due to their proximity and lighting, and I'm still trying to mach the dancer listed in the flyer, to the images.. 

My thanks to all involved in making  Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla!  a smashing success.  The images posted are from my Flickr site but many more are posted or are in process of being posted on my gallery site.  so check back often. . 

 

   

Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla! 1

 

 

Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla! -Shira

Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla! - Nadirah Nasreen  B&W

 

 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Changing Seasons, Changing directions

Look outside the season is changing, summer is giving way to fall, which will in turn give way to winter.  My approach to images likewise has started to change somewhat. Prior I would accept more of less what ever the camera had captured, perhaps with some minor tweaks in Aperture.  Now more and more I find myself using one, or more, of the NIK plugins, with an occasional forays into PhotoShop to use the AKVIS SKITCH plugin or to provide background effects.   

Above John Brown  - NIK HDR Efex Pro 2,  NIK Color Efex Pro 4 

- The Dancers -  a Reflection

Above "The Dancers"  Post processing With Aperture 3, NIK Color Efex Pro 4, ApertureExpert’s Preset Pack #5 “Film & Funk”

Monday Morning, 3AM

Above NIK Color Efex Pro 4 and Aperture core tools.  

The eyes of a young competitor

NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 and Aperture core tool set. Also becoming a fan of the square crop in many circumstances.   

Battle for Turn Two --- Rejoined

Above Aperture 3, Adobe Photo Shop, AKVIS SKITCH Photo Shop plug-in, NiK Color Efex Pro 4. 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Torn, and torn again. But happily now on the mend

Yes I've been remiss.  It's been a while, almost  a month the be exact, since my last entry. But this time I have an excuse.  Well..  some what of a excuse.    

Drum Roll Please ……. 

I've been spending a lot of time over at Speed Vision of MD  which in case you haven't heard is the new home for all my  Motor Sport images.  Web sites never come easy and because of the bleeding edge design, this one is taking some extra time to fully stand up.  But I am happy to report there is some faint light at the end of the tunnel.  Logos (well at least 1st gen) are done, Flickr, Facebook and Zenfolio sites and galleries are in place.  And if by magic (not ) content is finally starting to appear.   Not to much additional to add right now. But a "Arnold" said "I'll be Back" 

-bye- 

Speedovision com2 s

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The 90th Barbara Fritchie Classic

The Barbara Fritchie Classic Motorcycle Race promoted by  is somewhat of an "odd man out" in the world of motorcycle racing.  It attracts some big name Grand National and local riders. but is eclipses by the  AMA Eastern most Grand National Race at  Hagerstown Speedway.  But there is no shortage of great motor cycle racing action, or interesting fans here in the heart of Central Maryland.  

 But is has a history 
Like any bona fide classic, the Fritchie has stood the test of time. The Fritchie is held at The Great Frederick Fairgrounds. It is the oldest running half mile in the country. It’s a Fourth of July tradition in Frederick. But when it started in the 1920s, the race wasn’t even held on the Fourth. The Fritchie ran Memorial Day. And back then, it was called the Delphey Brothers Classic, promoted by J. Paul and Chester Delphey.

This years race was hot and dusty with no shortage of great racing action.   

 

Young up and coming "Hot Shoes"  like the #30s Jason Isennock. 

#30s Jason Isennock sets up for turn 1 during his heat race.

 

Or visits from older members of the racing family - 63 years old and still running.  The bike that is. 

63 years old and still racing. The bike that is.

 

And at the end we saw locals on the podium  Like #95 Samantha Bergman 3rd in class. But was the only one in the pre-race interviews seeing as the first and second place finishers crashed racing to the finish line. 

 

Driven to excel.

 

Or even #62 Luke Gough from "down under"  took 3rd place in Bababra Fritchie Classic.  

Thankfully the race was relativity incident free. Here's hopping the grand old Dam will see the 100th running in 2022. 

© 2012 FDphotovideo - - Doug Miller Photography
www.fdphotovideo.com
www.dougmillerphotos.com
www.speedovision.com  

 

 

 

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Eastern Museum of Motor Racing A sardine can of memories.

Driven inland by the projected crowds at Sailabraton  I spent a most amazing 3 hours at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing today. Located Just  south of Dillsburg PA off or RT 15 this hidden  treasure chest of motor racing artifacts that is truly a wonder to behold.   

Eastern Museum of Motor Racing     Treasure Chest of Memories

As a life long fan of, any and all, motor sports, for me the contents unleashed a flood of fond memories.  But what made the visit amazing wasn't the fact that I have seen two of the cars race in their day, or the supporting contents that i found highlighted reference to all my favorite drivers from Reading, Nazareth, Langhorne, Dorney Park. But that every one in the museum, visitors, or  volunteers could, and would, talk racing.  

 

Eastern Museum of Motor Racing  #5

Like the # 5 of Bobby Gearhart I've seen race at Reading .

Eastern Museum of Motor Racing     Child Hood Memories.

Or this veteran example of a midget, I believe to have seen race at Dorney Park a as kid.  

 

Eastern Museum of Motor Racing     Eastern Museum of Motor Racing     Vintage Racer Powered by Eastern Museum of Motor Racing     The OfficeEastern Museum of Motor Racing    #62 122 Miller SpecialEastern Museum of Motor Racing   Old but not forgotten

Legendary cars, legendary engines, dusty trophies. they all are in attendance 

 

168:366

If you're ever in the area stop on in.. You will not be disappointed  And admission is free (donations are accepted)  I'm already planning future trips.

© 2012 FDphotovideo - - Doug Miller Photography
www.fdphotovideo.com
www.dougmillerphotos.com

 

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Aperture 3.3 and the power of Smart Albums

First off, I am a fan of Apple's Aperture program, have been using it since V1,0 (had lots of opportunities for improvement then ).  Currently it's at V3.3 and it's developed into a mature, feature packed, stable program.  I currently have about 110,000 images and videos in multiple referenced libraries, living on DROBO raids,  Aperture has no problem tracking, managing, and modifying the images as I see fit.

Recently I received two requests for images, One was a request for a specific rider, in a specific motorcycle race,  The 2011'  Barbara Fritchie Classic .  Easy enough as I only shot around 1200 images at the even.   The next request involved one rider, and a whole series of races held by the Baltimore County Trail Riders Association in 2011. A bit tougher as I shot almost 9000 images at the race venues in last year.

Here's how Aperture and more specifically the Smart Albums made the task easy.   First pass I looked at the images from the event date in "thumbnail view" which allows very fast scanning of galleries.  I then used keyboard command to assign a color tag to all images that met the search requirement.   Then I create a smart album based on that color.  Paste in the riders name and # in the keyword metadata.   Delete the color tags, and redefine the Smart Album criteria to reflect the riders name and number.   I then use the Zenfolio export tools to move the requested products to a specific gallery. The Flickr export plugin to post to Flickr so I can post a link to Facebook.   I was really surprised how quickly these tasks were accomplished..  Shout out to Apple, keep up the good work, allowing me "to get things done".

#30s Jason Isennock in the mix…  BCTRA Indoors 121011 #3 Brett Friedel Takes the Checkers

 

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

PressPausePlay by House of Radon

http://vimeo.com/34608191

PressPausePlay

34608191

An extremely well done media project on the current state of electronic media from the inside.

Society has been given a gift. This wonderful film has captured the interior segments, discussed and speculated on it's ramifications.  As is the case of so many of the best gifts, it was dreamed of, but not asked for. Many who profit will find this gift unwelcome and try to control, or even stifle it in the name of .........…whatever.

The "Old" look on this gift with speculation, the norm is changing. The old don't like change.  It means learning new rules and at best once learnt, becoming a second rate player.  Hence the attempts to control change. In the name of………..whatever.

The "Young" don' t look at this gift as a give at all, It's just there. Part of their world. Just there.

In the new paradigm all can play, be a part and produce. But the hard realty is  the collective hive mind of the mass will dictate what will stay today, and what is relegated .   That's the scary part, as this is the same mechanism that gave us chain restaurants, kept American Idol on TV, and of course made "The Twilight Saga" hit media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, January 1, 2012

A New Dawn, A New Day. Happy New Year!

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Tis the season to be jolly, Don we now our gay apparel,Troll the ancient Yule tide carol, See the blazing Yule before us, Strike the harp and join the chorus. Follow me in merry measure, While I tell of Yule tide treasure, Fast away the old year passes, Hail the new, ye lads and lasses, Sing we joyous, all together, Heedless of the wind and weather" (Yes, the La La Las have been removed as a public service. )

364:365  New Years Eve Dinner, Says Hi!

As expected a new dawn has brought a new day.  The slate is clean, waiting for the story of 2012 to be drafted.. You have the pen, you tell the story.

Happy New Year from Me to You..  Buckle in, Hold on, & Enjoy the ride.


 

Flickr 2011