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I decided to enter one of my pics of the Clinton town beach in the Families Helping Families annual photography contest and won first prize. 

After 8 months of serious running, I completed my first half-marathon; the New York City Half. In fact, it was my first race ever (not by design but my schedule didn’t permit even a single 5K race). It was really humid and that affected my overall pace but I managed to finish at the 43rd percentile in the age adjusted ranking. That means that of the 10,000+ people who ran, 57% were faster than me if ages were equal. My overall time was 2 hours, 28 minutes; slower than my personal best but not bad considering the first-race jitters and the heat. What a great experience.

Here is the plot of my run. The heat got to me around mile 9 but then I picked things up again and finished strong.

And a few pics of me in Central Park and in Times Square…

Many of you know I’ve been training for the upcoming New York City Half-Marathon later this month. Today marks a milestone of sorts since I completed my first 13.1 mile run in 2 hours, 14 minutes. That’s an average pace of 10’15” per mile; not too bad… My long runs were averaging 10 to 12 miles but I thought it was time to do the full half. So at this point, I think I’m ready…

I recently had the pleasure of shooting the dress rehearsals for the high school production of Grease. What a talented group of kids; they’re so good it’s easy to forget they are only in high school. With so many opportunities for great shots and so much action on stage, it’s hard to focus 🙂

And it’s not just the vocals; these kids can dance and act as well. We have some truly amazing talent in town.

I’d be surprised if some of these kids don’t pursue a career in the performing arts.

It also helps to have outstanding direction, choreography, lighting, and many volunteers who help put together an outstanding production. The hard work really shows; the show was fantastic.

Click here to view the slideshow

Here are a few additional shots; it’s hard to decide between the color or black and white version…

The Harlem Wizards were in town so I took the opportunity to capture some fun shots. These guys were exciting to watch and very entertaining. I think the entire town was packed into the gym!

These images were shot with my 70-200 f2.8 IS lens on a 1D Mark III @ 1250 ISO, 1/100 sec at f2.8. As you can see, the images are very clean, even at this ISO. The Mark III is amazing; shooting at 10 frames per second allows me to capture an entire action sequence. I can then select the exact moment I’m looking for.

In between the fun and the exhibitions, they did play some hoops. The teachers and parents were awesome but were no match for the Wizards. They did score a few points but lost in the end.

Click here to view the slideshow…

I just returned from a 5-day trip to London; it’s one of my favorite cities (except for the exchange rate). Network connectivity was poor so I didn’t have a chance to post from the hotel. The weather was OK by English standards but not optimal for photography (generally overcast and gray). So I decided to try some night shots with my Mark III given its low noise at higher ISO values. I started shooting as the sun began to set. The above image of Big Ben and Parliament was handheld at ISO 1600, f2.8 at 1/40th sec. The only retouching on this photo was a simple white balance.

I also had a chance to eat at Punjab, my favorite Indian restaurant located just down the street from Covent Garden. As always, the food was excellent! I miss London already…

Based on a suggestion by Steve DePino, I attended the “Master Your Craft” seminar in Hartford yesterday. Mike Colon and Bob Davis covered a wide range of topics including workflow, lighting techniques, creative equipment use, and marketing tips. These guys patiently shared what they’ve learned shooting countless celebrity and destination weddings.

The session was also a great opportunity to network with photographers from the area. Some traveled 4 hours to see these guys. I’m sure they would agree it was worth the drive. It was certainly worth the price of admission!

If you’re like me, you now have accumulated gigabytes of digital photos, music, and movies. You may have even added an external USB drive as expansion or backup. About once a year, you outgrow this space and struggle to upgrade your disk by copying your files to a larger drive.

I recently ran across a solution which can change all that. It’s called “drobo” from Data Robotics, Inc and it’s simply the most flexible storage solution I’ve seen in years (photo courtesy Data Robotics, Inc). To really understand how simple this is, watch the video. If you are familiar with the storage dilemma, the demonstration will convince you. For more information, visit www.drobo.com.

Here’s the video: