Cameron Davidson

Returned late last night from a two day jaunt out to Palm Springs. Met up with some friends, learned some new Photoshop and Capture One techniques and found out about a new medium format digital system that is going to hit the street this year. Totally unexpected. No, it is not the Contax 645 reborn but something almost as good. Here is the hint. Starts with the letter B.

Last Friday morning I caught a break in the weather and flew up the Potomac River from Northern Virginia to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Brunswick, Maryland (updated)

Dickerson, Maryland power plant along the Potomac river.

In the early afternoon, I drove to York, Pennsylvania and flew with a former U.S. Army pilot who now flies a Hughes 500 for power line patrols. We flew the Susquehanna river from west of Harrisburg to the downstream dams near the Maryland border.

Ice moving on the river.

Snowmobile tracks.

Along the river.

Blizzard number two started last evening. Last weekend the snow was 24″ inches deep in my front yard. (60.96 centimeters) Todays blast is expected to add at least another ten inches snow. (25.4 centimeters) Wind gusts are expected in the thirty to fifty knot range.

This morning I startled a Coopers Hawk clutching a European Starling underneath one of my bird feeders. The Starling was screaming for dear life and the Coopers spooked as I trundled through the snow to my front door. This Coopers has taken quite a few birds at my feeders along with a neighbors. Usually it is a slow moving Mourning Dove. Last fall I shot video of the unfortunate demise of a Grackle by this Coopers.

Out my office door looking toward the deck.

Looking down my street.

The holly trees that flank my front door are zealously guarded by a male Mockingbird who chases off flocks of American Robins who attempt to eat “his” holly berries. I watched him chase off close to twenty robins yesterday. As soon as they would alight, he would swoop in to defend his property.

The good folks at Alien Skin software (the makers of the incredible Exposure 2 plug-in for photoshop) are donating ten-percent of their sales through the end of the month to the Red Cross and the Community Coalition for Haiti – the NGO that I shoot for and am a member of their board of directors. In addition to donating ten-percent of their sale, they are also offering twenty-percent off through the end of the month. Which is pretty cool!

My love for Haiti started with my first trip in 1999. I’ve shot primarily for the Community Coalition for Haiti, a faith-based 501(c)3 NGO whose primary focus is working with and supporting a small hospital and several medical clinics in the North Central Plateau. I have been a member of the board since 2002. Last March was my tenth visit to Haiti and my first to the Southwestern peninsula.

Right now, we are trying to get several groups of surgeons into Port Au Prince and Jacmel. Today, I am working on arranging helicopter transport from the Dominican Republic for them.

This morning, CCH ran an ad in the Washington Post about our restricted fund that 100% of the money goes directly toward the earthquake relief effort. One obstacle is the staggering cost of flying in the surgeons and gear from Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic into Haiti.

If you are interested in contributing to the transportation efforts for our group, please visit our web site, CCHaiti.org

Air Calvary is a 501(c)3 New York based aviation group that helps transport Doctors and teams into crisis areas. They are good guys and are helping many groups with transport from the Dominican Republic into Haiti. The need contributions to help defray the costs of flights from the DR into Port Au Prince. At the moment, there are four secure landing zones in Port Au Prince. To contribute to Air Calvary’s efforts, please go to their site, AirCalvary.org.

I shot this image of the young boy was shot in a school in Central Haiti. This morning, the first appeal for contributions ran in the Washington Post Metro section.

Ken Allen has set-up a sister studio to his Brooklyn location.

I attended his open house in Old Town last night. Ken and I spoke at length about their services and customer base. I brought along a D3X raw file from a recent aerial shoot to see how large he could take the image up and the quality of the print on Hahnemuhle Baryta paper.

The studio is on the second floor with sky lights and a clean open feeling. I looked at several sample prints: including an Obama election picture from Burnetti that was printed on three manufactures matte papers.

He is dividing his time between the Brooklyn and Alexandria studios. He has a solid client base in the DC region with museums and associations. After interviewing twenty-five people chosen from 300 applicants, Ken chose Patrick Allen (no relation) to work in the Alexandria location. Patrick spent a year flying up and down the east coast shooting aerials of Lighthouses. I thought that was a great introduction to this crazy business.

With my Chesapeake book close to sending off to the printer, I plan to host a show of very large aerials from the book.

Ken may be the studio that I work with to produce the limited edition prints from the project.

Contact: ken@kenallenstudios.com
Web site: kenallendigital. (Alexandria)
Web site: Ken Allen Studios (Brooklyn)
Phone: 917-853-0592

Last week, I drove down to Grayson County to visit some Luthier friends and listen to a bit of Bluegrass.  Decided to shoot pictures with my 1960’s Rollei TLR and Fuji Neopan 400, a black and white film that reminds me of 1970’s Tri-X.  Along the lines of shooting with older film gear, I packed my Leica M4 and my Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens.  Richards Photo Lab in Los Angeles processed and scanned the film.  Richards has a great deal going for photographers who want to continue shooting film but deliver digitally.  Each roll of 120 or 35mm is $26.00 for processing with 40 megabyte scans of each frame.

Wayne Henderson, Master Guitarist and Luthier. Eric Clapton waited four years for his Henderson guitar. The waiting list is now over seven years long.

Gerald Anderson, Guitarist and Luthier. One half of the Anderson-Strickland duo. All around great guy and player.

Spencer Strickland, Monster Shredder on the Mandolin and Luthier. Spencer made my guitar, #008.

Wood in Wayne's shop waiting for the alchemist to choose.