Photographer's Life

Commuting to the city - photographic nirvana

2006-03-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

I'll have more to say in the next couple of days but.. it's been a real joy to commute into the city for the last month. It's a very short-term contract (I'm a little adverse to commitments these days) but I get the feeling I'm going to miss these daily runs on the boat and the photo opportunities they offer.Here are a couple of pics I just yanked out of the thousand or so I've shot over the

Reno Air Races 2005

2005-09-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a 2500 mile trip across 4 states to shoot this event. What follows are a few photos taken in Reno. Larger images can be found here on my Events Gallery - Reno Air Races 2005.650 miles into trip, heading towards Mt. Shasta in Northern California. Shot taken on Interstate 5 north of Yreka.USAF Thunderbirds performing on Saturday. Classic diamond configuration.Purchase this

Reno Air Races 2005 planning.

2005-09-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Reno Air Races will soon be upon us again thus time to make final plans for my trek to the best, more exciting and dangerous motorsport in the United States. Aircraft pylon racing with super-charged, nitrous burning WWII (and now jet!) aircraft buzzing the deck at speed exceeding 500 MPH!!! 4 straight days of high-test burning, ground shaking excitement. Most years I've flow in and the few

New video and still camera mount development

2005-09-07T08:13:00.000-07:00

On Monday, September 5 I tested out the new video and still camera mount at the Bremerton Sports Car Club Solo II event held at the Bremerton Motorsports Park in the south county.This system is the most stable one designed but it's a simple prototype. A second more refined design has been inked and the maching work should be done this weekend. Here is a test video that I shot at the event on

Re-working the shop and office

2005-08-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

After a lot of procrastination (about 24 months worth) I finally decided it was time to seperate the 'bike shop' zone and computer/office zone (or what will be the office zone again) on Saturday.It took several hours to empty everything out, toss out the junk, re-arrange the cabinets and decide how much room each 1/2 of the structure required (office | bike shop). It's not huge by any means but

Getting some good feedback on the pics.

2005-08-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

So far I've had some good feedback on the pics. Here are a few more:Randy Mamola takes a passenger for some hot-laps aboard a specially modified 2-seat Ducati Desmosedici.Colin Edwards (former World Superbike Champion) taking it to the apex of turn 11.Valentino Rossi (World Champ) taking a line through 11 during qualifiying.American (former AMA Superbike Champ) Nicky Haden takes on the world and

Unedited pics from MotoGP are now online!

2005-08-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Just wrapping up the posting for approximatly 900 photos from the event. I have not yet edited down the body of work to that which is most interesting so you might find some really poorly focused shots over the coming days until I get the weeded out on a second and third editing pass.I hope you enjoy some of this pics as much as I did being there and taking them!MotoGP Returns to America -

A new stage..

2005-07-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

I suppose it was bound to happen. My riding hobby began on the dirt a couple decades ago and is not returning to the dirt. Or dirt roads at least. It's always been a goal of mine to go to Alaska and do some exploring. Our family has history in Alaska (my uncle was involved in the building of the pipeline - something I did not learn, unfortunatly, until his passing) and I've always found the

Check out my new MX5 Racing Blog

2005-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Lots of things going on since I last posted. One of them has been a big effort to campaign my company sponsorted Autocrossing car. I have created another blog to document my experiences with a very old but very competitive 1990 Mazda Miata purchased last winter. MX5NEWS.COM is the name of the new domain that is hosting this blog. Head on over there and check it out. It will likely be as if

Taking the MX to new heights in Round 3!

2005-05-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Finally, making some progress at the track! Rounds three was awesome! Between events I was able to snag a set of those coveted Azenis Sport RT-215 tires. I'd read about them and heard they were just about the best non-R compound tire (I'm not allowed to run R-spec tires in Novice class) for autocrossing. Another member in the Puget Sounds was dumping his 14" very worn and heat-cycled Azenis

Woo Hoo! - This Autcrossing stuff is fun!

2005-04-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Wow.. what a difference a month makes (in the weather anyway). Course was a lot drier but that still did not help me that much with worn out suspension and those horrid Auqa Plane tires!Again I managed to take a number of photos at the event of my fellow competitors. I'm finding that having a spotter to keep an eye on your back while shooting at these events would be a real plus. Keeping your

First track experience for the MX5 - BSCC 1

2005-03-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

Man is was a COLD and rainy day for the first round of the Bremerton Sports Car Club Kitsap Kup autocross series held a Bremerton Motorpsorts Park, Bremerton WA. Pictures of the event are here: BSCC - Round 1 GalleryThis was the competitive debut of our little race car. With 172,000 miles on the engine, trans and clutch and sporting only the finest in low-dollar used-car-lot tires it was an

Review: 2004 Kawasaki ZX-10R

2005-03-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

I realize that up to this point all of my blog entries have been about photography. And way not it truly is a passion of mine. But so are motorcycles and since this blog is about bikes as well it’s an opportune time to post some comments about one that I took for a test ride recently.First off, I’d like to thank Dave at Westsound Powersports for loaning me the bike to check out (Here is the

Accepted into ASMP

2005-03-11T03:36:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDate: March 11, 2005Contact: David DeMartini (360) 551-0584Local Photographer Joins National SocietyBremerton, Washington — Bremerton, Washington motor sports photographer David DeMartini was accepted for membership of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) March 11, 2005. ASMP, established in 1944, is regarded as the leading trade association of its

Canon 20D initial impressions - real world field test

2005-03-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

It's been unseasonably warm and dry here in the Pacific Northwet (no, I did not mispell that) and yesterday was no exception.Despite some mechanical difficulties with the photo project car I did make the 180 mile trek to Portland International Raceway to try out the new camera. The journey was well worth it from both a photographic and a motorsports standpoint.Camera PerformanceIn a single word,

It's Here!! The Canon 20D has arrived!

2005-03-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

Much to be said soon.. I've just unpacked it and checking it out. Wow.. I live the way it feels in ones hand. Heavier than the 300D but I'm sure I'll get used to it (I've lost 30 lb. in the last 2 months so an extra few oz. of camera is not likely to slow me down much).Tomorrow (Saturday, March 5th, 2005) I will at Portland International Raceway for the first test of the camera, to be followed

Decided on new camera body

2005-02-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

It was not a very tough decision to replace the current digital camera, but it has served me well. The tough decision was if I should keep the Rebel as a digital backup body or not. Finally, after a few days of thinking about it I have put the entire kit I orderd originally up for auction:Auction Link: *SOLD*Once the current system is sold and a new one is ordered, I'll post an initial review

Digital Rebel (300D) – 9 month review

2005-02-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

The Canon Digital Rebel (300D) is my first digital SLR, a switch I made mid-season last year after becoming tired of scanning in transparencies, cleaning up the inevitable dust specs and finally re-sizing for upload to the website (of course there is still some post-prod work that needs to be done but it cut the amount of time required to publish images by at least 80%)!After shooting tens of

Business Travel (code SSSS)

2005-02-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

Thrusday, Feb 17 10:30pm - SFO Terminal 3 It’s been one very interesting day. I am writing this from the United terminal at SFO, 10:35pm awaiting my flight (delayed of course) back to Seattle after a business trip that I cut short. Originally scheduled to fly in Thursday Feb. 17 for meetings on what is basically my client’s largest and most important

Tips and tricks (part 1)

2005-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

Trying out some new tips from other photographers. Shooting assignments always slow down for me this time of year (not much racing going on) so I find myself busy with other business projects and a lot of reading. Some of that reading nets some interesting tips that I’ve recently tried in my photography. These

Professional Dangers of Digital Photography

2005-01-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Last nigh I managed to catch an interview on CSPAN with National Geographic photographers Sam Adell and Rob Kendrick (this was on CSPAN’s BookTV show, a re-broadcast from November 04, 2004). The topic was portrait photography and during the Q&A session that followed a very interesting set of questions began to be asked regarding the impact if digital photography on the profession.