Archive for the ‘miscellaneous’ Category

Season finale 200 lap Enduro at the Petaluma Speedway

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

Last night, the Petaluma Speedway hosted their final event of the 2009 racing season, a 200 lap enduro. As the 39 entrants lined up on the track before the start, nearly half of the 3/8 mile track was covered with cars. The field was made up of a wide variety of cars including a Volvo, a Lincoln Towncar, 2 Ford Falcons, a Toyota Corolla, lots of Chevy Monte Carlos, and a bunch of others. Rules of the enduro were simple. No yellow flags. If a car died, it was left on the track for the rest of the race right where it died and the driver and co-driver remained inside.

Petaluma Speedway Enduro

Congrats to Danny Marsh (shown above) for his first race in his 1964 Ford Falcon.

Check out the full gallery of photos.

Baby photos

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

The goal for yesterday was to get some shots of the J24 National Championships that could be used for the J-Boats calendar. The sun was out after a week of fog, but the wind never materialized. What to do instead – baby photos. Congrats Meredith and Blair!

baby photo baby photo

Dollar bill hemp stamp

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

I’ve seen lots of Where’s George stamps and other messages written on dollar bills but this is a new one for me…

dollar bill hemp stamp

Visit to the Marine Mammal Center

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

I have shot photos before at the charity fun run supporting the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands, but until yesterday, I had never been to the center. It’s a new facility that gives visitors a close-up view of the animals receiving care.

marin marine mammal center

marin marine mammal center

San Francisco photo safari. Who’s game?

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

After request from several friends, I’m starting to organize a photo walk in San Francisco. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Here’s the idea…

Everyone brings their camera gear and we go on a group hike (safari) in a neighborhood of San Francisco. The walk will take us past several San Francisco vistas and along the way we’ll get to experience the atmosphere of the particular neighborhood. By walking, we’ll get to see things that we would normally just cruise right by.

Everyone should have a general understanding of how their camera and equipment operates but I will provide some coaching and tips as we go. We can also trade gear within the group so people can try new lenses, etc.

At the end of the safari, we’ll take a look at everyones’ photos and do a group critique.

A couple other variations I’m considering:

  • I can organize lens rentals so everyone has the same lens to work with. This way we could really see the differences in the styles of the various photographers.
  • We could do a musical chairs type arrangement with a variety of lens types with each person getting their chance to try each one. At one location you might “have” to shoot with the telephoto while someone else is using a wide angle. Then at the next location everyone would switch.

Please let me know if this sounds like something you would be interested in. Also, suggestions are greatly appreciated.

New camera ready for action – Nikon D300

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I’m very excited that my new camera, a Nikon D300, has arrived and is ready for action.


Nikon D300 camera

After adding on a few extra components (extra grip, extra battery, battery hatch, battery charger), I’ve boosted it up to 8 frames per second, faster than my old D200’s 5 frames per second. This combined with improvements in the camera’s image processing should help me capture some awesome action photos. It’s only one frame per second than the Nikon D3 and has the APS size sensor instead of the full frame so it gets me 1.5 times closer to the action too.

I’m getting rid of my Nikon D70 if anyone is interested, let me know. It’s a great camera and will serve someone well. Here’s the review of the D70 by DPReview.com.

Cruise ship heading out to sea

Friday, May 8th, 2009

As I was on the way home last night, I looked over and saw a cruise ship heading out to see. I hurried over to Fort Point and got a shot as it sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. It certainly was a beautiful night to be on a cruise.

cruise ship sailing under golden gate bridge

Follow me on Twitter

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

I just recently started using Twitter as a way to update people about my photography. If you’re interested in seeing my latest surfing, windsurfing, sailing, and other photos go to twitter.com/shawnrdavis and “follow” me. Also, if you are headed somewhere that you think might be cool for photos, send me a message via Twitter and let me know. I may just meet you there…

A walk at Ocean Beach

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

I was down at the beach this morning shooting photos of surfers out enjoying the huge surf when I saw this gentleman out for a walk.


walk on the beach

I glanced away to shoot some surf action shots and when I looked back…

ocean beach walk

Oops!

Golden Gate Bridge jumper?

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

While down at Crissy Field today shooting windsurfing and sailing pictures today, I think I experienced someone jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. All of a sudden I saw the Coast Guard boat and the police boat and a jetski with scuba diver on back all racing toward the south tower of the bridge. Then I heard a fire truck and ambulance on their way to Fort Point. And then I looked up at the bridge and saw red lights flashing just to the left of the south tower.

Golden Gate Bridge jumper