Earlier this month, an artist (Janet Vines) asked me for permission to use one of my photographs to create a painting of an Alaskan brown bear.

I granted permission and asked if she would send me a picture of the finished painting.

Here's my photograph...followed by Janet's painting:

Grizzly bearGrizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois on May 3, 2011. Thanks to Janet for sharing this painting with me!

When I started this photography blog back in 2012, I expected to post an occasional entry. However, my entries have been relatively consistent over the years. I typically post about 7 or 8 entries each month and about 80 entries per year.

Earlier today, I noticed that I made my 723rd post since starting this blog. That's a lot of entries!

I guess this post makes it 724...

Earlier today, my "Driftwood Beach" picture took first place for the month of January, 2019 in Imaging Resource's photo contest.

The judges select the top five pictures from the 31 daily winners. This photo was the Photo of the Day on January 4th. The winning entries are then ranked: First, Second and Third Place along with First and Second Place Runner Ups. The first place picture is awarded with a $300 gift card.

Here's a larger view of the winning image:

Driftwood BeachImaging Resource's Photo of the Day for January 4, 2019

First Place Winner for month of January, 2019

This image was captured during my recent road trip through Florida. On the way to Florida, I stopped at Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island in Georgia. Driftwood Beach has been on my photography wish list for quite some time. I'm very glad I made the trip. It's a world class landscape location in my opinion.

During my road trip through Florida, I visited the Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia.

Andersonville was a Confederate prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. It was overcrowded to four times its capacity. It had inadequate food and water supplies and the prisoners suffered immensely. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held at the prison during the war, nearly 13,000 died.

The national cemetery at Andersonville contains 13,714 graves, of which 921 are marked "unknown".

Andersonville National CemeteryGrave markers at the Andersonville National Cemetery at the Andersonville National Historic Site at 760 POW Road in Andersonville, Georgia on December 2, 2018 Andersonville Prison SiteMassachusetts monument at the Andersonville Civil War Prison site at the Andersonville National Historic Site at 760 POW Road in Andersonville, Georgia on December 2, 2018 Andersonville National CemeteryGrave markers at the Andersonville National Cemetery at the Andersonville National Historic Site at 760 POW Road in Andersonville, Georgia on December 2, 2018 In the summer of 1864, tens of thousands of Union prisoners of war were dying of thirst at Andersonville. Suddenly, a spring erupted from the ground within the stockade. The prisoners credited its appearance to divine intervention, and Providence Spring became part of the established lore of the Civil War.

Providence SpringProvidence Spring at the Andersonville Civil War Prison site at the Andersonville National Historic Site at 760 POW Road in Andersonville, Georgia on December 2, 2018.

In the summer of 1864, tens of thousands of Union prisoners of war were dying of thirst at Andersonville. Suddenly, a spring erupted from the ground within the stockade. The prisoners credited its appearance to divine intervention, and Providence Spring became part of the established lore of the Civil War. Providence SpringProvidence Spring at the Andersonville Civil War Prison site at the Andersonville National Historic Site at 760 POW Road in Andersonville, Georgia on December 2, 2018.

In the summer of 1864, tens of thousands of Union prisoners of war were dying of thirst at Andersonville. Suddenly, a spring erupted from the ground within the stockade. The prisoners credited its appearance to divine intervention, and Providence Spring became part of the established lore of the Civil War. Providence SpringProvidence Spring at the Andersonville Civil War Prison site at the Andersonville National Historic Site at 760 POW Road in Andersonville, Georgia on December 2, 2018.

In the summer of 1864, tens of thousands of Union prisoners of war were dying of thirst at Andersonville. Suddenly, a spring erupted from the ground within the stockade. The prisoners credited its appearance to divine intervention, and Providence Spring became part of the established lore of the Civil War. After the war, the commander of the prison was tried for war crimes--and was executed.
 

During my recent road trip through Florida, I came across this shrine unexpectedly while walking the historic St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida.

I had this shrine mostly to myself during this visit, which was fortunate given how crowded St. George Street was with tourists. Here are a few photographs from the shrine:

St. Photios ShrineSt. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine (built in 1749) at 41 St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida on December 6, 2018 St. Photios ShrineSt. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine (built in 1749) at 41 St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida on December 6, 2018 St. Photios ShrineSt. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine (built in 1749) at 41 St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida on December 6, 2018. The covered container (reliquary) on the left contains bone fragments from 18 saints and was certified by the Vatican. The saints represented include 3 apostles and those of St. Nicholas of Myra who served as the basis for the legends of Santa Claus. St. Photios ShrineSt. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine (built in 1749) at 41 St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida on December 6, 2018 This shrine also contains bone fragments from 18 saints--including the apostles Peter and Paul. I outlined the box that contains those bone fragments in yellow in the following photograph:

St. Photios ShrineSt. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine (built in 1749) at 41 St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida on December 6, 2018. The covered container (reliquary) on the left and outlined in yellow contains bone fragments from 18 saints (including Peter and Paul) and was certified by the Vatican. The saints represented include 3 apostles and those of St. Nicholas of Myra who served as the basis for the legends of Santa Claus. I do a lot of planning for my photo shoots before arriving in a new city. But, sometimes it is beneficial to just walk around without a plan just to see what I might see. On occasion, I'll stumble across an unexpected gem such as this one!
 

During my road trip to Newfoundland, I visited the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A guard was standing at the entrance to the Citadel. I asked him if it would be OK for me to capture some photographs of him standing there. What I didn't realize is that the guard is not permitted to talk, move or even change his expression. He just kept standing exactly as pictured while I reeled off about 40 exposures from different distances and angles!

Citadel sentrySentry at the entrance gate to the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site at 5425 Sackville Street in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 15, 2018

During my last road trip through Florida, I captured this photograph of a gazebo at Washington Oaks Garden State Park in Palm Coast, Florida:

Washington Oaks GardensGazebo under oak tree at 6400 N Ocean Shore Blvd at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park in Palm Coast, Florida on December 8, 2018

This picture presented some technical challenges. My lens was positioned very close to the foreground leaves. So, even at a narrow aperture (f/16), it wasn't possible to get the entire scene in focus. Ultimately, I set the aperture to f/9--which yielded a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second and focused stacked a few shots. But, that didn't work either. The leaves in the front were blurred due to the wind at such a slow shutter speed.

So, I captured an additional exposure of just the foreground leaves at 1/250th and opened the aperture up to f/7.1 (just so that the ISO wouldn't have to go too high). The ISO ended up at 1000--which wasn't high enough to compromise image quality too much. Rather than use ISO 1000 throughout the entire frame, I applied it only to those leaves in the very front of the picture. The rest of the image is at ISO 64 (optimal image quality) at the slower shutter speed of 1/10th of a second. This mixing and matching of various apertures and ISO settings within the same photograph can help solve a number of problems out in the field!

Another consideration in a scene such as this (i.e., a lot of foliage) is to control the glare off all the leaves. Even in overcast conditions, the glare from the light hitting the leaves sucks color and contrast from the greens. I attached a polarizing filter to cut through the glare to enable to greens and yellows to pop more.

While capturing this image, I made sure to wait until some clouds covered the bright sunlight. This took a bit of patience, but this photograph wouldn't have been worth taking in direct, harsh sunlight. Direct sunlight introduces too much contrast into a scene like this one.

Creating photographs such as this one will often present challenges. I enjoy trying to solve photography problems like this by blending various exposures and using the appropriate filters. Sometimes it works...and the desired photograph gets produced.

A tripod is a crucial piece of equipment for my photography. It enables me to:

• Use slow shutter speed
• Make more precise compositions
• Blend exposures to solve a multitude of problems
• Maximize image quality by using base ISO settings and appropriate apertures
• Remove camera shake related to high magnification pictures (i.e., macro and super telephoto)

I purchased a high quality Gitzo tripod 11 years ago...the Gitzo 3540XLS Systematic 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod. I love the features of this tripod. It is rock solid, very tall, and relatively light for its size (being carbon fiber). When I bought this tripod for $750 back in 2007, I assumed that it would last a lifetime.

For years, I had no issues with this tripod. Then, about a year ago, it became increasingly difficult to lock the legs. The bearings were wearing out. This wasn't entirely unexpected as I have set the tripod up thousands of times. I sent the tripod into the repair facility in Chandler, Arizona. Unfortunately, Gitzo repairs can take quite some time. It took a week for the tripod to get from Chicago to Chandler (UPS Ground). It took another week for the repair facility to assess the repair. I approved the work immediately. It took about a week for the repairs to be completed and another week for the return shipment. So, $325 and a month later, I had my tripod back. I assumed I was good to go for another decade. Not so.

During my recent road trip to Florida, the tripod legs started to flop around. Despite tightening the screws with a wrench, the legs would loosen very quickly. This is particularly annoying when walking great distances with the tripod or when trying to make small adjustments to the positioning of the legs.

I called Gitzo for assistance and was told that the likely culprit was that the washers inside the upper joint were probably worn out. Unfortunately, I was having trouble removing the legs to get at the washers. The representative said he would order the parts so that they would be in inventory when I returned from my trip. They recommended that I send it into Chandler for repair. I knew that I was probably looking at another month without my tripod!

I sent my tripod to Chandler on the morning of December 26th. It arrived at the facility on January 3rd. The tripod was assessed on January 8th. I approved the repair in January 8th. For the past three weeks, the tripod is on a "parts hold" in Chandler. Most Gitzo parts are not in stock in the United States. The Chandler facility orders the parts from Italy...and the parts are shipped very slowly first by boat and then across the country to Arizona.

My parts were ordered on January 8th. I was told today that the parts haven't been shipped from Italy yet. They have no idea when they will be shipped, but said it will take at least a week to ten days to arrive in Chandler once they are shipped. Then, I'm looking at another week for the repair...and yet another week for the return shipment. So, I was told that the very earliest that I would get my tripod back would be February 18th or so...and that's if the parts get shipped from Italy tomorrow.

I was also told that the more likely scenario is another 4-6 weeks before the parts are shipped...which means that I would get the tripod back until early April. That's 3 1/2 months since I sent it in.

A comparable replacement Gitzo tripod would run about $1,200 today. I told the representative that having such an expensive tripod out of service for a few months (and twice within the past year or so) is totally unacceptable. It's not like I'm talking about maintaining something like a car. It seems to me that a tripod has relatively few moving parts for such extensive downtime.

I have no choice but to purchase a backup tripod! I refuse to buy Gitzo. I also don't want to make a large investment in a backup item that will hopefully see little use once my Gitzo is back in my hands. So, I bought the Benro TMA38CL Long Series 3 Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod. It gets great reviews and should serve my purpose for now. Once I get my Gitzo back, I'll continue to use the Benro in more challenging conditions--such as when the tripod needs to be submerged in salt water.

Gitzo tripods are great. But, if you plan to purchase one please be aware that servicing a Gitzo tripod is no picnic.