Ten Guidelines for Shooting Fireworks

I just wanted to pass along some of the things I have learned and /or discovered shooting fireworks while shooting with the Raleigh Outdoor Photography Club. (http://www.meetup.com/ROPClub/)

1) Use a tripod if at all possible. I know some who handhold but the problem is the exposure has to be so long, you tend to move. How good a tripod depends upon how serious you want to be in your photography. For an excellent read on "how to buy a $2700 tripod, read this by Thom Hogan) http://bythom.com/support.htm You don't need to spend the $100 either but do get a good tripod. I bought a Bogen 3021 Pro model used and it works great.
    Bottom Line - Tripod is greatly preferred. a cheap one is better than none at all.

2) Use a Wide Angle lens but consider a telephoto. It all depends upon where you are at. In the photos shown in this post, I used my 17-55 as I was close. If you are shooting along distance, then naturally you want the zoom lens.

    Bottom Line - Wide angle is usually best. 

3) If you have a remote release, use it. The less you touch the camera, the less camera motion you will incur.

Settings:

4) You want to use a small aperture. Start with f/8 and if parts of the image are blown out (over exposed) then change your aperture to something smaller like f/11 or f/16.
    Wait you say, 16 is bigger than 8! No. Notice the slash between the f and the number. This is a ratio of the focal length to the lens opening (aperture).  Remember way back when in math that 1/2 is bigger than 1/ 4 and 1/8 is bigger than 1/16. Now you have it. The bigger the opening of the lens, the small the denominator. Thus a 2.8 lens really opens up (and really costs a lot). a lens opened to 22 has a small opening.
   So if the exposure is too bright, change the aperture setting, that is your main tool in this situation.

   Back to fireworks. The light will be really bright so how do you tell if the image is overexposed? Well one say if your camera has the option is to set the information screen to blink the parts that are overexposed, thus they are called blinkies. If your camera doesn't have this option, look for lots of white in the image when the actual firework burst had reds and blues and greens. The mixture of red and blue and green produces white. Now if the burst was white and the image is white, you are ok, don't worry. 

    Bottom Line - Start with small aperture ( 8 or 11) and work up. Near the end of the show, you may want to change the aperture to 22 as shows typically launch a bunch of fireworks at the end and it gets MUCH brighter.

5) "What about the shutter speed? Can't I use that to lower the exposure?" No! normally in photography you could  but in this case, if you shorten the shutter speed (i.e. make it quicker like from 1/60 sec to 1/100 sec) then you will make the time the burst is exposed while it is opening smaller and you will get a smaller burst. Typically you want to start with a 2 second exposure. If you can change it to "bulb" (a holdover term from the old days when the photographer squeezed a bulb to open the shutter and released it to close the shutter), then use the bulb feature. This is where you NEED the remote shutter release as you don't want to be bumping the camera in the dark trying to find the shutter release.

    Bottom Line - Slow shutter speed. 2 seconds or bulb.

5) About this time would be a good time to state the obvious. KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT! Its one thing to know it in the daylight and you have all the time in the world but quite another when its dark and the firework bursts are going off one behind the other. You won't have time to "figure it out" you have to shoot now!
    Bottom Line -  Practice before hand. Don't think you remember it.

6) "But you forgot about the ISO is its too bright!" No I didn't. The matter is that you should be shooting at the lowest ISO you have that is "native" to the camera. Some cameras have a native ISO they can go down to and can go lower but it lowers the image quality. My Nikon D300's have a native ISO of 200 but can go down to LO 1.0 which is the equivalent of ISO 100. I shoot at ISO 200.
    Bottom Line - Low ISO.

7) Focus - Set it to manual focus and set it to "infinity" (that funny looking sideways 8 on the range finder). Infinity sometimes isn't all the way to the end but just back form that point a smidge. Why, that just the way some cameras are. This goes back to know your camera (#5).
    The problem with auto focus is its hard to lock onto the picture and the distance will be such that infinity is what you want. If you leave auto focus "On", then every time you press the shutter button half way, it starts to search for focus and that takes time you don't have and it may not lock onto the fireworks burst but the trees under them. (If you use the back button focus method, then you are ok. Set the focus to infinity and don't touch the back button focus button).
       Bottom Line - Manual Focus.

Let's see, anything else?

8) Bring a penlight or a small LED light. You will need it to (a) read the settings on the camera, (b) find that do-dad in the camera bag, (c) find that do-dad you dropped in the grass, (d) you get the picture. Why not bring that mag-light 3000? Well, the people around you won't appreciate it and beat you to death with that tripod and you will be night blind for a while and miss most of the show.

9) Bring a cover for your camera in case it starts to rain.It's that time of year when thunderstorms pop up suddenly sos best be prepared. You don't need  a fancy (read expensive) rain cover (unless you will be in a potential rainy environment a lot, then its worth it to get a good rain cover for the equipment) but a simple shower cap from the las hotel you stayed at will do in a pinch. ( You mean you din't grab one when you got the shampoo and lotion?) My backpack camera bag is water resistant and the bigger shoulder bag is an all-weather model that has a water-proof cover for the entire bag. But just in case I get caught short, I have the shower cap handy.

10) Get some shots of the things happening at the site rather than just the fireworks. It is all part of the story of the fireworks show. Photography is about bringing back emotions and smell is a strong emotion. Get some shots of the food. Get some shots of funny things (like police with blue tongues).

11) One more important thing. CHANGE THE CAMERA BACK to its normal settings when you get home! Many camera today have custom settings and if you changed anything, it will stay that way until you change it back. (Normally while shooting some big event and you wonder why your pictures won't come out.) Some of the settings may include the one that controls whether the shutter activates when you release the shutter or if it waits until focus is achieved. I accidentally missed several shots as the show started later than we thought and I turned to grab a few shots of the people I was with. I had changed my camera to (a) release when shutter pressed instead of when focused and (b) to manual focus. Net result, several photos of folks were out of focus until I realized the problem. Then I had to remember to change it back again for the fireworks.

(OK, some bright scholar has noticed by now that I went ver 10. I kept remembering ideas) 

12) "But I missed a bunch of shots and know better what to do next time!" WELCOM TO PHOTOGRAPHY!! That is a large part of photography. How do I fix them. Probably you can't. Enjoy what you have and wait till next year. That's why there is next year. (Unless you are a sports or wedding photographer and then your goose is cooked!)

13) Remember where the car is parked. We had had several storm cells come close by with warning form the event organizers to be prepared to leave as strong winds, lightening, and hail were possible. We were ok until the show started when they announced 5 minutes into the show, "5 Minute Warning, there is a storm in the vicinity!" The fireworks kept being shot so the photography group kept shooting. Then about four minutes later, they announced a "3 Minute Warning". At that time, I looked at a friend and they looked at me and we all decided it was time to pack up. Had fun finding the car in the dark even though I pretty much knew where I left it (a lot of people arrived after me). The remote unlock that flashes the lights helped. By the time I left the parking lot 25 minute slater, it had yet to rain but I enjoyed the end of the show without looking thorough the camera.

14) Have fun. Don't get so glued to the camera that you forget the family. When the kids are grown and gown, there will be time for sticking to the camera eyepiece.

See my website at www.HLDPhotos.com

Photos form the 2012 Garner Fireworks show.

  After I took the first photo, I spotted his blue tongue and asked for a second shot. He obliged. It is nice to see police with a good attitude as it really makes a positive difference with the crowds.

A kid playing in the dark. Hand held, 1 sec exposure, f/2.8 Iso 320, 28mm.

2 sec f/11, ISO 200 35mm

Camera aimed a little too low. MAybe should have had a wider lens opening so I could crop it later rather than try to get it to fill the frame.

Weird burst, Don't know why it did that. It was the only one like that.

Its been busy with SONC, a Wedding, and an Exhibition

Well its been busy to say the least.

Back in early April, I took some prints to a Frame Shop in Raleigh to be Dry Mounted. (You really should dry mount images 11 x 14 or larger. Please don't tape them. The tape will eventually give way and the artwork has to be remounted. I have seen examples of this.) When I drop the prints off, one of the ladies there looked at my sunset [picture and asked if I wanted to sell it? Sure. So it was sold on the spot. When I returned to pick up my dry mounted prints, she had already picked he mat and frame for it.

Some where about this timeframe, I con't remember when, I also had to get a framed print ready for an exhibit at Wake Med Hospital.

Also, back on April 22nd, I worked at AJ and Kyle Dunlap of AJ Dunlap Photography in Raleigh NC as a non-shooting wedding assistant, working primarily with the lights. They asked me back to work with them again on a weeding May 27th. It's nice when you are asked back and these folks are absolutely great to work with. Here is a link to their site. http://www.ajdunlap.com/index.html#/about/

In the meantime, I had been in talks with a local venue here in Rocky Mount, Via Cappuccino to host my first solo exhibit. In the past I have been part of the Cary Photographic Artists when they arrange an exhibit. display some of my landscape works. Initially it looked like the first opening would be in December or January. With that I settled back. Never settle back. Latter the owner, John, called and said I could have the month of May and June with a start date of May 7th (I thought he said)! He said I would have room for approximately 25 - 30 prints since I was using 16 x 20 frames. Oh the date is like April 15th so I still I have time to order the extra frames I needed and get the glass and mats, etc. Wrong! John called back to confirm I could bring my stuff in on May 2nd! What! I have like a week to pull this together, getting frames ordered and shipped. Drive to Raleigh to get mats and there is no good source in Rocky Mount. Also looking everywhere to get 14 pieces of glass. In the meantime I had found a good source for high quality canvas wraps (Not the wrapped paper prints like Sam's Club shows). With just a few days left, and materials in route, I began assembling the materials I did have.  Just as I finished working with what I had, the shipments arrived with the remaining materials. (Am I glad I took those prints to the frame shop to be dry mounted as that would be one less thing to do.)

Link to Via Cappuccino Exhibit http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Competition-Show/Via-Cappuccino-Show-Photos/22798667_zQczhw#!i=1829124448&k=6r92VPx

Bottom line - I made it and put 26 prints on display, 23 11 x 14 prints framed in 16 x 20 frames and three canvas wraps. The canvas wraps are 16 x 20 and the image wraps around the edges. I love Canvas wraps and will probably do more.

I am excited because this is the first time my series of four railroad tracks (Curves of Life - Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer) have ever been shown together. I am also excited as some had told me they usually didn't sell a lot there as they don't accept credit cards or debit cards, only cash and checks. Well, TWO sold by the end of the month. Curve in the Road and Fall at Umstead. (See link above) I am currently working with a local medical facility to host another exhibit there.

Then May 6th was National Train Day so I went to the Rocky Mount train station and got some shot there which the newspaper picked up 40 of my photos. Wish I had either had time to get the material for a story to accompany it or have somebody with me but I was rapidly running out of time to go to work.

Link to Rocky Mount newspaper photos. http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/content/national-train-day-celebration-1066689

The Saturday after working with AJ and Kyle, June 2, I was scheduled to shoot for the Special Olympics of North Carolina. This is something I have done for the past several years and look forward to it. In the past I have shot the softball and golf games so this year I decided to do something different. I started to shoot the Aquatics but I have this fear of the camera and the water meeting so I went with the Athletics and the Gymnastics events. Loved every minute of it. Took my son along to help shoot and he got some great shots.

Link to 2012 Special Olympics of North Carolina  http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Sports/SONC-2012/23365744_qNgTq7#!i=1888989083&k=6VSCmhR

Then on June 9th, I got to shoot a wedding with Chris Nieto of Nieto Photography. (Here's a link to his site and the wedding http://www.nietophotography.com/Client-Galleries/Weddings-2012/Lauren-Sealey-June-9th-2012/20300025_vpDqMQ#!i=1906177455&k=NpNpvZx ).

My photos have just been released and on my website. The bride and groom were a blast to work with. If you look at the website in the wedding section, you will wee that on photo 4500, just as the minister says y'all are and the bride and groom kiss, the groomsmen pull out waterguns and start shooting the bride and groom!

Link to the infamous watergun shootout http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Weddings/Sealey-Dail/23748096_9jwPcR#!i=1923448246&k=G8K4FSR

Later when we were shooting down by the lake, I handed the groom one of the waterguns (which he swears he knew nothing about1) and the couple took it from there. They played around and had a great time and I got some great shots.

Link to the Lakeside shots http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Weddings/Sealey-Dail/23748096_9jwPcR#!i=1923540983&k=9fqkMN2

WHAT ELSE? Oh yeah, one more thing. Duke Hospital solicited local photography groups to submit photos to be hung in the hospital They wanted calm serene landscapes and flowers etc. I submitted some digital photos and they selected 7 to purchase! From what I have been able to determine, I am the only one who had that many selected. Back to the salt mines getting them framed and matted according to their specs. The prints were delivered last Friday and there will be a reception for the artists on June 28th.
Link to the Duke Hospital Photos. (The ones selected are the first seven)   http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Competition-Show/Duke-Hospital-Show-Photos/22108716_tw6gg6#!i=1765893503&k=fkxLWFq


I think that's all besides the day job and other usual stuff (A/C not working on Pilot and temps are 96, so what else is new? )

Photographers are Terrorists in England too!

Well, if misery loves company, it t appears that photographers in England are being treated like those in America, suspect terrorists. Those that have followed events in English law and photography are aware that England passed laws a few years ago that if interpreted to the letter, could have visitors from other countries arrested for taking a snapshot of almost anything.

Wel at least in England they are taken to court and now some are being vindicated with financial compensation. In America, the photographer is usually threatened, taken in for hours of interrogations and then released with warnings of "Don't take any more pictures!" and threats of being put on watch lists.

The link to the news article about England is here: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/photo-news/538834/amateur-photographer-wins-10-000-police-payout

Don't know how much 10,000 pounds is but I am sure it is a princely sum.

An associated case link is here: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/photo-news/534399/amateur-photographer-wins-police-payout-update-5-05pm

For a downloadable copy of a abstract by Morgan Manning dealing with these issues go here:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1857623

And of course there is my original post back in in Jan 31 2011 at http://www.hldphotos.blogspot.com/2011/01/photographers-rights.html

Beach Wedding - Top Sail Island NC

Wow, time flies. I had realized it had been so long since I posted, work and the holidays you know. Anyways, I wanted to post a few of the photos of the wedding. If you want to see the rest, to go http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Weddings

The wedding was in the middle of September and the bride wanted a lot of beach shots as the priority over the formals ( a lot of couples are going this way lately). This fits my photojournalistic style well, shooting as it happens unscripted. This can also be a challenge as lighting and other things have to be taken into effect quickly as it happens.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.

  
The ocean the morning of the wedding.

The rehearsal dinner and a walk along the pier.

            

A little dancing. 

A quick rehearsal kiss. 

The wedding at last! 

Glad we rehearsed that kiss. 

The mother of the bride made the cake, she is a professional cake maker Find her at either http://sites.google.com/site/cakesbylizhunt/  or at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lizzy-Cakes-of-Fredericksburg/374145592601755

This was one of my favorites. I don't remember if I asked her to look back or not, I don't think so.

A quiet walk along the beach and a moment alone after the wedding.

Cactus V5 Flash Transceivers

Well, my units finally arrived. They did say it might take up to 15 days. I ordered two sets of two as I needed three units (two for two SB-800s and one for the camera (D300)). Since it was cheaper per unit to buy two sets of two ($50 each) vs a single unit price of $35, I got approval  from the head of the household finance committee and bought two sets of two giving me a backup just in case. (That's the nice part of transceivers, one unit can function as a transmitter or receiver.)

Those of you that have Cactus V5s know most of what I will say but I thought I would give a mini initial review for those who have never used them or seen them. First, some photos and comments, then the review.

Below, The pieces of TWO kits. On the left are two transceivers. Next are the connector cables provided. Then the box with one unit inside (nicely and securely packed). Finally on the right a stand and an upside down unit. (Above on the next step up is a Frio - more on that in a moment).

Below a pair of transceivers. On the left unit you can see the port to plug the cable into, the transceiver/receiver selector switch, and the battery tray popped out. On the right unit you can just see the channel selector dial (sorry but too tired from work to reshoot). On the top of each, are the test fire button and the indicator light.

Now the connectors. With each PAIR of units you get ONE 3.5mm plug, one PC Synch cable, and one 6.35 mm plug adapter. Seems like you would need two of each cable but for my setup of two SB-800s and a D300, I don't need the cables. (More on that below).

A detached stand, the screw-in connector and again the T/R switch and the PC port. Some have made comments about the location of the screw receptacle but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. (Been up since 3AM, went to work at 5AM) To be honest, with the Frio, the detachable stand is only needed for when you want to stand the trigger/flash unit on a table or the ground rather than a light stand.

A test. The units are about 125 feet away. Fired every time but the first. Noticed that happened several times and then remembered the SB-800s go to sleep after so many seconds. Adjusted the time to go to sleep and the issue vanished. Not a Cactus issue, just something to be aware of when you set up the flashes. By the way, remember to take the flash units out of remote mode. More on that in a moment. I could have gone further but I was barefoot and this was sufficient for a first test. Flicker post reports response over a football field away! Tested alongside a Pocket Wizard produced Cactus range equal to or further than a Pocket Wizard.

Now about that Frio thingy at the top of the first photo. Fantastic cold shoe. No springs or screws to fool with or loose. Even handles the SB-900 foot! Screws onto your light stand and the flash or Cactus slides in.

The other side of the Frio. $13.99 at Adorama with Free shipping. I got my first one free on the McNalley /Hobby Flashbus tour seminar. (Only cost $99 to get the freebie!)

Now back to the Cactus V5s and how they work. Once I changed the flash out of remote mode everything worked great. Range is greater than I expect to ever use. Quality if very good. The battery tray falls out a little easier than I would design but is ok. The Cactus V5 does NOT pass TTL info through to a flash mounted on top or wirelessly. Everything will be manually set.

With the popup flash in commander mode, the CLS flash unit (set to remote) won't respond. The pop up flash wouldn't rise up enough to fire. You cannot use CLS with the Cactus mounted to the camera. (Not sure why you would but it doesn't work.) Then I connected the Cactus transmitter to the D300 via the PC cable and let it hand rather than be mounted in the hotshoe. Popup set to commander mode. One flash set to remote for wireless CLS and one flash with a V5 receiver. Transmitter connected to camera via PC cable. No go on the V5 flash. Close the flash and V5 units works but CLS flash doesn't. Repeated to confirm. You can have one, either one but not both a the same time.

Apparently this is a D300 issue that I never had reason to discover but when the popup flash is up the PC Synch port doesn't fire and when the popup flash is down, it does fire. This means that you can have CLS or you can have Cactus V5 with manually set flash but you CANNOT HAVE BOTH. (This puts us in a situation similar to Canon camp I found out about at the Flashbus tour. Nikons can have one wireless CLS group set to manual and one group set to TTL but Canon cannot. Canon can't, its either all manual or all TTL, no split functions.

Now I can hear some brains turning thinking -"How about if you leave the popup flash down and put a SB-800 on top of the camera?" No go. If you have a V5 mounted, it will NOT pass the TTL through to the hot shoe on top (Cactus are you listening - this is the next improvement you need to implement). Well how about if you don't mount the V5 and just mount the SB-800 directly on the camera? Now you lose the V5 functionality.

One nice feature of the Cactus V5s is Multi-Channel Triggering. If the receiver triggers are set to any channel labeled in blue (Channels 1 -5 of 16) you can trigger all of them if the transmitter is set to channel 1 (also blue). Change the transmitter to any other channel and it will only trigger than specific channel. Change the receivers to any non-blue channel and the trigger will have to match to trigger them.

At $60 a pair, they are great. The only thing better than this is the new Pocket Wizards that can transmit TTL info. How you priced them lately? Since most of us have only used manual flash Pocket Wizards, the Cactus V5s are terrific.

Would I recommend them? Definitely. Would I do it again with MY money? Yes, I did!

Survival Lessons Part 2 (Part 1 was 4/23/10 Titled: Let Somebody Know EXACTLY Where you are) ?)

First, its been a while since my last post. Among other things happening in my life were a crown coming off and discovering that I will have to have a bridge or something put in (Still looking at the options) and thee accidental erasure of my primary hard drive will all my photos on it. Fortunately I had a back up and only lost a few days of shooting. Unfortunately, one of my projects of shooting the Raleigh skyline against a sunset were lost and I will have to wait about six months f the skyline and the sunset to line up again and then I have to align my work schedule and the sunset colors and weather. FREQUENT BACKUPS!

On to today's post, There never was intended to be a part 2 or a series (although it looks like that is a strong possibility). This is a follow-on to the post April 23, 2010 (just a little over a year ago, must be something about spring) where I discussed always letting somebody know exactly where you are so if you need help, they can find you.

BTW - Bottom Line and Lessons Learned at at the bottom of this post.

This one focuses on always being prepared to survive unexpected conditions and being able to get out. Nobody gets up in the morning thinking, today I will wade through thick briers in the woods and will get lost. Getting lost happens unexpectedly. So what happened?

A plane went down outside Red Oak NC June 23, 2011. My wife ( a valuable source of seeing good shots and recommending I go out even when family is coming in for dinner (she actually did this!)) suggested I go out and get some shots. I couldn't at that moment (about noon) but I did get out later about 4M. I drove out to Red Oak and located to emergency responders and television news personnel near the scene. (~ 4:15?) The State Trooper said I could go in and get some photos, just go down the dirt road to where everybody had beaten a path through the woods to get to the plane. I walked down the road and he honked his horn and motioned to me that I had walked past the path. DID I THINK, "Gee this path is hard to see, do I REALLY want to do this?" Nope. I walked back and saw the path and followed it down to the crash site.

I got there and got my photos. No other media got back in there. The Raleigh television WRAL had helicopter shots from overhead. I had chatted with their truck crew before entering the woods. I was about to find out why. OH, Did I mention I was wearing jean, a SHORT SLEEVE SHIRT, and no insect repellent? I had envisioned that the plane went down in a corn field or a tobacco field. No it went down in the deep woods. (see following photos.) 

 You can see the woods are pretty think. I was amazed the trees behind the plane had very little damage but it turned out the 81 year old pilot (very experienced) did what authorities said was the correct thing to do when he lost power the second time shortly after take-off. He lifted the nose to kill forward air speed and pancaked in (hope that is the correct term).

The pilot suffered a broken wrist, broken ribs and a punctured lung. Not great for a 81 year old but all things considered, it could have been a lot worse.

So I went in and got my photos as you see here.

 Somebody from the Civil Air Patrol came in and we talked a minute. As they left, I said, Wait a minute, I 'm almost through and I'll go with you." He didn't hear me. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "almost".

So I leave trying to remember how I got in. It didn't take long to realize that I was no longer on the responder's path but on the squirrel and chipmunk path! No problem, the path is right over there ... I think.

Ok, I will head back to the plane and start over. Hhmm, easier said than done. I can't find my way back to the plane. Well That's ok, I was driving west when I got there and turned right (north) down the dirt road and then right again (east) to get to the plane crash site.
Aaalllll I have to do is go west and south and I will come to either of the two roads i knew were out there. All I needed to do was face the setting sun (Key Word: Setting)  and go straight and/or left and I would be ok. ... So I thought.  Memories of the television crew out three that would get footage of me coming out of the woods after getting lost didn't appeal to me so I forged on.


After 15 minutes or so, I knew I was getting deeper in the woods and in trouble. I remembered the State Trooper out there at the dirt road so I called 911 and asked to be patched through to the trooper so he could turn on his siren and I would find my way out. -- Hhmmm, trooper has left the scene. I tell them that's ok, I will be ok, I;ll find my way out ok and I forge ahead through the thorns and briers. After another 30 minutes, the skies are clouding up and with the think trees I am having difficulty determining which way is west. I really don't want to be lost after the sun sets and I know I have gone around in a circle a couple of times as some tres looked familiar.

I swallowed my pride and called 911.  They got the State Trooper back out there (or one of them) and he sounded his siren. I could hear it but couldn't tell for sure which direction. The sun was becoming covered by a light layer of clouds and 5 couldn't tell which way was west. I told them not to come in as the brush was too think and no need for them to get scratched up also. Several phone calls back and forth. They said at one point they heard me but couldn't tell where I was. Finally the 911 person locked onto my cell phone's signal and they determined I was headed the correct way. (after circling around several times). As I headed out I walked past a deer hunter's tree stand I had passed earlier.

When I finally got out, I was tired cut up and sore. I had only lost my glasses three times (found them each time) and lost one of my shoes twice (found it both times). Once I got out the rescue squad checked me out   (I insisted I didn't need them but they stayed anyway. At one point blood pressure had been 190 over something. Then it was 117 over 65. GREAT! hadn't been that good since the Air Force. What's wrong? Seems it shouldn't be that low that quick or something. Keep sitting and cooling down. Finally I was released and booked straight to the Rocky Mount Telegram and showed them my photos. They were surprised as they hadn't gotten any (I can guess why with all those thorns etc). One photo ran on the front page with my name and four more on the digital version of the paper. Here is the link to the paper's photos. http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/engine-malfunction-blamed-plane-crash-550273

BTW, the newspapers pay for photos and the television stations solicitude them for free. My personal gripe when an event like a big storm occurs and the television stations ask people to send them their photos. Another way to keep form paying professional photographers for professional work. If you wold like to see a good discussion of professionals for their work and the trend to solicit work for free. watch Harlan Ellison's You Tube clip on "Pay the Writer". The language could be cleaner but he is spot on target concerning the subject.

Bottom line: Got the photos. got a few scratches (see photo). Newspaper ran some of the photos and I got paid. They liked my work and invited me to do some more.

Lessons Learned: As my wife lovingly suggested, from now on, I will take a fully charged phone (battery was almost gone that day), and I will take my Garmin so I can get back out(left it in the car, didn't dream I would need it). Also will always take at least a long sleeve shirt and/or a jacket even if it is 90+. And yes I am putting a can of Off repellant in my camera kit also.

Oh yeah, the rescue squad said to check for ticks. Lost count but neighbor saw me walking in the door saw four on my t shirt. I picked off about 20  or so. Wife picked off at least 6 the next day. and then found a few more later. Figure the count got to about 30 ticks total. Debate rages as to whether my name should be Tickman (like the old Cartoon character) or Brier Baby.

My sincere thanks to the NC State Patrol and the Nash County Rescue folks, especially for bringing that ice cold water. Great folks all of them.