Taken at the 22nd Annual Antique and Custom Car Show put on by the Battlefield Region AACA on October 1, 2011 (because that's the day I thought this thing started).  More photos from the show are on This Page of my web site.

October 1, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Sigma 17-70mm lens - ISO 200 - 1/1250 @ f5.6

Taken at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Chandler, AZ on October 14.  I really loved this shot because of the sense of power and energy it imparts.  There are other photos from this event on This Page of my web site.

October 14, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Nikon 70-300mm lens - ISO 800 - 1/500 @ f13.0

Taken at a friend's home in Phoenix, AZ.  I'm not real sure what I like about this photograph but I do.  I think it's the peace and serenity, which is a perfect representation of the small garden in which it sits, contrasted with the raw energy of the race a few days previously.

October 17, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Nikon 70-300mm lens - ISO 400 - 1/125 @ f6.3

Taken in Centennial Park on October 23, 2011.  I like the way the bloom was highlighted from within by the sun.

October 23, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Sigma 17-70mm lens - ISO 400 - 1/4000 @ f8.0

Barred Owl (Hoot Owl) taken at Radnor Lake State Natural Area.  I've never seen an Owl in the wild until today which is what made this an easy choice for my Photo A Week.  There are some additional shots of him Here.

October 30, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Sigma 150-500mm lens - ISO 800 - 1/60 @ f11

This is one of my backyard "Friends".  He was eating Sunflower seeds from my bird feeder and when I went out with my camera he jumped up in the tree and posed for me.  I don't think he was real thrilled with me coming outside, but he will get over it quickly.  They love the sunflower seeds at my feeder!

November 5, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Sigma 150-500mm Lens @ 500mm - f6.3@1/160 - ISO 800

Taken at Radnor Lake State Natural Area.  I don't particularly like this photo so it's subject to change.  It was windy and cloudy this morning with not much elese to choose from though.

November 13, 2011 - Nikon D90 - Sigma 150-500mm Lens @ 500mm - f6.3@1/160 - ISO 800

From a 1948 Rover at the Lane Motor Museum here in Nashville.  A really cool place to spend a couple of hours when it's pouring down rain outside.  Lots more photos from the facility are on my web site at This URL.  They claim to have one of the largest collections of early European cars in the country, and I must admit that it is quite extensive.

Nikon D90 - Sigma 17-70mm zoom - Nikon SB-700 - 1/60 @ f-6.4 and ISO 800 - The flash was on an off-camera cable and held as far to the left as I could get it.

Once again I'm not real thrilled with my choice this week but since part of the "Challenge" is to stretch ones wings into unexplored territories I'll use this one anyway.  I did like the way the morning sun cast a marching progression of shadows along the side of the Parthenon here in Nashville.

Nikon D90 - Sigma 17-70mm zoom - 1/250 @ f16 and ISO 200

I was thrilled to get this one.  Blue Herons are very shy and normally take to their wings when a human is first seen.  This one was the exception to the rule and wasn't very concerned about my watching him.  He was on the shore of a lake about 82' away from me and I was just inside the woods where I wasn't highly visible.  He saw me but as long as I stayed in the woods he seemed to be content with the situation.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 150-500 @ 500mm - 1/640 @ f11 - ISO 800

Part of this challenge is, to me, to stretch our wings a bit and try things that are outside our normal comfort zone.  Shooting anything with flashes and reflectors is waaaaay outside my comfort zone so these don't stack up technically to some that I've seen, but it's a challenge for me to make them look decent.

This is a model of a Fairchild-Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II (more commonly known as the "Warthog") that I built a few years ago.  It is 1/32 scale so from wingtip to wingtip is 1'-9" (or about 53cm).  It was shot on the workbench in my basement using an SB-700 and SB-600 into 36" silver umbrellas, one on each side. The background, such as it is, is a big piece of black cloth I've had in the basement for years.

The cockpit shot is a stack of 7 images.  One flash on the right side shooting almost straight down and another on the left and considerably lower.  To give an idea of the actual size the red "Remove Before Flight" flag on the ejection seat is about 1/8" across.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-70 - 1/64 @ f11 - ISO 200

This is a Common Loon taken at Radnor Lake on December 17.  I missed the original exposure and had to recover it in post processing.  The bird would swim for a minute and then dive underwater.  He would then pop up 50 to 100 feet from where he went down, sometimes facing in a completely different direction.  The shot before this one he was facing into the sun and I was burning a lot of the detail in his face out so I exposed the shot a full stop underexposed.  When he dove and then popped up in this location I forgot to reset my camera and underexposed this shot.  All things considered it worked out OK except for a little noise in the shot.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 150-500 - 1/640 @ f10 - ISO 640

Merry Christmas to one and all.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-70 - 1/1600 @ f3.5 - ISO 200

This Maroon-Eyed Tree Frog at the Nashville Zoo looks like it is floating in the middle of the air.  Obviously it is stuck on the glass of its cage but the flash completely washed the glass out of the photograph.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-70 - 1/160 @ f32 with Flash - ISO 200

Looks like this is the best I'm going to manage this week unless I can shake this head cold.

Taken on 1/8 at the Nashville Zoo this little guy is a Haitian Anole.  He was probably about 10" long from nose to tail and paused in his prowling long enough for a portrait.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-70 - 1/160 @ f/16 with Flash - ISO 200

Not a lot of leather driving helmets left around these days ...

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-70 - 1/160 @ f/4 with Flash - ISO 200

Taken at a Dragon Dance in Centennial Park performed by the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville in celebration of Chinese New Year.

Nikon D90 and Nikkor 70-300 - 1/1600 @ f/4.5 - ISO 200

My best friend Sophie.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-55 @ 55mm - 1/60 @ f/4.5 - ISO 400 - With flash bounced off the ceiling.

This F-86L has been a part of Centennial Park for as long as I can remember.  I recall visiting the park as a young boy and seeing this airplane mounted above me.  For years he has stood his solitary post.  Head held high, a little bit dull and tarnished now he nevertheless maintains his vigilant poise.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-55 @ 35mm - 1/1000 @ f/3.5 - ISO 100

Union Station - Nashville, TN

Nikon D90 and Sigma 17-55 @ 17mm - HDR Merge of 4 Images

Ring-Billed Gulls at Centennial Park in Nashville, TN shot on February 18.  The sky was a completely featureless light gray in preparation for Sunday's rain so I added a gray vignette in post processing just to break up the expsnse of white.

Nikon D90 and 70-300 @ 220mm. 1/400 @ f/11 in manual mode.

This locomotive is in Centennial Park in Nashville and, like the F-86 I have used before, has been there since I was a child.  I've photographed it many times as it is always a compositional challenge that I haven't found an answer to that I like.

The canopy over the top of the locomotive has (4) 6" square structural steel tube columns on each side that hold the roof structure up.  From the side they ruin the composition and would be very difficult to clone out.  This is about as close as I've gotten to a shot of it that I like so I'll use it for Week #22.

Nikon D90 and 17-70mm @ 17mm. 5-shot HDR rendered with Photomatix Essentials

One of the Meerkats at the Nashville Zoo will be my photo for this week.  They are one of my favorite exhibits at the zoo and I can't walk past their pen without stopping for a few minutes and enjoying their antics.

Nikon D90 and Sigma 150-500mm @ 500mm. Nikon SB-700 speedlight. 1/500 second at f/11 and ISO 400.