Fire In The Desert

While in Las Vegas for work this past week, I took advantage of an opportunity to head out to the desert one night for a little light painting with a few friends.  It turned out to be a pretty spectacular trip.  We had a completely full moon to provide a good amount of ambient light for us.  This allowed us to keep our shutter times relatively quick.  I think the longest we were shooting were no more than 3-4 minutes.  I must say that I'm really pleased with how these turned out.  I love all the texture of the rocks, it really adds a lot of interest to the images, and makes for a great backdrop for the paint.

These images were created using the Canon 1D Mk IV and the Canon 14mm f/2.8L lens.

The 119 - Up Close and Personal

Well, it just wouldn't be right to have a subject like The 119 and not come away with a collection of detail shots.

Images were created using the Canon 1D Mk IV and the Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS lens.

The 119

About 55 mile Northwest of here, out on the way to the middle of nowhere, is a pretty significant historical site.  The Golden Spike National Historic Site marks the point where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad.  Well, they actually paralleled each other for about 250 mile, and this is the place that congress determined they should connect.  The final spike, made of gold, was driven on May 10, 1869.  From the West, the Central Pacific sent the Jupiter, from the East, the Union Pacific sent the 119.  Both are absolutely fantastic and very photogenic.  While visiting the other day, we had the opportunity to see and shoot the 119.  The conditions couldn't have been much better, the cold air helped accentuate the steam and and the partly overcast skies helped diffuse the light.  

These images were created using the Canon 1D Mk IV with the Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS lens and the Canon 40D with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens.