Photography by Randy Hanna

Mountain Goat, Mt. Evans, Colorado @ 14,130 feet

September 2006, Nikon D2x, 200-400VR, @240mm, ISO 100, f8.5

Shooting above 14,000 feet, I thought I was going to die.  Knowing that I was not in shape for this final climb to get to the goats and already feeling the thin air,  I took only one camera and lens with no tripod, plus my GPS.  I took my clothes down to hiking shorts, knee pads, and a tee shirt and windbreaker on top (plus my hiking boots of course).  I was able to snap only a few shots before I really started getting light headed.  Rocks were used as the shooting platform for my 200-400, because I had no energy to hand hold the beast.  What amazed me was the how approachable the goats were and the intensity of the clear blue sky.  Ok, the thin air really did kick my butt – I’m seriously working on getting into better shape so I can do this again!

Happy photo’ing

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The Tacoma Waterfront Association selected my print of the Lady Washington sailing on Commencement Bay, as the anchor image for their new banner.  The 90 x 30 banner will be seen throughout Tacoma as the Tacoma Waterfront Association aligns with the Tall Ships for future events.

During the last Tall Ships Festival, I served as the Photography Pro and photography coordinator for the week long event.  Coordinating some 20-30 photographers from sun up to well beyond sun down for the entire event was a very rewarding as well as challenging at times.  Without a doubt, a great time was had by all.  Should you get the chance to volunteer for future Tall Ships events, I would certainly encourage you to do so.  You will have a chance to work with some very professional and dedicated individuals; plus you will learn a great deal about the ships as well as event organization.

Cheers

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GOD & GEESE

Nikon D2x, 200 -400 VR  ISO 250, f8 @ 1/250 sec

SOFT LANDING

Located about an hour and half drive north of Seattle, is Fir Island in the Skagit Flats area.  This area is known for its rich farm lands and the over wintering snow geese and swans.  Taken last year, these two photos represent how Photoshop can be used to convey motion to a single dimension photograph.  The first photo is the original photo.  I purposely selected the background for the contrasting red barn and the lines of the church against the white geese.  Although most people viewing the photo for the first time fail to make the connection between the title and the background, taking a second look at the image – they usually get it.  The second image is my attempt at photoshoping some motion into the image.  For this trick I used a radial blur in an off-set direction over the entire photo.  I then used a mask and painted around a number of the birds, removing the blur effect.  The result is that some of the birds are blurred and some are not.  Although the effect is not for everyone, it does show what a little creativity can do with not much effort in Photoshop. 

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Randy

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