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.   

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.  

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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".

 

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PressPausePlay by House of Radon

http://vimeo.com/34608191

PressPausePlay

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. )

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.

 

On two Winter weekends, not so long ago.

Christmas Eve 2011

Seems the Holidays are not only fast approaching, but there here!  And while I will, like so many, will extend Holiday greetings and wishes for a Happy New Year.  I'd like to slip in a non-holiday thanks you.

First thanks to the Baltimore County Trail Riders Association for all the unsung efforts in making these events happen for 30 some years, and allowing me to capture the digital record of the events..  Thanks to the riders, sponsors, crews, family for their skills and sacrifices to provide us with the finest of 2 wheeled competition.  And thanks to all the fans who brave the cooler temperatures in order to support this effort.

Should one care to visit the 4000 images from these two indoor events, enjoy.

 

BCTRA  "Second Time Around"    12/17/11

 

BCTRA  "Gone in 1 minute, 42 Seconds"  12/10/11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gone in 1 Minute 42 Seconds.... BCTRA Indoor Flat Track Racing 121011 on Vimeo

How bout some back story on this Video? When I shoot motion related events I like to shoot a lot of images, lots a lots of images. Why motion is hard to catch, it's easer out side with lots of light, but that makes indoors is even more of a challenge due to the lower light levels. And it is most important to have the camera pointed in the right direction, and focused on the subject(s). To me more shots = a greater chance of catching that "Once in a lifetime" special moment.

This image i shot at a NASCAR race at Dover Dl. Was totally a fluke. The wreck was already in progress and for once I had the camera to my eye, focused on the action, and a clear view, I actually squeezed off 5 shots before before everyone stood up.

But I ramble .. When one is looking at 1800 images, one better have a great workflow tool, and I use the best. Apple Aperture 3. It only took about 1 hour to do a 3 pass selection to get the real keepers and start post production. And what can I do with 1500 some images that are left? Make a movie out of them.. Of which you seen the first quick version I more or less threw together with Apple Final Cut Pro X NLE (Non Linear Video Editing) software and some event sound I recorded on a Zoom H4n. As long as it stays fun, it's all good right?

How fast is too fast, how close is too close?

Shot the first of two BCTRA indoor events last night.  Had at fantastic time and have 1798 images to proved it.  Of course now I last nights images to deal with but also a backlog of images from Tuesdays Chapelgate There tics, production of "It's a Wonderful Life".   And the Christmas light that don't work… Busy Busy Busy. More on both projects when I'm dug out a little.  The link to images from last night will be posted on the website shortly.

It's a wonderful life"

 

Some teasers from last night to include Megan Bell being awarded for her scholastic achivement .

 

 

And what racing posting would be complete with out a crash?

 

How bout some racing action?