Crankworx FINALS and the sunny 16 rule

The final day of crankworx turned out to be amazing, and with PERFECT weather!!! Finally, I can use flash, and not have to worry about blowing a unit. I have one piece of advice that I have learned time and time again. When I say "learned" I really mean that in a casual way because I never really catch on. That advice, is to always pack lunch, and lots of water. You never can tell how long an event will go during the day, and forgetting to eat, or being unwilling to take a break will make you almost pass out. (I would know from this day) By the end of the day I was DEAD TIRED and hardly able to function. I actually left the event a little early due to a total loss of energy. My friend Daniel Milchev(Check out his AMAZING work at www.photovenom.com), who I was shooting with through the event, almost passed out in the hot sun. We both ate before 9AM, skipped lunch, and did not get to dinner until 7:30PM. UGHHHH. Don't do that to yourself please...

Everyone loves photos with the sun starred out. I can't keep track of how many times I have been asked, "how do you do that?" by other photographers. This is a rule passed on to me by my friend Mark Ridenour ( You can view his EXCELLENT work at www.mark-ridenour.com). The basic idea, is to set your camera to F/16, get it? Sunny 16! AHHH, IT MAKES SOO MUCH SENSE!! This small aperture allows less light in, and shows a star that has as many blades as your lens has inside. I feel that the more blades a lens has, the better the shot will look. For the one's above, my lens has 16 blades, creating a wide spread, starred-out, jaw-dropping, mouth-gapingly, beautiful photo! For action its a bit tougher because you will need a fast shutter speed for the scene, and at the same time, a high-ISO to allow the subject to be lit, and not just a silhouette. With my flash popping, I can do a 1/250th shutter, but will still need to be at ISO 500 or above to make this trick work. Experiment with this, and once you have it mastered, prepare to create some of the best photos you have ever made!

Crankworx is all over now, and editing has begun. The athletes pushed the event to even higher levels, and will continue to next year. I would like to thank Winter Park Resort for putting on such a great event year after year, as well as Daniel for helping me shoot and edit, and Mark for teaching me the Sunny 16 rule. Hopefully this will allow you to be more creative then ever!