Well 2009 was pretty eventful I visited 2 more national parks, Grand Canyon and Yosemite.  Three of my images were published in David Busch’s Digital Photography Bucket List: 100 Great Digital Photos You Must Take Before You Die.  You should check it out.

Along those sames lines I was able to go out and shoot the Reno Air Races.  This was a trip on my own bucket list.  The image above was taken out on the pylons.  Shooting the racers is very challenging. The planes are moving fast but a slow shutter speed is required to not have stopped props.  So good panning technique is necessary for sharp images.  For this image I dusted off Silver Efex Pro applying a red filter to give drama to the sky.  Click the image above for a desktop size image.

South rim of the Grand Canyon

Gear: Canon 40D, 17-40F4L @ 21mm
Exp: 1/800s @ F/8.0, ISO 200, CPL

On a recent road trip across the country I had a chance to stop at the Grand Canyon for the first time. I didn’t have too much time there but the above shot was my favorite shot of the set. Unfortunately the time of day wasn’t the best for shooting so I had to do some work to add contrast and definition to the far side of the canyon and compensate in the sky for the dynamic range. The person standing on the ledge in the left of the image give perspective and scale, you may need to click the image for a larger version to see them.