Explorer at Large Josh Bernstein

Had the pleasure of meeting Josh Bernstein explorer, author, survival expert, anthropologist, and TV host of the History Channel's hit show Digging for the Truth at the Commonwealth of Virginia's Information Technology Symposium today. Josh was the keynote speaker and did a great job of inspiring government I.T. workers with the amazing leadership exhibited by Sir Ernest Shackleton's during his 1916-17 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Leadership Lessons:
- Recuit/Hire the best
- Set audacious goals
- Champion morale
- Lead decisively
- Adapt constantly
- Never give up

Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Edison Filament Light Blub

This is a reproduction on an early 20th Century "squirrel cage" carbon filament light bulb built by Thomas Edison. In today's modern reproductions the filaments are made of tungsten, which burns three times brighter than the original carbon filament versions. They are really getting popular in vintage bare blub fixtures. This one was hanging over my table at Tarrant's Cafe, 1 W. Broad Street in Richmond Virginia.
Canon G15, 1/15 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, in macro mode.

More MB20

More from last night's Matchbox Twenty concert at Richmond's Landmark Theater. From right to left - Paul Doucette on rhythm guitar, Stacy Jones on drums, Rob Thomas vocals, and Kyle Cook on lead guitar. Canon G1X, 1/160 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200.

Concert photography can be difficult with bright fast moving subjects and rapidly changing intense lighting. We were setting about 9 rows back and no cameras with removable lenses were allowed. So I took the Canon G1X point and shoot mainly because of it's large sensor with good high ISO low noise performance. The camera struggled all night with auto focusing. I shot almost all of the photos with at least -2 stops of exposure compensation to get the band members properly exposed against the dark background. Even with spot metering enabled the camera tries to balance all of the blackness and without exposure compensation the people would be overexposed. I should have taken taken the Canon G15 because it's lens is a stop faster and its auto focus performs better even though it gives up a little in high ISO noise performance. I shot 200 pictures, 55 were totally unusable, blurred, over exposed or out of focus. Another 100 or so are OK but just not good photos. So I ended up with about 40 decent pictures and a half a dozen good ones.

MB20 @ Landmark

Kyle Cook and Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty preforming at Richmond Virginia's Landmark Theater as part of the 2013 Winter North Tour. Canon G1X, 1/160 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200, focal length 117mm (35mm equivalent).

Bottoms Up at Can Can

Champagne glasses await the celebration at Can Can Brasserie in Richmond Virginia's Carytown the "Mile of Style." Canon G15, 1/160 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 400.

"I never met a color I didn't like." - Dale Chihuly

We went to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts today. It is amazing. I really appreciate his work and his policy allowing educational and non-commercial photography of his work. Please enjoy this mini-tour as captured by my camera. The pictures show the colors and some of the glory of the work but they are no substitute for seeing them in person. The descriptions are from the text presented with each display at the VMFA. I hope my photos inspire you to make the trip to Richmond to experience it in person. Better hurry through the show ends February 10, 2013.

All the photographs were taken with a Canon 5D Mark II with either a 35mm prime lens or a 100mm macro lens.

FIORI AND FLOAT BOATS - They would get in their boats and go down and collect the glass—it looked so stunning in the rowboat—that was a whole new idea for me, and it’s one that I still use today.
—Dale Chihuly

This installation includes two of Chihuly’s wooden rowboats, one filled with Fiori elements and another with Niijima Floats. The Fiori Boat features various garden glass shapes and forms inspired by Chihuly’s love of gardens and conservatories. Niijima Floats were inspired by the artist’s trip to the Japanese island of Niijima and by childhood memories of discovering Japanese fishing net floats along the beaches of Puget Sound. Chihuly first filled boats with his glass pieces in Nuutajärvi, Finland, during the Chihuly Over Venice project in June 1995. Wondering if the glass would float, Chihuly began tossing works into the river and let them float downstream. Local teenagers in small, wooden rowboats gathered them up.

PERSIAN CEILING - The Persians—that’s one of the most difficult series to describe. It started off that they were geometric shapes, I think—it was a search for new forms. It was so interesting, what came out of it—we worked for a year only on doing experimental Persians—so I got to pick and choose from these parts and develop a new series. It has changed in many ways over the years.
—Dale Chihuly

Chihuly began the Persians series in 1986 while experimenting with new forms. Originally, he displayed Persians in pedestal compositions, often with smaller shapes nested in larger pieces. The first Persian Ceiling was presented in his 1992 exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum. Lit from above and resting on a flat glass pane, the elements of the Persian Ceiling come together to provide an immersive experience in color and shape. There are over a thousand Persian pieces in this installation.

MACCHIA FOREST - I think it was in 1981 that I woke up one morning and said,“I’m going to use all three hundred colors in the hotshop in as many possible variations and combinations as I can.” I started by making up a color chart with one color for the interior, another color for the exterior, and a contrasting color for the lip wrap, along with various jimmies and dusts of pigment between the gathers of glass. Throughout the blowing process, colors were added, layer upon layer. Each piece was another experiment. When we unloaded the ovens in the morning, there was the rush of seeing something I had never seen before. Like much of my work, the series inspired itself. The unbelievable combinations of color—that was the driving force. —Dale Chihuly

Chihuly chose the name for this series after asking his friend, artist Italo Scanga, for the Italian word for “spotted” or “stained.” Initially quite small, the Macchia grew in size and, like earlier works, were amassed into groupings or “families.” The Macchia here are installed together on pedestals in a group called a Macchia Forest.

This is a detail of a very small part of the piece called LAGUNA TORCELLO.

NEON TUMBLEWEED Talk about a form of light—neon is light itself. But, of course, neon couldn’t exist without glass. —Dale Chihuly

REEDS ON LOGS - In Finland we started making these long, cylindrical pieces, which looked like spears. This was an exciting new form. It was the first time we ever made anything like that. They can be taken anywhere—they can go outside. They are very strong pieces, and they are very dramatic. —Dale Chihuly

Installations of Reeds, or Spears as they were first named, began when Chihuly was working in Finland in 1995. The first time Chihuly combined Reeds and logs was for an installation at the Marlborough Gallery in New York. Since then, he has continued to create these works in various colors, installing the series both outdoors and indoors.

Blues Armory

- The Blues Armory is a large brick armory in downtown Richmond, Virginia. Housing the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, the castle-like structure originally served multiple purposes, with a food market on the ground floor and a drill hall for the National Guard on the top floor. Completed in 1910, it was designed by the Washington, D.C. firm of Averill and Hall. The castellated design was not entirely whimsical, as the structure was designed to withstand attack during riots. The University of Richmond Spiders basketball team played home games in the Blues Armory from 1947 to 1950. The Nation Guard moved out in the 1960's and the building is mostly empty today. iPhone 4, 1/125 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 80.

Gibson "Bona-Bird"

- Another photo and another guitar from Joe Bonamassa's concert in Richmond Virginia. Commissioned by Joe this unusual guitar combines a reverse Firebird neck with a Les Paul body and a single humbucker. Here Joe's shredding on "Slow Train." Canon 7D, 1/125 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 85mm lens.

Not an Egg

- Tis is not an egg. It's the domed ceiling at the Landmark Theater in Richmond Virginia. " Formerly known as "The Mosque," the Landmark was constructed in 1926 by the Shriners as the ACCA Temple Shrine. The theater was designed in Moorish Revival style by Marcellus Wright, Sr. in association with Charles M. Robinson and Charles Custer Robinson. Canon 7D, 1/10sec @ f/3.5, ISO 800, 8mm fisheye lens.

Double Neck

- Joe Bonamassa playing the white Gibson Don Felder EDS-1275 #075 Double-Neck during "Young Man Blues" at Richmond Virginia's Landmark Theater last night. You can see Joe's Marshall stack complete with Bonamassa bobble heads just to the right. Canon 7D, 1/250 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 400, 85mm lens.

Mountain Time

- Blues guitarist extraordinaire Joe Bonamassa plays "Mountain Time" at the Landmark Theater in Richmond Virginia. Tonight was the sixth time we've seen Joe play live. He never ceases to amaze and delight and tonight was no exception. Canon 7D, 1/400 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 400, 85mm prime lens.

Tabacco Company

- The atrium in the Tabacco Company restaurant in the Shockoe Slip area of Richmond Virginia. The old tabacco warehouse was converted into a fine restaurant and club over 30 years ago. The large brass chandelier came from the Federal Reserve Bank in Cincinnati while the antique Otis brass elevator on the right edge of the photo was made for the Con Edison building in New York. Canon G11, 1.0 sec @ f.3.2, ISO 100.