Bob Krist
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Had the good fortune to attend this 2 day seminar this past weekend which was sponsored by Nikon and Epson, as well as Outdoor Photographer and PCPhoto magazines. The traveling seminar goes all over the country; I attended in Columbus, OH. There are four speakers who conduct the tour; this particular incarnation had Bruce Dale and Bob Krist as speakers. Both Dale and Krist are well-known authors and magazine contributors, most notably National Geographic.

Between the two, there was a lot of coverage on how to approach making photos and projects, lighting, gear, travel, panoramics and a ton more. I was amazed – there was a huge crowd and by judging from conversations in the crowd, a large range of skill levels, and the talks appealed to everyone. Both speakers spent a day giving pointers and retelling some of their adventures, generating ‘oohs and ahhs’ from their images and laughter from their stories with equal measure.

There is only one more class (Raleigh, NC) for 2008, but if they continue the tour in 2009, I’d highly recommend attending both days. Instructionally, there was very little overlap (in my case, Dale covering more landscape photography while Krist focused on travel photography) and for only $20 more, was a fantastic deal. If the other two speakers come around anywhere nearby, I’ll be attending again.

As a great bonus, was a lucky winner of Bruce Dale’s out-of-print book ‘The American Southwest.’ Other than having Michigan beat OSU, not sure if you could spend a better weekend in Columbus.

Tree On Fire
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

I had ordered a hardcover book to show my autumn images. After what seemed like an eternity (all anticipation – the order actually shipped quite quickly), my book arrived from Apple. The images in the book turned out very well and the embossed cover is really nice. Normal Apple quality. Sadly, the dust jacket didn’t print as well as I had hoped. After a quick conversation with Apple, they took care of the problem. I’ve only had to deal with Apple about problems a few times and every time it has been handled with speed and professionalism.

I definitely made some mistakes in the layout and texting of the book, but all in all, have been very happy with it.

To see the images I chose from for the book, here is a slideshow on flickr. Highly recommend using the full-screen option.

To see the layout of the book (although the colors aren’t quite as saturated), I have an online version here. Again, full-screen mode is best.

Change
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Barak Obama made at least 2 stops in the battleground state of Ohio (Columbus and Cleveland). From my very distant vantage point, I could see the Obamas (Michelle Obama spoke as well) but couldn’t get a decent focus lock to get a decent image. The energy level of the crowd reminded me of a Clinton rally I attended in Ann Arbor. Was great to be part of that positive energy.

You can see the rest of the rally images here.

Alex in the corn maze
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Having missed the inaugural SoFoMoBo, a few of us took on the challenge of shooting and creating a photography book in 31 days. It was a lot of work but good fun, and a great practice run before the next actual SoFoMoBo challenge begins in Spring 2009.

The book should be arriving from the printer shortly, but if you’re not going to see me for a while and are interested, here it is on pdf.

Focused
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Andy, Adam, and I headed downtown to shoot the Priority Health Ann Arbor Cycling Classic on Sunday. Encountered a tiny bit of rain but was otherwise a great day for both bicycling and shooting.

Images from the day can be found here.

Still Life: Pear
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Lisa and I rounded up some of the remaining asian and bartlett pears (what hadn’t been consumed by the crows, anyway), found some baskets, some lighting and went to town.

She has such a good eye; always fun watching her work.

You can see the other images on Flickr.