I’ll definitely add this to my list of spots for future portrait sessions, and the lesson here is that exotic (or studio) locations are easy to dream about. Sometimes, though, you’ll find a really great backdrop right under your nose.

Gray sky complements this pop of early fall red as wood and stone frame the display.

I may have found my new favorite sport to shoot… The image possibilities in kayak polo are sweet! You get intense competition, faces, player interactions and the dynamic visuals of a water sport.

This was my first time shooting kayak polo, but I managed to come away with a few good shots. The action is fast, but contained in a relatively small pitch. So it was simple shooting with single Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8. This club plays on Lake Wylie, and I was able to shoot from the deck that runs along one side of the playing area. Morning light was somewhat diffused, but at ISO 400 I was still capturing shots at around 1/500th to 1/1200th exposures with the f-stop between 4 and 5.6. Check out more of the keepers at my flickr page: http://flickr.com/photos/agoailam.

The apple tree in our backyard hasn’t enjoyed the last 2 seasons of drought. This spring, however, it seems quenched by early rains. Plentiful blooms smell lightly sweet. The new buds look healthy, and there is plenty of assistance from some honey bees in the pollination department.

I shot this in evening sun with the D1x and a Nikkor 60mm macro lens.