Saturday the 27th of January, 2013 was the 17th Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge and my forth consecutive trip to cover the even.  And as per the norm, it was cold (air temp 34°/ water 35° ) but sunny. A great time was had by all.  While all the credit has to go the the plungers, some 11,000 of them who raised almost $2.000.000 for Special Olympics Maryland , In some aspects it's just as tough if not tougher on the media. For a lot of the plungers it's come an hour or so before, walk around, change, plunge, dry and change back. then go home. For our media team it was arrive at 0800, shoot the last 98Rock "Super Plunge" at 0900, then wander around shooting the normal and the maybe not so normal fellow attendees. Cover both the 1300 and 1500 plunges water side, shoot more and finally head for home around 1600. A long day in 35° weather to be sure. But I whine a bit too much, it could have been worse, like three years ago when it snowed and sleeted all day..  And I did get to photograph such notables as Miss Maryland, Miss Teen Maryland USA , Miss Teen DC USA

and Some of the Ravens Cheerleaders

did I mention Britney Girl Dale? 

   But apparently the Cold Air and Water Didn't Stop the Plungers from Having Fun..  So I guess a good time was had by all. 

For your viewing enjoyment a small selection of my images fro the event. 

OK I know that an upgrade to this site was promised last year, Good intentions but life just got in the way. I'm happy to report  now that the Chris Klinefelter Tribute project is done over at Speed Vision of MD, I will have more time to focus on this ( www .dougmillephotos.com ) site and kick it up a notch.. Shortly I will be posting a piece on two recent projects/focuses .  The Trandscend 32gb SD WiFI card and the latest Magic Lantern Release, and how Aperture made finding and extracting 1000+ files for the Klinefelter Tribute, from a almost 30 thousand image collection to Zenfolo and  finally  Vimeo,  a relative snap.  

On Friday night I left the light in www.ffphotovidoe.com  go out for good..  I've had the site up for almost 10 years but lately with the new www,speedovision.com site showcasing motorsport events, It became more and more obvious,that maintaining three sites were just to much of a chore. So it's God Speed and Following Winds to you and all the joys you brought to countless children over the years. Well maybe that part is made up.

To every thing turn turn turn, there is a season and a purpose under heaven.  

For starters try this example  www.dougmillerphotos.com!

I noticed I hadn't done much with this website since I spun off  www.speedovision.com and www.dougmillerphotos.com from www.fdphotovision.com, while trying to add the Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla! event. It became apparent this puppy need a major overhaul both to structure. and content.  Well there's no time like the present. Please bear with this mess until I can redress, and redo..  What's that I hear Mr. Anderson, sounds like old 99 a coming down the track.  I better get started quick.   

This year events seem to be few and far between. Almost at the last second, my young Child Bride (CB) and her dance companion decided to attend Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafl at the Pasha Land restaurant in Gaithersburg MD. Reservations were made over the phone for the following night (Sunday) and the excitement slowly started to build for both of us.  Her, because she loves the Dance , and has so for almost 35 years. Me, it was an event, my real passion, photographing events.  I have my favorites but as a rule, The Middle Eastern Dance events are not on the top of my list.. Don't get me wrong, I love photographing Middle Eastern Dancers of all shapes and sizes. And what's not to love, the colors, movements, music? No what's not to love is the venues.. It's a real challenge to capture a worthwhile images of the dancers in a High School Gym, Senior Center, parking lot or worse. Which with small exception is where they are. Fact of life, the girls love to dance where ever they can to show off their skills, and to do this "You takes what you gets."  

But I have, as they say, digressed.  We both went into our usual preparation modes, hers are not for public consumption, mine are more of a mechanical nature.  Batteries  to be charged, cameras & lens' needed to be selected. Which always proves to be a dilemma.  Most times not knowing the where's why and whens of the venue always makes it at best, a guess.  This time not being different, I  decided to travel light  with the 5DMII, a 50mm f/1.2, 100mm f/2.8, and one flash to deal with what ever lighting situations were presented.   

When we arrived at Pasha Land at the appointed time, I was a bit distressed to see the restaurant was really not that large, and was packed with dancers and guests, with space  already at a premium . which built when we came to find out our reservations had more or less,  "flown the coupe".  Lucky for us the owners daughter did some magic logistical redirection and we were ushered to our table, right out front.  This was much appreciated by CB and friend as they almost were out on the dance floor. For me any use of the 100mm F/28, was ruled out. The only other bullet I had was the 50mm f/1.2 which was still a little long for this space.  ("Darn why didn't I pack a wide angle?" )  As the excitement built, drinks ordered, menu choices made, I stated to realize the pickle i was in. When the dancers started to line up for the first group dance, the front line was only a foot and a half away from the front of the lens.

Nor perfect but Oh well, time to make some lemonade.. It's only pixels anyway.  The music started, the light dimmed (I wish) and the magic started. Knowing things were far from perfect but I  would get what I could i sat back, stretched my right pointer finger and started firing away.  The rest of the afternoon was a blur of whirling dancers, delicious food and trying to get that "perfect shot.  

A note of apology to the dancers, I was unable to capture "keepers" of all the dancers due to their proximity and lighting, and I'm still trying to mach the dancer listed in the flyer, to the images.. 

My thanks to all involved in making  Nadirah Nasreen's Annual Hafla!  a smashing success.  The images posted are from my Flickr site but many more are posted or are in process of being posted on my gallery site.  so check back often. . 

Look outside the season is changing, summer is giving way to fall, which will in turn give way to winter.  My approach to images likewise has started to change somewhat. Prior I would accept more of less what ever the camera had captured, perhaps with some minor tweaks in Aperture.  Now more and more I find myself using one, or more, of the NIK plugins, with an occasional forays into PhotoShop to use the AKVIS SKITCH plugin or to provide background effects.   

Above John Brown  - NIK HDR Efex Pro 2,  NIK Color Efex Pro 4 

Above "The Dancers"  Post processing With Aperture 3, NIK Color Efex Pro 4, ApertureExpert’s Preset Pack #5 “Film & Funk”

Above NIK Color Efex Pro 4 and Aperture core tools.  

NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 and Aperture core tool set. Also becoming a fan of the square crop in many circumstances.   

Above Aperture 3, Adobe Photo Shop, AKVIS SKITCH Photo Shop plug-in, NiK Color Efex Pro 4. 

Yes I've been remiss.  It's been a while, almost  a month the be exact, since my last entry. But this time I have an excuse.  Well..  some what of a excuse.    

Drum Roll Please ……. 

I've been spending a lot of time over at Speed Vision of MD  which in case you haven't heard is the new home for all my  Motor Sport images.  Web sites never come easy and because of the bleeding edge design, this one is taking some extra time to fully stand up.  But I am happy to report there is some faint light at the end of the tunnel.  Logos (well at least 1st gen) are done, Flickr, Facebook and Zenfolio sites and galleries are in place.  And if by magic (not ) content is finally starting to appear.   Not to much additional to add right now. But a "Arnold" said "I'll be Back" 

-bye- 

The Barbara Fritchie Classic Motorcycle Race promoted by  is somewhat of an "odd man out" in the world of motorcycle racing.  It attracts some big name Grand National and local riders. but is eclipses by the  AMA Eastern most Grand National Race at  Hagerstown Speedway.  But there is no shortage of great motor cycle racing action, or interesting fans here in the heart of Central Maryland.  

 But is has a history 
Like any bona fide classic, the Fritchie has stood the test of time. The Fritchie is held at The Great Frederick Fairgrounds. It is the oldest running half mile in the country. It’s a Fourth of July tradition in Frederick. But when it started in the 1920s, the race wasn’t even held on the Fourth. The Fritchie ran Memorial Day. And back then, it was called the Delphey Brothers Classic, promoted by J. Paul and Chester Delphey.

This years race was hot and dusty with no shortage of great racing action.   

Young up and coming "Hot Shoes"  like the #30s Jason Isennock. 

Or visits from older members of the racing family - 63 years old and still running.  The bike that is. 

And at the end we saw locals on the podium  Like #95 Samantha Bergman 3rd in class. But was the only one in the pre-race interviews seeing as the first and second place finishers crashed racing to the finish line. 

Or even #62 Luke Gough from "down under"  took 3rd place in Bababra Fritchie Classic.  

Thankfully the race was relativity incident free. Here's hopping the grand old Dam will see the 100th running in 2022. 

© 2012 FDphotovideo - - Doug Miller Photography
www.fdphotovideo.com
www.dougmillerphotos.com
www.speedovision.com  

Driven inland by the projected crowds at Sailabraton  I spent a most amazing 3 hours at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing today. Located Just  south of Dillsburg PA off or RT 15 this hidden  treasure chest of motor racing artifacts that is truly a wonder to behold.   

As a life long fan of, any and all, motor sports, for me the contents unleashed a flood of fond memories.  But what made the visit amazing wasn't the fact that I have seen two of the cars race in their day, or the supporting contents that i found highlighted reference to all my favorite drivers from Reading, Nazareth, Langhorne, Dorney Park. But that every one in the museum, visitors, or  volunteers could, and would, talk racing.  

Like the # 5 of Bobby Gearhart I've seen race at Reading .

Or this veteran example of a midget, I believe to have seen race at Dorney Park a as kid.  

Legendary cars, legendary engines, dusty trophies. they all are in attendance 

If you're ever in the area stop on in.. You will not be disappointed  And admission is free (donations are accepted)  I'm already planning future trips.

© 2012 FDphotovideo - - Doug Miller Photography
www.fdphotovideo.com
www.dougmillerphotos.com