Monday, September 24, 2007

Tour of California 2007, Long Beach, California



This was shot last February on the last day of the Tour of California as the cyclists raced to the finish on the streets of Long Beach. The Amgen Tour of California was won by Levi Leipheimer.
Levi can be seen wearing the yellow jersey in the long format image.
This shot was the complete opposite of the Tour de France that I attended in 2004--easy access to the course, full cooperation of the officials and I was able to find a great place to set up my camera to shoot this event.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Walking Stary Arbat Street, Moscow, Russia



Though this image may not seem extraordinary, it was fascinating to be in Russia! Several policemen came by and told me I could not videotape this particular street because President Putin often drives down this road. One by one I assured them that we were shooting stills and they allowed me to continue to take the photographs.
I like this image so much. I love the juxtaposition of the cars and the bus and the people. And, to see what IS extraordinary about this shot, look very carefully...there is a very strange effect that this camera--and no other camera--will do. Take a look at the shadows of the people--they go in both directions! The camera reverses the travel of some of the cars and the people making them ALL go in the same direction! I just LOVE the converging and crossing and all the different directions of those shadows.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Sugar Cane Train, Maui, Hawaii



This is a classic old train in Lahaina on the island of Maui. It was once used in the Sugar Cane industry and now it is a tourist attraction. I would set up the camera, took a radar gun reading of the train (about 5 mph) as it was coming, measured the distance to the tracks, and shot the picture. Then I would throw the camera in the car, race down the road about a mile or two ahead of the train, take a radar gun reading, measure the distance, shoot the picture and then do it all over again!
Trains are an ideal thing to shoot with this camera.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Walking In Times Square #1



While doing a job for Mercedes in Vermont, I thought I would venture over and see what kind of shots I could get with the DistaCam in New York City. I went down to one of the busiest sections in Times Square, set up at a busy intersection and waited for the light to turn green...
I love to see the faces as people look right at the camera. I especially like the compression of the taxis in this shot and the way this camera renders the motion of the feet on the people as they walk across the street--the "paw" like feet on some and the "snowboard" looking feet on others! The distortions are so entertaining...this is one image where you can really see the "fun house mirror" effect of the camera.
I had one of my assistants walk back and forth across the intersection throughout the shoot. You can see him, in the brown shorts, showing up several times in the image.