What a crazy final weekend of 2011. We had planned a family trip to Monterey, CA for New Years Eve. Dinner, relaxing, and so on. But that did not entirely happen.

I set the alarm for 4:15am on Friday morning to get set for our 7:00am flight. It turns out as opposed to sleep-walking, that I turn off alarms in my sleep. We missed our flight. By a freak stroke of luck, We were able to get the last 2 seats on the afternoon flight with the rest of my family to Phoenix, then Monterey.

We make the afternoon flight with the rest of the family and arrive in Phoenix, only to find out our flight into Monterey has been completely cancelled. There are no available flights into San Jose, San Francisco, or anywhere else. It’s a big mess leaving us with little options.

We improvised at the airport and decided to spend the weekend in Phoenix. It actually worked out great and we had a lot of fun. We even got to meet up with friends for a short time who live in the area. We went to the Phoenix Zoo, had a great dinner on NYE at Morton’s Steakhouse, and enjoyed some down time all around.

Link to gallery of more photos

In no particular order.  Here’s to 2012!!

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Over the weekend of October 15th, my dad and I drove to Faulkton South Dakota for the 2011 Pheasant Hunting Opener for 3 days. This was my first experience pheasant hunting, and at the very least I can say it was a fantastic time.

I will say, cleaning the pheasants was not my favorite part, but it is a great feeling knowing you earned your keep. It’s also amazing how well dogs can find and retrieve your roosters. The hunt would not be complete without those amazing animals helping you.

At first I was not planning on carrying gear out in the field with me so I could concentrate and focus on the hunt, but this experience was too cool to not carry my gear with me and give someone else the opportunity to have memories of the trip as well. You only live once and these moments are the type that should not be passed up. The photos you see below were taken with a Nikon D3s and a 35mm 1.8G and a 70-200mm 2.8 VRI. I was using aBeretta A400 Explor and it served me quite well with no jams or misfires. I highly recommend this gun or an equivalent.

I had met a lot of great new friends and it was a pleasure being able to work with them as a cohesive group to efficiently hunt pheasant through miles and miles of land and farms in South Dakota. I look forward to many more great hunts in the future.

If you have questions on my trip or the photos, feel free to ask below or contact me!

Here is a selection of some of my favorite photos from the trip. You can find more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholasputz/sets/72157627926201046/

These are in no particular order. Click the image to take you to the large version on Flickr.

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It’s watch photography time!

In an effort to branch out into more corporate and retail photography, I decided to hone in on some of my favorite subjects of all – luxury watches.

This style of horological portraiture is primarily meant for resale or online e-commerce showcasing. Showing in high detail the piece in question. Giving the watch a higher class of photos to sell on, yet not quite the textbook PR stock photo everyone put’s up in place of the original item for sale.

I hope you enjoy. My next attempts will be to showcase each watch in a more glamourous position and layout, to be used for editorial and high-end advertisements.

Classic IWC Shaffhausen
© Nicholas Putz
www.artbynicholas.com
For more information on photography services: 262-696-9040

Rolex Daytona Meteorite Cosmograph
© Nicholas Putz
www.artbynicholas.com
For more information on photography services: 262-696-9040

Rolex Milgauss Watch
© Nicholas Putz
www.artbynicholas.com
For more information on photography services: 262-696-9040

Vacheron Constantin
© Nicholas Putz
www.artbynicholas.com
For more information on photography services: 262-696-9040

Franck Muller Watch
© Nicholas Putz
www.artbynicholas.com
For more information on photography services: 262-696-9040

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I had a great time with Erin and Grant again. This was our second time out to help make up for the lack of cooperative weather a few months back. This time luck was on our side. I won’t bore you with commentary – on with the photos!

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I went back up to Elkhart Lake and to Road America on Sunday June 5th to watch the AMA Pro Subway Superbike Doubleheader Races. These were my first AMA PRO races in person and i’m really happy I went. Craved a 300mm+ lens however. My 200 worked well enough though.

Many people think you need media passes to nail some great shots from the event, but I beg to differ. Road America is such a huge track with so many hidden trails and accessible spots to shoot from, you can get even better photos from the typical “media” allowed areas which give an even better perspective from what you normally see from typical cookie cutter media photographers.

Josh Herrin (@joshherrin8 ) in the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha had an outstanding weekend placing first at just 21 years old!!! Congratulations to him! Also congrats to Josh Hayes, Tommy Hayden, Blake Young, Danny Eslick and especially Dustin Dominguez on the Triumph Daytona 675 for placing second in his class. (Triumph Daytona 675 Rider here, so i’m a big supporter)

Here are my favorite photos from the day. (Keep scrolling for a funny shot LOL )

You can see more about the standings here: http://www.amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011120&discipline=RR&class=DS&type=F&rnum=2&class_sort=all

Click the photos for the large version.

Hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed the event!

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Tony approached me a little over a month ago about securing a date to capture his life changing moment, the moment he asks his girlfriend Lindsay to marry him. June 4th was chosen, and we began the planning stages to ensure his moment was captured perfectly.

The day went by flawlessly. Beautiful weather in Elkhart Lake, WI during the AMA Pro Racing event weekend at Road America. Thousands of bikers arrived to spectate and participate in amazing festivities around the track and lakeside in the town of Elkhart.

Tony had arranged a large bag of rose pedals for me to pick up and bring with me. We discreetly met for a few minutes on location to strategically plan the shots a few hours prior. At the time we were setting up and planning, the location was packed with people – so I was a bit worried.

By the time sunset rolled around, people had dissipated, and the lakefront spot of choice was absolutely perfect. 15 minutes prior to photos, I spread the roses in a path to where they would stop, and Tony would take it from there. I was in hiding, doing what I was sent to do – even if I had to shoo off a few people right before.

I was so happy to capture this moment for them and the photos could not have turned out any better.

Congratulations you two!

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I had been greatly looking forward to shooting Erin & Grant for a little over a month now when they asked if I would shoot their engagement. We have been having some wacked out weather here in Wisconsin and as today finally rolled in, so did the storm clouds. No way i’m rescheduling this shoot because i’ve been looking forward to this all year so far. Nothing is going to get in the way. We improvise and change our meeting place due to the weather and press on after the 3 of us consume a little liquid courage.

The shoot was great. Erin & Grant are a couple that were brought together to last. As a photographer, you can generally see these kinds of things as couples interact with one another and the overall natural happiness they express.

I had a great time. Here are some of my favorite shots from today.

Congratulations, Erin & Grant!

Click on the images to see the larger version.

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In my previous post – I spoke about being rusty from no practice. Well, i’m getting really comfortable as enthusiastic people come to me requesting to shoot for them. It’s true when they say “SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT” to really get better. Especially after months of down time. It tends to happen here in those wintry states.

My random advice for anyone looking for inspiration – Stop reading, and just get out and shoot. Anything you can. Share, get hard critique from people who know what they are doing. It’s the best way to move forward.

But anyway…

I’m feeling really good about where things are going with my automotive photography. The ability to compose and be extremely flexible with off camera lighting. It’s amazing what you can do.

My problem in the past is feeling I am being rushed in a shoot, and that’s never good. I need to make time and think about how I want to create this shot. I’ve finally found out that rushing myself truly holds me back.

In any case – some of my favorites from today. Really nice car. Great lines. The lighting really helps show the beauty of this car off.

I am really happy. Any questions on my lighting techniques – Just ask!

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Rust. Lots and lots of rust. No – not on the cars. I’m talking about me. This has been a horrifyingly long winter and I am so glad to be outside once again shaking the rust off of my shutter finger. I’ve been going stir crazy.

Today I forced myself to do some photos. Only problem is that it’s difficult to do photos by yourself, with tons of gear to haul around, with other people’s cars. My location was limited, so I did what I could with it. Coupled with tons of wind, and the reluctance to use more than one light due to not having enough weights to hold the Alien Bee’s down – It was a challenge.

Worked with a 2000 Ferrari 360 Modena today and a 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Targa. I have a lot of grand ideas for the next automotive shoots I plan on doing, I just need more hands to make it possible.

Because I was using only one light, I stacked multiple exposures in Photoshop after adjusting in #lightroom and blended the photos to show the car as it was intended to be lit. Shot at 1/200 f/100 with Alienbee B1600′s at full power. Circular polarizer. Nikon D3s with 70-200 2.8 VR (VR was turned off, and manual focus). Used a tripod to maintain the framing, and repositioned the light for every shot.

The photos:

Oh yeah – My 2006 Triumph Daytona 675. Just had to throw this in there.

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Went to the Media event on Thursday 2/10/2011. Great opportunity to shoot the cars and get a great feel with none of the General public standing in the way. Thank’s to Aaron Steele of Behind The Wheel for access! (www.behindthewheelonline.com)

All of the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nichola…7625509626824/

Some select shots I enjoyed. My favorite car of them all was the Audi A8L. I will own one of those big bad boys one day. I love huge luxury cars. The Chevrolet Volt was pretty sweet. Very eerie with how silent it runs. The little test track demo setup they had at the show was pretty cool. The show was overall pretty nice with some great cars and concepts.

The BMW M1 was very cool. Amazing wheels on that car. They did a great job. It’s very small though it seems.

The Lexus LFA is also VERY cool. A lot of Ferrari F430 traits however, which was… interesting.

Check it out this weekend! www.chicagoautoshow.com

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