I’ve been (not so) secretly drooling over the Pentax 645D ever since I first read about it. A number of things worked together so that in January 2011 I was able to purchase one of the few available at that time here in the US. I had purchased several used 645 autofocus lenses in the time leading up to that. In February I took the camera with me on a trip to Southern Utah that was primarily to fly radio controlled airplanes, but the weather made it a great time to try out the new camera. (Fresh snow in Zion National Park) I’ve still got a lot to learn to be as comfortable using it as I am with my 1 Series Canons, but for a first effort I thought things went well. Here is one of the images from that trip. Zion Panorama

To see more images with the 645D from this trip check out my Image Catalog under Southern Utah Feb 2011. I also have a page about the 645D that Ill be adding more to in the future.
Jeff

One of my images has been selected as one of 10 finalists in the Americana category of the Smithsonian Magazines 2010 Photo Contest. Cape Royal Sunset – Grand Canyon National Park

You can go to the contest site here: www.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/8th-annual/8th-americana-5.htmlIMAGES

If you feel inclined, please vote for the peoples choice award. You can vote once a day until the end of the month. The winners should be announced in April.

UPDATE:  I ended up coming in 5th place overall for the people’s choice award.  Not bad out of 50,000 entries.

In January I was able to get away for a long weekend with my friend, Larry Calof, to Yellowstone NP. Our goal was to do mainly wildlife photography and whatever landscapes we could find. We had arranged an all day privately guided snowmobile trip to the Old Faithful area one day and then were going to join a group guided snowmobile trip to the Canyon area on our second day. It turned out we were the only two on the group trip so we basically got two private trips. I think starting that second morning at about -10 degrees F. helped discourage any others. We certainly welcomed the warming areas. We left each morning about 8:30 am and got back to our lodging between 4 and 4:30. It made for some long days. The hand, thumb, foot and seat warmers were helpful both days, but were really indispensable on the second day. We saw lots of bison, some elk, a number of birds, a long long range coyote, and the highlight was this little guy below.

If you get a chance for a winter trip to Yellowstone, I highly recommend it. (But make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes.) With one rider on the sled I was able to strap my photo backpack on the back of the second seat and tie a duffle bag across the second seat. That held my Canon 300mm f/2.8 with the 1.4 extender as well as a Gitzo monopod. I was also using a new Canon 70-300mm L lens on my 1Ds Mk III which I carried zipped inside my outer shell. (Great for quick handheld shots, like the fox above). Larry had his 1Ds Mk III strapped across the back seat of his snow machine. Neither of us had battery problems. Those big Canon batteries were still going strong at the end of the day. The images from this trip are in the Image Catalog in Yellowstone January 2011.

At the end of October I joined Steve Kossack on a photography workshop to Big Bend National Park in Texas. I had a great time and brought back some good images. It was fun to spend time with old friends and meet new ones. Sunrise Over Pine Valley with Cactus

If you havent been to Big Bend you really should go. I put some of my images into a video slide show. I hope you enjoy it.

To see other playback options, right click the video and select “Watch this on Vimeo.”

The images from that trip can be seen in the Image Catalog in Big Bend October 2010.

Jeff