2012 KVMR Celtic Festival

   Once again I was fortunate enough to be the photographer for KVMR's Celtic Festival held in the gorgeous confines of the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass valley, California. This was my 10th year as the festivals photographer and, as ever, I really, really, enjoyed the "work"!

   For two full days I wander amongst the historical and fantasy reenactment groups, musicians, artisans, and festival goers trying to capture the fun, excitement, and color of the event. It can be challenging. The festival is in late September or early October every year and we usually have warm, sunny days, which means some serious contrast for most of the day. Most of the photography is done with ambient light but I'll usually break out a reflector or a fill flash from time to time to lessen shadows. I also like to, at least once over the two days, bring out a strobe, power pack, and umbrella on a stand and try and capture some well lit portraits.

   Each year is special. After shooting the festival for so long you really start to know a lot of the folks who come year after year. I have running portraits of some people that I've been taking for years.

   Walking around with wonderful music emanating from various stages, laughter around every corner, surrounded by characters from another time, I really feel I've slipped into another world. It's a great escape, a wonderful element to practice one's creative pursuit.

  Besides all of that, the people at KVMR do a great job and are great to work with. I want to thank John Taber for having me back and making everything run so smoothly. A special thanks, of course, to Annie O'Dea Hestbeck who is the driving force and true spirit, as special as the festival itself!

 Here are some of my favorite images from this years event!

South Fork, Yuba River

 I had some work in San Francisco last week so I extended my trip a few days and spent some time in Grass valley, CA. I used to live there and it is still one of my favorite places to spend time. My favorite feature of the area is the Yuba river. There are three forks and hundreds of amazing locations for photography.
 Ed Rotberg and Kial James and I hooked up one morning to hike around and take some photos. I had bought the Canon 7D a month before and still hadn't used it. I wanted to use it for the first time making some images that were meaningful to me. When I bought it I was in the middle of a lot of corporate work, which I appreciate, but it wasn't the type of work that excites me. Well I finally got my opportunity!
 This is the first image taken with the new camera, literally image #0001. I shot it in color and then made a black and white version. I then layered the two together in Photoshop CS5,with the BW image on top. I created a layer mask and brushed in some of the color layer beneath. I liked all three versions a lot- color, BW, and a combination of both- but this version strikes me the most. Not a bad trial run! BTW this blows up amazingly well. I haven't given the 7D a full blown test yet but so far it's lovely! What's better than hiking in a place you love with good friends and taking some nice photos? Not a whole lot...