On the 16th January, 2010, I was asked to photograph the American Balalaika Symphony who were performing at the Strathmore. Make sure you try and catch one of their shows as they were absolutely fantastic.

Combining the rich traditions of the Russian Music School with the best of European and American music, founder, artistic director, and conductor Peter Trofimenko has created a unique American orchestra. Matched against 33 others in the performing arts, the American Balalaika Symphony was selected as the winner of the Great Strathmore 25th Anniversary Giveaway competition. ABS will perform in the Music Center on January 16, 2010.

Here are some images from the event shot with the available light in the concert hall with my Canon 5D mark II with the 24-70 F/2.8L and the 70-200 F/2.8L IS.

2009 was an interesting year full of ups and downs for pretty much everyone. We were (are) facing a massive economic crisis, unemployment was at an all time high, people were loosing their homes, on going war, yet we all are continuing to battle on and continue to live life doing the best we can with inspiration from stories of courage, charity and love. 2009 brought a lot of people together with great collaboration projects from artists who wanted to give back (Help-Project is a great example) and while photographers are doing their best in an environment that is changing against them, we are all coming together to bring new ideas and innovations.

2009 for me was a life changing year. Faced with the economic crisis, I, like many, lost my job. I saw this as an opportunity and took off with my wife on a road trip across country to take some time to think about where to take my career next and really concentrate on what really made me happy.

2009 saw me slowly fading away from design work and more into photography and at times, combining both elements together for my clients.

So I figured the best way to sum up 2009 is using pictures. Click on each photo for a very quite sentence about the photo.

So how was your year? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Great Falls National Park - Tony Eckersley

EXIF:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

• Exposure: 0.6 sec
  
• Aperture: f/16.0
  
• Focal Length: 70 mm
  
• ISO Speed: 50
  

A wintery photo I took a few weekends ago on my way home from a meeting… With Great Falls National Park being the closest park to home, I like to stop in when I can, especially at this time of year where it is very quiet, peaceful, yet rough in the conditions of the falls.

There is a little bit of Post Production done to this photo, so let me explain a little:

This is 3 exposures combined, but not a HDR. I like to experiment with different exposures and water to create interesting textures, so what you see here is -2 / 0 / +2 overlapped to generate this unique water feel. The water has a very choppy feel to it, while still containing that milky feel from a long exposure. For a place like this I feel it is perfect to show the rough conditions and bring the viewer more into the picture. I generally use the Luminosity blending mode, mixed with lighten and darken. It’s all part of bringing the water to life and really pushes it away from the results you see with one exposure.

I boosted the colors in the sky a little too. The winter sun set had created a nice purple hue, but the blues had been washed out a little, so I upped the blue saturation a little.

I also added clarity to give the rocks a bit of a punch, but the sky exposure and water exposure come from using a grad ND filter (0.9) which helps bring out the shadows in the rocks.

On December 4, 2009 over a hundred people descended on Bethesda Lane startling shoppers with a surprise performance in celebration of Strathmores upcoming world premiere performances of Take Joy! A new holiday show, Take Joy! reminds us that amid the hurry and hassles of the holidays we can find light and joy with each other.

I filmed the above video with the Canon 5D mark II with a 24-70mm F/2.8 lens on a Cavision Shoulder Mount. My job was to rush around capturing people’s expressions of the surprise event and edit it together with some footage of a stabilized camera mounted above the event (shame that wasn’t a Canon 5D mkII!). It was a lot of fun and a great number of people were certainly surprised!

It was a tough place to film with people bumping into you, freezing temperatures (adding more camera shake), constantly changing focus as your moving, but we wanted to give the viewer the impression they were wandering around the crowd and I think we managed that quite well.

Something a little different from me today…

While travel and landscape photography is my ‘thing,’ I have also dabbled in other areas of photography, especially while transitioning and forming my career path from graphic designer to photographer. Over the summer I was presented with the opportunity to shoot the wedding of two good friends of mine after their photographer of choice couldn’t make it at the last minute. I had never shot a wedding before, but one of my mentors is a wedding photographer and through him I had picked up some great tips. He also shot my wedding back in September 2007! After doing a lot of research with some of my favorite wedding photographers out there, I put together my game plan and ultimately applied my style of shooting to the event, one that had a very ‘documentary/journalistic’ feel to it, rather than posing the couple. That’s just the way I prefer to shoot people, trying my best to become invisible while shooting their special day.

The wedding itself was a beautiful event. It was a hybrid between a traditional Indian Wedding and a traditional American Wedding and keeping with Indian traditions, there was a Mehndi party the night before. Well, I guess it was a cross between a traditional Mehndi party and American party. The ceremony was held at bride’s place that included food, drink, Bollywood movies, and my wife and friend become henna designers, applying mehndi to the bride’s hands.

Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to do an “engagement” shoot with the couple, but we may try and get together soon to do one…

Again, this was my first ever wedding shoot and while I do not plan on adding it to my services offered, I had a lot of fun and have since had a few more offers to do others weddings in the future. But ultimately, I love photographing people and I love telling stories with my photographs. This was just a new adventure and a new way for me to try and tell a story.

If you have some feedback I would love to hear it! Constructive criticism is how we all grow.

So here is a quick sample (picked at random) from the final photos delivered to the couple.

Toby and Jen before the big day

Jen and Toby joking around

The walkway that the bride would walk down during the ceremony

Mehndi Party

Mehndi Party Traditions

Applying Henna

Dannie Snyder (my wife) applying Henna to a bridesmaid

Imani, a bridesmaid getting ready

Putting on a necklace, a gift from the bride

Bride Getting Ready

Accessories

Bride almost ready

Jen almost ready

Bridesmaid during family photos

Toby getting ready

Applying the boutineer

During the vows

During the ceremony

Watching the guests arrive outside

After the ceremony, taking a break before the first dance

Toasting the happy couple

Toby dancing with his Mother

Jen dancing with her Father

Andrew and Kim dancing

Wedding Cake

Dannie (my wife) and Kim perform a traditional Indian dance

Dancing away the night

The Colorado River

When I was really young, I remember taking a trip to Yosemite National Park and hearing this name over and over again that ultimately defined photography of the American West. The name ‘Ansel Adams’ stuck with me from that moment and has been an inspiration behind my vision for Landscape photography, just like so many. Recently, after entering the Ansel Adams National Park Photo Contest, I decided to go and photograph my local National Park and processing the images with a black and white techniques loosely based on old Dark Room Techniques (dodging and burning, but no chemical mixing!) to appreciate detail in the park that some may skip over with a color photograph.

There are some similar shots here, but it’s just from one visit. Expect more soon.

Click here to see my collection of photos from Great Falls National Park.

Great Falls National Park

Fall Detail

Kayakers takeoff point

Fall detail

Great Falls Overlook

Fall Detail

I remember a Travel documentary I saw about 5 years ago on the BBC and it was asking people if they had one word to describe the Grand Canyon, what would that word be?

Most people’s choice? “Awesome”

It’s very true. Every time I visit the Grand Canyon I will always overhear people who wonder to the edge, take a moment to look over the vast canon and then exclaim, “Awesome.” I admit that I have done the same thing.

But my favorite thing about this place is it’s color. Like many of the famous wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, etc, every hour in the Grand Canyon is a different experience as it is always changing color depending on where the sun is. The colors in the Grand Canyon are incredibly unique especially at the ‘magic hours’ for Photography. I prefer the sunrise over the sunset in the Grand Canyon. It has this magical feel to it and everyone who has braved the cold and early hour to see it will just sit in silence and watch this great event. In fact I think it’s the only time the Grand Canyon’s tourists are quiet!

I have put together a collection of some of my favorite photographs I have taken from the Grand Canyon from a recent trip. President Theodore Roosevelt called Grand Canyon “the one great sight which every American should see,” and I fully agree. Anyone with the opportunity to see this wonder, should.  

Click here to see my collection of photos from the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon Lightning

Sun Set at Yavapai Point

The Sun at Desert View

Sun Set at Desert View

Sun Set at Desert View - Photograph by Tony Eckersley

The Colorado River

The Colorado River

Dusk colors at Desert View

Sun rise at Mather Point

This evening I was granted the opportunity to join some great photographers in the DC area in welcoming the Terra Cotta Warriors to the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC. The exhibition, named Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor, is running from the 19th November 2009 to March 21st 2010.

From National Geographic:

Soldiers. Charioteers. Archers. Musicians. Generals. Acrobats. Nearly 2,000 years ago, thousands of life-size clay figures were buried in massive underground pits to accompany China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, into the afterlife. Their discovery outside the city of Xi’an in 1974 is one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Now, you can stand face-to-face with these terra cotta warriors. In November 2009, National Geographic Museum will host Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor, an exhibition featuring treasures from the tomb complex including 15 life-size figures, weapons, armor, coins, and more. Don’t miss this chance to see the largest collection of significant artifacts from China ever to travel to the United States.

I was extremely privileged to be invited to this event and felt very honored to see such amazing artifacts and I fully recommend anyone to go and see this exhibition. Click here to see a collection photographs from the exhibit that I took tonight.

Building a Horse - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Shaping a Warrior - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Caring for Imperial Horses - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Civilian Officer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Sitting - Photograph by Tony Eckersley

Kneeling Musician - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Civilian Officer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Head of an Infantryman - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Head of an Officer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Head of an Officer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Armored Infantryman - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Qin's Eternal Warriors - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Chariots - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Armored Officer, Unarmored Officer, Armored Warrior - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Standing Archer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Qin's Eternal Warriors - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Chariot - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Military Chariot's Horses - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Chariot Driver - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Kneeling Archer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Armored Officer - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Armed for the Afterlife, Suit of Armor - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Reassembling the Army - Partial Warrior - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Reassembling the Army - Partial Warrior - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Symbols - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Power and Paranoia - Model of Xianyang Palace No.1 - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Roof tile end with Deer Motif - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Pentagonal Pipes were used in Palace drainage systems - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Model of Granary - Photography by Tony Eckersley

Crane holding a fish in it's beak - Photography by Tony Eckersley

To read more check out this extensive write up at Express Night Out

Photographs by Tony Eckersley

For the first time I have decided to enter 3 photos to the Ansel Adams Gallery National Park photograph contest that is held annually. After visiting many National Parks over the summer on our ‘road trip’, I decided to pick some favorites picked by friends, family and myself and share them in the amazing gallery of photographs held online right now. With the deadline for public voting looming (November 15th) I recommend taking a look through the gallery and voting on your favorites by adding a comment. I have added two images at the moment and a third is pending, but if you would like to see my entries and vote for them, please click on the link below. To add a comment, select a photo, click on the larger image that appears to the right, then click add comment.  My friend and great photographer Colby Brown has added a useful guide to commenting and rating images here. Make sure you check out his photographs too!

My two entries so far (will be updated with the third as soon as it is approved)

Thanks to everyone who has voted so far.

Photo of the Grand Canyon During a Lightning storm by Tony Eckersley

This is a rework of a popular photo of mine (according to Flickr stats).

The truth is, I never really liked it that much. I was going through a stage of experimenting with HDR and uploaded it one day and ultimately it received quite a bit of attention – picture of the day blogs, prints and it can be licensed through Getty.

So I decided to revisit the RAW file from that day and rework it. There was a ton of luck involved with this photo. Right place at the right time right? I just happened to be taking a photograph of the incoming storm (had yet to be a spike of lightning, just clouds lighting up) when as soon as I pressed my shutter I thought I noticed the sky light up. Of course with my mirror up on my camera I didn’t see it in person. So I pressed review and there it was! I had never before photographed lightning before, so catching a spike by luck was, well, very lucky!

The RAW file was pretty dark (because of the dark storm) so I added some exposure – but that’s about it…