Go Go GoPro

Skiing Stratton Two Weeks Ago 

 Last November, I was given the new GoPro Hero2 camera for my birthdayand I have spent the last few months playing around with it.  This little camera packs a punch with 11 megapixels and can burst 10 photos per second to catch some incredible action photos. It has a bunch of different mounts for your helmet or skis, handlebars or my favorite the chest mount.  The chest mount is a harness that you wear so that the camera is in front of you attached to your chest.  I used it skiing this season, opting for the chest harness verses the helmet mount like so many of the skiers and snow boarders on the mountain.  I found the camera really fun and easy to use on the mountain.  It's incredibly durable so the few times I fell it didn't bother the camera at all and certainly didn't bother me.  The pictures I think are incredible.

Skiing down Grizzly Bear on Stratton Mountain

For the last few weeks I have been up in Vermont on vacation. We were supposed to be skiing but the warm temperatures for the last week over 60 and even into the high 70's has filled the second week of our vacation with exploring and hiking.  This has allowed me to take my GoPro off the mountain and test it out beyond the slopes.

I love using the GoPro from the car for my Drive By Series photography.  Today while exploring I was able to easily use this little powerhouse of a camera. I was the passenger so both hands were free but I really only used one hand. I held my hand out the passenger window and also took shots from out of the skyroof.  

Drive By Shooting no. 30 Vermont Red Barn

Yesterday I strapped the chest harness on again and went hiking up in Jamaica State Park. I also had in tow with me my Canon EOS 50D with my wide angle lens on a monopole which I used as a walking stick.  The GoPro Hero2 is so small, so light and with the harness I forgot I even had it on.  

View from Overlook Point in Jamaica, Vermont

Another thing I love about the GoPro is that it's so small and compact that throwing it in your handbag isn't a problem.  I look forward to explring what other delightful things this little camera can do.  I have used the video feature, but I still have yet to use some of the other features like the burst and I am waiting to get my LCD Bacpac which is the attachable LCD viewfinder.  This will allow me to review my photos on the camera without having to take the card out or attach the camera to a computer.

I'm looking forward to boating season with this camera especially since it's waterproof I will be able to have more freedoms in my photography while on the water.

  

The Ottaquechee River, behind Long Trail Brewery

PhoDOGraphy

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role model for being alive.  ~Gilda Radner

Winston

I love taking photographs of dogs. Not just my own dogs, but dogs in general.  I have four brittany spaniels so I am never at a loss for finding a model.  I find that so much can be told about a dog's personality through a picture.  I don't limit my photography though to just my own pets.  Many times while out hiking or walking in town or at the park I will meet some beautiful dogs.  Even in those quick moments I will try to capture a photograph of them like the beautiful bull mastiff I sat next to at a lacrosse game a few years ago or my friend's bulldog, Fribble who was hanging out the car window one day while we all waited to pick the kids up after school one day.  I take care of a friend's black labrador on occasion and will use him as a model from time to time too.
If you have dogs you know that their personalities come out at unexpected moments, so I always try to have a camera at the ready whether it's my Canon, iPhone or GoPro.  We joke about strapping the GoPro on one of the dog's for a day to see the video footage of their treks through the backyard.

I have used other people's pets up close and at a distance. One day I was at the park after a terrific snow fall - it was the winter of 2011, not this last winter we just finished.  I took a photo of two ladies walking a dog.  From a distance the photograph depicts a scene and tells a story which is very different than an portrait shot which gives you insight into the subject's character.
Here are some other beautiful dogs I have met along the way so far that I have had the pleasure to photograph.

Fribble

Tucker

Apollo

First Day of Spring is Always a Great Day for New Beginnings

"Though no one can go back 

and make a brand new start, 

anyone can start from now 

and make a brand new ending."

 Marcus Aurelius