Wow. It's hard to stay motivated!

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. I love living up here in the Haliburton Highlands, but there are certain times of year that are better than others, and this isn't one of them. A neighbour and I were talking and we're of the same mind: November and March are the worst months.

Right now It's damp and cold. The ground is muddy and monochromatic. The songbirds are gone and the only creatures that are stirring are the people getting ready for the winter. Actually, there's a skiff of white snow on the ground, the lake is active in the wind and although it's created an interesting rime of ice where water has splashed up on the land, and it could be photogenic, everything is too grey to be interesting, and anyway, I'm chilled and don't feel like going out.

My neighbour said he prefers November to March/April because "I have the winter to look forward to"! Fascinating. You'd think it would be the other way around. But he's right: winter is a magical time up here in the Highlands. I know that those of you in other climes (and especially those in the Big Smoke we call Toronto) think we're crazy, but that's your problem.

Still, I can't wait for those crisp white days. And I created a book a couple of years ago to celebrate Winter in the Highlands, there's a link at right to Blurb where you can see the book and enjoy it.

Several projects on the go

I'm working on my next book. I have about a week to get it off to Blurb to take advantage of their huge Black Friday sale (30% off!). Being the procrastinator that I am, I don't know if I'll make it. My big hangup is to create a theme and select images that work well together. I've segregated about 250 images so far, maybe I have TWO books to create!

The Haliburton Highlands Camera Club is taking a lot of my attention right now. We're a couple of weeks away from the inaugural meeting (Wednesday, December 11 at 7pm in Minden, see the website for details). I hope that's going to work out — it will if enough people come forward to help out. I can't do it alone.

I also have an eBook in the works. As regular readers know, I've been writing a weekly photography column for the Haliburton County Living (Weekender) newspaper for almost half a year now, without skipping a beat. Off-topic, it's hard to come up with new material now. As I write this, I have two days to come up with something for next week's column and I'm a little brain dead. Anyway, the column is mostly tips for novice and intermediate photographers, and I want to consolidate them into an eBook.

So I'm busy, but it's hard to stay motivated in the ever-shortening days of November.

D610 vs. D800

Hmmm. I wrote earlier that I'm waiting for Nikon to contact me with the news that a refurbished D800 is available and I have a promise of a swap for my D610 when it is. But I've not been proactively going after them about it because, well, I like the D610!

I used to like the D600 until the dust measles became untenable. So the D610 is the same camera without that problem. It's pretty well everything I need... so if Nikon calls, I'll have to decide.

Black Friday Deals

There are some HUGE deals out there. All of them end on December 2, though, so no procrastinating, hear?

ADOBE

The biggest one is from Adobe. ANYONE can get in on the Photographer's package from now until December 2, regardless of whether they've been Adobe customers in the past. Here's the deal: you get Photoshop CC – that's the FULL Photoshop program – and Lightroom 5, both for the amazing price of $9.99 (US + Taxes) per month. You need to sign up for at least one year – that's a $120 commitment – and they have categorically stated that the price will not jump up after the year (although they give themselves a legal out...).

Considering that Photoshop used to be a $700 product, and that the regular price for Photoshop CC ALONE is $20/month, and that they're throwing in Lightroom which is a $150 product, this is an amazing deal. Go to www.adobe.com to take advantage of it but don't wait!

By the way, Students and Teachers can get the entire Creative Cloud suite – ALL of the programs, not just Photoshop and Lightroom – for $19.95/month but just until November 29th. Same link, don't delay!

TOPAZ

Topaz is offering their entire collection – a $379 value – for $199 if you sign up in the period November 28 – December 2. That's all 14 Topaz products, complete. I'm a big proponent of Topaz products. I've used Adjust for quite a while now, and more recently Clarity and Clear and InFocus and Star and Detail... I love their products.

You have to wait until November 28th to pull the trigger. Click on this link or the one at right,  and you need to enter the promo code blackfriday2013 at checkout.

FACZEN

Yep, that's me. I've got THREE deals going on. Both of them are valid between now and Christmas. Oh, all right, until the end of 2013. Happy?

Deal #1: Any fine art print that I have in stock: $25 plus a flat rate $5 for shipping unless you pick it up. I have to compile a list of what's in stock, but almost all of the images in my Smugmug gallery are available, subject to prior sale. These make superb Christmas gifts! And pretty well any image is also available as an 8x12 or 8x10 lustre print for $5. On top of that, we can make any image into a folding Christmas card, 3/$10. You need to contact me for particulars!

Deal #2: A two-day DSLR workshop for $100. And it could be 1 on 1! Where else can you get personalized instruction for under $10/hour? Prices are going up in 2014 so don't delay! Again, contact me for particulars and check the website for details!

Deal #3: This one's only good until December 2. My eBook, "Take Better Pictures in a Winter Wonderland" absolutely FREE. eMail me for the link.

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If I hear of any other hot deals I'll send them out on my newsletter. If you're not yet subscribed, click the link at the top right corner of this blog. (or this one!)

Some images

Not a lot to show you this week. I've been busy getting my tooth pulled and other nasty stuff so I haven't shot a lot. I was cold the other day, and it was miserable out, so I stayed in and set up the light tent to play a little.

This is the battery that came with my D610. In the light tent, illuminated by a bounce flash, on a flexible plastic surface. A little Lightroom, a little Photoshop, some Topaz and Voilà!  

The original is the one on the left. It's Cranberry Juice. I decided it should be a 1977 Robert Mondavi Select Cabernet Sauvignon. It was more difficult than it looks, to get the colour and density right, plus if you look carefully, the glass was slightly tilted so the liquid surface wasn't level! I used "Puppet Warp" to fix it.  

While I was at it, I decided since I didn't have any Abelour A'bunadh Cask Strength single malt left, and since you can't get it in Canada,  I needed to make some. Believe it or not, this is THE SAME CRANBERRY JUICE! Ah, Photoshop!

My neighbour Jack dropped by to talk about the Adobe deal and learn a little about Photoshop, so I obliged him. I needed to find a picture to use as a demo, so I opened the abandoned gas station shot from Coboconk that I posted last week. At one point he said, "how about adding the sun to that picture", so I did. A really, really easy process if you know Photoshop!

I ended up liking this much better than last week's! This will be available as a large format art print, on Epson Cold Press matte paper. Talk to me if you want a museum-quality archival art print for someone you love! 

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It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times

I'm struggling with trying to find something to say about it being the Best of Times. This is one of my two least favourite times of year, the other being in March. The thing is, in March we have the summer to look forward to...

It's cold and damp. As I write this, I look out at intermittent snow flurries, mixed with rain. At least when I got up this morning, there was some white on the ground, but right now it's a depressing state of wet. I have to go out and split some firewood, chop some kindling and bring wood inside (I keep about a week's supply in my 'mud room'), but it's so yucky out (that's a technical term for 'feh') that I don't wanna. I also have to dump and refill the bird feeders, even the bluejays are disgusted with the soppy mess that's in there now.

These things are great. They don't heat the room, they heat YOU. Costco... 

Technically it's not cold in the house but I'm chilled. Wearing sweats, I have the heat dish going, pointed at me here at the computer desk, my hands are cold and I just finished a bowl of soup. And a pot of coffee. If it were winter out there, I wouldn't be cold. But it's not. Bring it on!

Here's a load of kindling. The bad news? That's not from today, I still have to go out and chop today's supply!

Multiple exposure using the self-timer in the D610. Background texture added and a little "liquify" weight loss program! 

Here's what I'm waiting for. By the way, there was no light in this old shack, credit Photoshop. I call this image "Golden Sanctuary", it works well as a large format print and I have a canvas of it on my wall.  

Couthless

No, I'm not talking about the illustrious mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, whose antics are providing tons of material for both journalists and for late-night talk show hosts. I'm talking about something that happened yesterday.

I was in traffic and a car pulled out beside me into the pull-out left turn lane and stopped somewhat short of the intersection. The driver got out and was walking uncertainly around and looking somewhat distressed. Either something was wrong with the car, or... I rolled down the window and asked if he was OK. He put his hands on his chest and said, "Call 9-1-1". I pulled ahead of him, parked my car to make sure nobody would run into him, got out my cellphone and did exactly that.

I talked to him, tried to get him to sit down but he wouldn't. Even the 9-1-1 operator talked to him too. In the end, he said he was experiencing palpitations, knew he was prone to panic attacks, said he was feeling better and refused treatment, even though the ambulance was dispatched. Some minutes later, he got back in his car and drove away. But that's not what this is about.

This is about the several – more than one – drivers who rolled down their windows and made rude, angry remarks because they had to go around us (as if there was somewhere for them to go, we were stuck in traffic anyway). Do they think people park their cars in the turn lane and get out to have a friendly chat for no reason whatsoever? I can't believe how stupid some people are and had to get this off my chest.

Toothless

Rhymes, so I had to write this. It's good to have a dentist for a friend. One who will see you when you need him. I broke off a tooth, long story short the remains need to be extracted and other stuff to follow. Should be an interesting couple of weeks. However that leads to this:

If I knew then what I know now

There are at least two things I would change in my life back when I was younger. OK, more than two, but these come to mind this minute.

• When I stopped working for a company that provided a pension, I should have diligently put money away for my retirement. If you're reading this and you're 20 or 30 or 40 or even 50, you're probably saying "yeah, yeah". Especially if you're young: you think you're immortal and you don't have to worry about retirement, that's way too far in the future. Well guess what?
• I would have taken better care of my teeth. Growing up, especially in Montreal in the '50s and '60s and '70s, in their infinite wisdom the Government did not believe in fluoridation, so everyone from that era has a mouth full of metal fillings. But if I had done at least SOME of the things the dentist told me to do, I'd probably not be where I am today.

In the point above, I said "you think you're immortal and you don't have to worry about retirement". Anyone catch that? If you're going to live a long time, retirement becomes MORE important. Who's going to take care of you when you're 90? Will you have teeth to eat with? 

This is a picture of my mom, age 92. She still has all her teeth! And her faculties, thank God. This is supposed to be a photography blog, so... I took this by natural window light. Considering that the light levels was pretty low and ISO was 4500, the D610 handled the noise rather well, don't you think? Vertical crop from a landscape image.

Featured Images

I couldn't decide which one, so here are both. They were both shot in Coboconk, one is the same abandoned gas station and the other is at the Gull River behind the fireplace store.

You're going to think I went off the deep end but... I actually visualized this image when I shot it. It wasn't night, it was daylight and I saw that patio stove or whatever it's called silhouetted against the sky and thought of painting fire in it. And I thought how the composition had the leading lines from the stairs and the triangle shape upper right and... this image is going on my wall. 

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True North. What's it all about?.

There's a VISA ad campaign around the phrase "Good Busy". Some people think that although I'm busy almost all of the time, I'm "Bad Busy". But my take on it is that being good busy is spending your time productively. It all hinges on your definition of "productive".

Some years ago, I attended a seminar where the speaker introduced the concept of "True North". He said to envision everything you do as a vector on a compass rose, with your main goal straight up, True North. Your actions could either be taking you towards that goal, or away from it. Sometimes things you do have no bearing on your goals, consider them "East-West". That's OK, but anything headed the least bit South is unacceptable.

I took it to heart. I named my property here in Minden, "True North".

I tried never to do anything that took me away from my goal. The hard part is realizing that your goals are a moving target so staying pointed in the right direction isn't so easy. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what my goals are. Without success, sometimes, I have to admit. So if you don't know what your goals are, how can you know if you're moving in the right direction?

This is a roundabout way of saying that my goals are not the traditional ones. Money, successful business, close relationships... that's not what they are. If I were to try to state my goal right now, it's to be able to express myself artistically.

So time that I spend trying to foster recognition, that's not moving True North. At best, it's East-West, because after all, I do need to survive. Like putting images up on Facebook or Google+ or Fine Art America or Redbubble.  I consider teaching to be a North-West activity. I consider writing to be a North-East activity.

It's not about garnering approval or recognition. It's about expressing my art and sharing it. Sure, I have to get people to like my art enough to buy it, or at least share it so I can continue to eat, but in the end, it's about ME liking my art and ME thinking I'm making progress and heading in the direction of True North.

Did that make any sense?

That Said...

I've always been kind of a techno-guy. I'm a "User" now so I don't really want to know about nuts and bolts, but I like nice toys and cool software; but only if it takes me somehow in the Northerly direction. I consider spending time learning how to use the latest hardware or software to be Northeasterly or Northwesterly endeavours, but sometimes you can get sidetracked. The last week or so is a case in point. Here's what happened.

I got the new Nikon D610. Marvellous beast, not a big learning curve because after all, it's just a D600 without dust measles (I hope...). But then Adobé threw a monkey wrench in the works and I spent the equivalent of a full working day trying to figure out how to upload readable RAW files from it, then setting up the workflow to make it happen (I'm still shooting RAW + JPEG just in case. Remind me to fix that tomorrow!). I also wrote about it so if any of you are in the same boat, wander over to my TechBlog here to read how. When Adobé gets around to releasing a new version of ACR/LR, it'll be moot.

Then I read that Google (alias Nik Software) had released an update to the Nik suite and I didn't get it because, I discovered, I had disabled automatic update. Another couple of hours... I installed it and discovered that it killed my go-to HDR program, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, when I tried to access it through Lightroom (it still worked in Photoshop, though). Instead of seeing a proper image, here's what I saw:

The new Analog Efex Pro looked similar when invoked directly from Lightroom:

More time, trying to figure it out. Then I tracked down a helpdesk at Google and sent them an email. KUDOS to Google: a real live human being (who doesn't say, "I can certainly help you with that problem" with a South-Asian accent) responded within a day and solved it. It has to do with how it accesses the GPU through Lightroom. If that's Greek to you, join the club. But he offered three solutions for me to try, and #2 worked. If you're in the same boat, I'm writing it up on the tech blog, but it's not ready yet so check over there later or email me and I'll share their email to me. Figure 3 or 4 more hours, what with rebooting and trying it and rinse and repeat and rinse...

By the way, go to http://www.google.com/nikcollection/ to try the Nik Suite. 15 day free trial, $149 to buy the whole shebang.

Next, along came Topaz. I love Topaz Adjust and Clarity. I sat in on a webinar that mostly dealt with Topaz ReMask and decided I wanted it. Download (the whole suite), install... test... with the Webinar, another half day. Flawless, easy install. Topaz sells their individual products separately or you can buy the whole suite -- pricey at $379 but worth it. 30-day free trial, use this link so I can get my brownie points! (Once you're there, click on "B&W Effects". It's on sale until November 19th at half price. Enter coupon code novbw.

So how many days is that going, at the very best, NorthEast or NorthWest? But I'm sure these tools will help me express myself better. Next project? Another Blurb book. True North? I don't know...

I promised you pictures

Yes indeed. D610 pictures. With all this computer stuff and trips to Toronto and rain... I still got out and shot a few.

All the leaves are down. The starkness of the naked trees is brought out by the incredible resolution of the D610. I want to work on this picture more in a little while. Maybe a black and white... 

About halfway down the trail was this fallen tree, due to the heavy weather we've been having. I went home and got a saw and axe (I could have winched it out of the way but that would have damaged the trees it was resting on) so that I could continue down the trail. These two shots are HDRs but they need a bit more processing. 

Speaking of more processing, here's an abandoned gas station in Coboconk. Check out the detail. But I think it looks better like this:

"Grunge" courtesy of the new Nik Analog Efex Pro. Love the textures! 

Here's another "Before and After" from the same place.

More grunge. And a border.  

This week's Feature Photo

This is my new license plate, on the front of my Subaru Forester. I've had a ham radio license for 52 years! I remember we used to hear "old-timers" on the air when we were younger, and now I are one! When did that happen?

More to come. Stay tuned!

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Surreal Night

A picture is worth 1000 words...

...and I wish I had one to show you.

I find myself in the odd position tonight to be writing about something that isn't directly photographic, but has to do with artistic expression or at least artistic experience.

As you may know (if you've been reading my blog), I am presently camera-less. At least DSLR-less, because I do have a point-and-shoot and an iPhone which are indeed cameras. I also found myself driving home from Toronto after dark, an unusual experience for me because I try to avoid that situation. Oddly, because I actually do enjoy driving in the evening when it's not raining or snowing or otherwise difficult.

There I was, though. Floating along at my interpretation of the speed limit (let's not go there...). At the beginning of the drive, the full moon, just above the horizon directly in front of me, was huge and golden, and dressed in wisps of cloud*. It was hard not to stare at it instead of the road, markedly more difficult when a passing airplane seemed to be on a course to intersect the orb, and in fact it did, but too far away to present a classic silhouette. Two thoughts went through my head: (1) I wish I had a camera so I could capture that, and (2) even if I did, there's no way.

* I only found out 4 days later that there was a penumbral lunar eclipse (the moon was in the earth's shadow). That's why it appeared so different from normal! And no camera, of course...

It gets better, though. Now I'm driving on a deserted road, still into the moon, which is now silver and higher in the sky. With the evening drop in temperature came mist and fog, sporadically across the road. If you looked off to the side, you could see areas of fields blanketed in fog, maybe 2 or 3 meters deep, brilliant and clear above, wispy tendrils that followed the contour of the land. The same across my path, sometimes dense, sometimes thin, certainly not contiguous. Its presence related to altitude, so when the road dipped, you dropped into the clouds, as you peaked a hill, you came out. All the while, the moon glared balefully down from its position straight ahead.

I'm listening to music, stored on my iPhone and played back through the multi-speaker sound system in the car. I'm surrounded by Rhoda Scott's interpretation of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Link) (which you may recognize as the theme from Arthur Clarke's "2001, A Space Odyssey" or if you're more classically educated, as Richard Strauss's 1896 tone poem), a maestro performance on the Hammond B3 organ. Her nuances probe your mind like alien tentacles. Surreal. It ends, to be followed by Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", (Link) and Neil Larsen's inspired B3 solo* where he expresses and shares his soul.

* Writing this note after the fact, of course. You should know that I was up until almost 4am, sitting at the keyboard (piano, not computer), trying to emulate this solo without measurable success. I wish (a) I had a B3 and (b) that I could play. OK, I wish (b) before (a). I got some of the emotion into it, but the playback sounds horrible because I don't have the talent. If I could come back in another life it would be as a musician. Just sayin...

PS: if you're into virtuoso music, you have to watch (or listen to at least) Barbara Dennerlein playing "Georgia" (here). When she switches the lower keyboard to piano mode she especially shows off her talent. I get lost in her music.

Now you turn into a narrower back road and suddenly you pass under arched trees, whose branches meet overhead like the crossed swords of an honour guard, like dancers holding hands, and the fog is back. You can't really see the road surface, you are soaring through the misty clouds, tunnelling through the ghostly sentinels of nearly naked trees in the surreal light of the moon.

The road opens up. Trees have been cleared away from the verges so your view ahead is wide and unimpeded. With the brights on, your headlights brush the evergreens, painting them with light so they stand out against the dark sky. Now there's an oncoming car, still below the horizon. His lights illuminate the fog or low cloud, reminiscent of a movie scene where they're trying to imply a distant explosion, just below your sightline. Then he crests the hill and his headlights explode upon your vision. Still shrouded in cloud, you think of alien spacecraft approaching through the mist.

Two thoughts went through my head: (1) I wish I had a camera and (2) even if I did, there's no way I could capture this.

Surreal, to say the least. I wish I had had a camera but then there was no way I could have captured the moment. I wish I had a paintbrush and the creativity to know how to use it. But for now that moment has to remain locked into my memory and maybe some day in another life, I'll be able to bring it out and share it with you.

This looks like a great deal

Normally I'm not a fan of off-brand lenses but the Tokina 11-16mm DX f/2.8 looks like a winner, especially at less than $500, which is what B&H is selling it for now. Links here: Nikon Mount       Canon Mount

Ken Rockwell rates it very high, better than the OEM lenses and it's actually wider and faster. Doesn't work on full frame sensors, though, too bad. It's not a brand new lens, it's been around for a few years, but the price reduction makes it attractive!

Backup Strategy and Tactics

I've outgrown my backup drives. It was inevitable. Like the old saw about hard drive failures, it's not if, it's when. and my time has come. I have over 80,000 images in my archive, all by the way, in a single Lightroom catalog. The pictures are mostly RAW files and they add up to almost 2Tb, and that's the capacity of my largest external drive. I actually have two of those, plus one 1Tb drive, plus a total of about 3Tb inside the two computers themselves. Oh yeah, and a 500Gb drive in the drawer I just remembered.

So what to do? I could split things up, say everything up to 2012 in one place and all the newer stuff somewhere else, but I don't want to. So I decided on a strategy, and I want to share it with my readers in case they need to decide what to do as well.

I just finished going through the 83,000 image Lightroom database. I selected every picture that I had ever given a rating to, whether it's 1-5 stars, or a colour code for status (to be edited, in process, finished, exported, etc) and I marked them all with the "Pick"flag. That means there are some picks that don't have any ratings, but that's OK, I want to err on the side of choosing more rather than less. The sum total is 24,449 images.

I reformatted the 1Tb external drive, and as I'm typing this on one computer, I'm exporting these Keepers (and a new Lightroom 5 catalog) to that drive. All my keepers will be there. It's too big for the 500Gb drive, unfortunately.

Next, I'm going to copy the whole shebang: all 83,000 images to a brand new 3Tb drive I just bought at Costco. Theoretically, the 60,000 images NOT in the Keepers are garbage that I will never ever need. But I can't bring myself to throw them away just yet, at least not in bulk. For instance, there are images from trips I've made which I didn't select, but which contain memories. It will be a slow task to go through those and throw out the real trash, but I'll have the luxury of having them all in one place. I am going to the place where I will only have one copy, not multiple copies of those images.

Now I'm going to bring the "Keepers" back to the 2Tb drive I use as my main storage. So I'll have 3 copies of those, at least. One of the smaller drives will go off-site and the other will get updated with new Keepers every month.

So in summary:

• Grand archive of everything on a 3Tb drive
• Two backups of Keepers on 1Tb and a second 2Tb
• The 1Tb drive is stored offsite, at my mother's apartment in Thornhill
• Working files on a 2Tb external, with the keepers
• The working (Passport) 2Tb drive goes with me in the car whenever I go away for a day or so
• Newly imported files are also in the internal drive in the laptop.

That should keep me going for a while. But given Moore's Law (it applies here too!), watch this space a year from now for my NEXT new strategy! By then, there will probably be 5Tb or 6Tb affordable drives on the market.

Sounds complicated, right? It isn't really, my working files are on the 2Tb Passport with a regular backup to the internal drive in the laptop. I have to harden my heart and be more diligent about throwing away the trash. The 3Tb is a grand backup, the 1Tb is my offsite emergency backup and the second 2Tb is a spare. Of course there's always the second computer and the cloud...

Nice Nikon

As I write this (Tuesday the 29th) I have received my cheque from Nikon and I'm going into Toronto on Thursday or Friday for my D610. A shout out to Mike Krupat at Henry's in Thornhill who puts up with my nonsense. He's a good guy. Call him at 905 886 1020 or email him, he'll be happy to help you out. Tell him you saw it here...

Update: November 2
I got the D610 yesterday. Good news and bad news.
 Good news: I wish I had my D600 in front of me for comparison. I think they ruggedized the camera. My impression is that the finish is different. Also I'm not sure but I think way an AC Adapter gets attached is different. I have to RTFM...
 Bad news:

• Lightroom 5.2 and Photoshop CC DO NOT RECOGNIZE RAW FILES FROM THE D610. For now, I've set up the camera for RAW + JPEG (Fine), and I put RAW on card 1 and JPEG on card 2 –  necessary because if there are raw files in a folder, LR won't recognize the existence of the JPEGs for some reason, so I have to separate them. There's a "Nikon View NX2" DVD in the box but I remember it's a real pain in the butt and hope I don't have to use it. Otherwise, I can't see the RAW files (I wonder if it can batch convert to DNG. I doubt it, but I'll install and have a look)

I hope Adobé comes through with an update soon.

• I diligently saved my camera settings from the D600 on an SD card. You guessed it. The D610 won't import them. I spent almost an hour going through the menus and setting stuff up the way I had it before. Annoying, but I guess it was good to use the opportunity to run through all the menu items and refresh my memory about where stuff is.

FP Flash Sync on Nikons

Ever wonder how the high speed flash sync works on Nikons (you can actually sync your flash at speeds like 1/4000 second, not limited to the 1/250 sec mechanical shutter speed)?

I wondered too, and Google took me to this excellent explanation:
http://nikonclspracticalguide.blogspot.ca/2008/03/10-auto-fp-high-speed-sync-explained.html

Pictures

Without a camera, I don't have anything new. But I do have some older shots for you to enjoy. I call these, Day, Night and Dawn.

After visiting the Ansel Adams exhibit in Kleinburg, I shot this, reminiscent of one of his images called "Birches".  

I put a flashlight in the car but it was way too bright, so I buried it under a yellow rainjacket. Still too bright, but the Milky Way was just right! 

Whenever you get up before dawn, you don't go away empty handed! Horseshoe Lake Road, just before sunrise.  I never get tired of this spot. This makes a superb large format print, available on my gallery at www.faczen.smugmug.com

Next week: pictures from the new D610! TTFN

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