View 78: Hope

Luminaries spell out Hope on the bleachers of the Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium as the walkers stop for the luminaria service which celebrates cancer survivors during the Baldwinsville, New York, Relay for Life Cancer fund raiser on Friday, June 19, 2009.

Luminaries spell out "Hope" on the bleachers of the Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium as the walkers stop for the luminaria service which celebrates cancer survivors during the Baldwinsville, New York, Relay for Life Cancer fund raiser on Friday, June 19, 2009.

I attended this year’s American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Baldwinsville at the high school sports stadium last Friday evening. The highlight of the evening is the Luminaria Service or candlelight vigil held at nightfall to honor cancer survivors and to remember those lost to cancer. The luminaria candles line the track and are left burning throughout the night as a reminder to participants the importance of their involvement in the Relay for Life event.

Volunteers help light the luminaries as darkness falls over the Baldwinsville, New York, Relay for Life Cancer fund raiser at the Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium on Friday, June 19, 2009.

Volunteers help light the luminaries as darkness falls over the Baldwinsville, New York, Relay for Life Cancer fund raiser at the Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium on Friday, June 19, 2009.

A festive atmosphere always develops around the track area as teams of ten to fifteen people make new friends and spend time with old ones while raising awareness and money to support cancer research, education, advocacy and local patient services. The walk goes all night long with bands playing for entertainment and other fun events.

Lighted luminaries line the inside of the Pelcher-Arcaro Staduim at the Baldwinsville, New York, Relay for Life Cancer fund raiser held on Friday, June 19, 2009.

Lighted luminaries line the inside of the Pelcher-Arcaro Staduim at the Baldwinsville, New York, Relay for Life Cancer fund raiser held on Friday, June 19, 2009.

Besides the teams raising money. Each luminary placed on the track represents a small donation to the American Cancer Society.

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View 77: Reception Kiss

The Wedding Couple share a kiss before friends and family at their reception.

The Wedding Couple share a kiss before friends and family at their reception.

Remember my friend who let me borrow his Nikon D700? Well, he did have an ulterior motive as I used it this weekend to photograph his daughter’s wedding. Here, she and her beau share a kiss at their table during the reception.

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Reining Horses

I have been photographing horse shows at the New York State Fairgrounds indoor horse arena called the Coliseum for the last 15 years.  I’ve never been happy with my results.  Having to resort to slow shutters and panning or use flash which wasn’t very flattering to the rider or horse.

Last weekend I attended the Central New York Reining Horse Association Show with a friend’s Nikon D700 camera and my Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8 lens.  If there was any doubt in my mind this will be my next camera, it is totally gone now.  I was able to set the shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and get great exposures with ISO ranging between 2000 and 6400.

Reining horses are famous for their sliding stops like this one (ISO was 3600 here).

Reining horse digs into the dirt at the CNY Reining Horse Association Show in Syracuse, New York.

Reining horse digs into the dirt at the CNY Reining Horse Association Show in Syracuse, New York.

The Nikon D700 has a fast continuous shutter mode and 3D auto focus tracking so I caught this sequence of one of the riders coming in for a stop (ISO ranged between 2000 and 4000 through this photos).

Reining horse sliding stop sequence.

Reining horse sliding stop sequence.

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View 76: Red Wolf

Red Wolf in the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Burnet Park, Syracuse, New York.

Red Wolf in the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Burnet Park, Syracuse, New York.

An endangered Red Wolf looks out at me from his enclosure at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York. Rosamond Gifford Zoo is part of the Red Wolf Recovery Project to insure a viable population in hopes to introduce more wolves back into the wild.

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People on Parade

I ask you, is there anything more American than a small town parade?

Hey, look!  Im in a parade!

Hey, look! I'm in a parade!

Red, white and blue all over and kids finding a way to last a long parade route.

Red, white and blue wagon.

Red, white and blue wagon.

American built push carts powered by Cub Scouts.

High fuel costs? No problem!

High fuel costs? No problem!

There’s one in every parade.

Too cute not to photograph.

Too cute not to photograph.

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