Wooden Boat Show and World Championship Dog Competition Rockland Maine.

Thanks to everyone who came by first ever booth at the Maine Boats and Harbors Home show this weekend in Rockland!  Check out my short video of the Boat Yard Dog World Championships below... I am planning on cleaning up at this event next year with a very well trained border collie who can catch frisbees while riding in an inflatable. The dog can steer the inflatable to very near where the frisbee is landing then he leaps out of the inflatable and catches the frisbee in mid air, then splashes into the water... this will easily win this competition as you can see in my video, the dogs in this year's competition were so incredibly untalented, the winner was chosen by the handler who got dressed up the best and acted funny and fell into the water!  Thanks to Jeff Scher for the photo of me at my Booth.  Check out his blog post for a great aerial photo of the show.

Camden to Brookline Feeder Race Video & Kite Shots

Got some great kite shots, stills and a sweet video here of Spartan homing on victory... check it out, but be aware, this is a rare beauty and you just have to watch this video OVER and OVER... Way more to come, we covered this race with two photographers, please request your photos on the request link on my maine site... enjoy.

Setting up a Sunrise Shot in 12 Minutes

I've been hoping to use this new iPad App I had purchased a while back called "The Photographers Ephemeris," available here, that lines up sunrises and moonrises for photographers based on their location.  A good example of how technology and art can collide in nice shot.  I had crashed in the welcome to maine rest area coming back from newport and woke at 4am.  Somehow the idea popped into my head that I could shoot a sunrise somewhere so I fired up my droid X Nav and said "Navigate to Portland Head Light" then also found that sunrise was at 5:12.  The Droid told me that I'd be there at approximately 4:58 so everything looked great to try it out.  I also had the new iRadar and iPad App to go along for the ride, and it did pick up a few cops on Broadway in South Portland, though I think they were just munching on donuts.   I had also picked up the "FOLDIT" Aluminum Foldable cart  pictured here at West Marine in Newport which provide a great way to quickly get all my gear from the boat into the position I needed for the sunrise.  Using the TPE app for my iPad (you need internet connectivity so I had it tethered with my Rooted Droid) I was able to position the camera well before the sunrise on a Gorillapod SLR which is great for those like me in constant motion and want to travel very light and fast.  Once the sun poked up it was just a matter of quickly trying a few exposures and looking in the review screen to make sure I had a decent image... now someone please order a 16 by 20 of this so I can buy more gadgets!

Melges 32 Rounding Shot from a KITE

Shot this in Newport yesterday, using a very customized (by me) KAP rig kit (Kite Aerial Photography)

One of my first really decent racing shots with this set up, definitely "takes practice" and I'm finally getting the hang of it after a bunch of failures, at least it you want to try this, you've got a steep learning curve to compete with me...more to come!  We'll have a whole gallery posted of this Melges 32 Event in Newport Coming up ... stay tuned.

Marblehead to Halifax Finish

Some nice wind at the finish of this race up in Halifax, following the fleet in a whaler all the way up there is NOT recommended... just kidding we drove and spent about $400 in gas getting there... please buy some photos when we get the gallery up, or we'll never do that again, or at least until the canadian dollar tanks.

Sail Cover July

I took this photo in the Fox Island Thoroughfare, on my typical route from Rockport to Northeast Harbor.  There are a good number of  "summa folk" in this area that have some pretty nice boats; and this is just their daysailer mind you.   A beautiful Morris 26 on a picture perfect day. Flip to page 6 of this issue and you'll see that Morris took out a full page ad for this boat.  You can snag one of these beauties by winning the lottery, or just save up a quarter million doing the 9-5, which may take slightly longer.   

Velsheda & Ranger Race Newport - In Retro Digital (Click Here for Full Gallery)

Marion Bermuda Race Photos Shoot

EveryTrail - Get 30-60% off North Face Gear and more great outdoor gear

NYYC Regatta Newport 2011

Cannonball comes off a nice swell  

Classic 6 Meters in Close action  

Starting up

This was during the MS Regatta last year, ram island in the backround... get ready for the sailing season!

Sunday River Skiing Fun Spring Skiing Video March 17

Sail Cover December

This photo was taken off Owls Head Light near Rockland, Maine. A really up and coming cruising harbor with great marinas and restaurants - rockland based cruisers are ready to head out into Penobscot Bay for a week of chartering.  You can land at the airport nearby and be sailing some of the best cruising grounds in the world within a half hour... it's kind of Alta and Salt Lake City, you fly in and hit the ground running...now I just need to save up for that ticket to Salt Lake.  You can tell it's December, I am thinking about skiing not sailing!

OYRA Jr Waterhouse Offshore Race

Some nice breakers along the south shore under the golden gate meet the return leg of the OYRA Jr. Waterhouse fleet offshore race, out of Richmond YC. The Big Boat Series ran a course out under the bridge back in 2006.  If they did this every year, a lot more photos would make it out into the press/calendar world, as the back drops up the coast here are simply spectacular, and the waves make for some action.

My Glossy Business Card- Just 22 years in the making...

OK, so it's finally time to make a business card, I know all the "start your own business" books say the first thing you do is make up a really nice card, so I'm only 22 years behind... who has time for this kind of stuff, you know, office work?   Front is of Soozal wiping out in Miami Race Week 2009.  Back is me on the golden gate bridge, great spot for portraits.  I tell other photographers that way to make a small fortune in Marine Photography is just to start off with a large one.  In my case since that wasn't possible it's been a long slow methodical climb to the apex of the yachting photography world, with many stops at the taco bell drive through, and many a days hoarding regatta food for future grazing...

"The Dinner Roll" on a Kite Board (sort of)

Need I say more, here's the whole sequence...  Remember Jonny Moseley?

Picture from the golden bridge San Francisco Ca.  Bring a jacket and your 100-400 zoom if you try this.

Paddle surfing at Cannon Beach - Oregon Coast

Once if lifetime treasure: sold for a "Spit in the Sea"

How did I take this photo without the use of a helicopter or plane?  KITE!

Reach Race 2010

Tom Kiley's beautiful and deftly-sailed "Snow Star" blasts out of the gate at the Eggemoggin reach race start in Brooklin Maine.

Panorama of Fog Rolling Into Acadia, Southwest Harbor Maine

Fog Rolling In to Acadia, photo by Andrew Sims,
Everytrail Link to Hike where photo was taken

Feeder Race 2010

A NY 50 Classic sail by the fans for the feeder race, who don't have to wait in line to buy front row seats...  You can also just barely see the new wind turbines that have been installed on Vinalhaven in the backround.