Stanton Champion

Motif #1, Rockport, MA. Every photographer who goes anywhere...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:31:25 -0500

Every photographer who goes anywhere near Rockport, MA has to get a photo of the iconic Motif #1. This is a 3-shot HDR I took at sunset on a nice October afternoon.

Night on Piedra Road I, Pagosa Springs, CO. Soft moonlight...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:04:25 -0500

Night on Piedra Road I, Pagosa Springs, CO.

Soft moonlight crosses the sky on the right, but it’s still dark enough to see beautiful stars above this barn in Colorado.

Autumn Tree, West Newbury, Massachusetts.

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:29:36 -0500

Autumn Tree, West Newbury, Massachusetts.

The Hoover Dam This is an 8-shot HDR photo of the Hoover Dam I...

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:56:05 -0500

The Hoover Dam

This is an 8-shot HDR photo of the Hoover Dam I took in February. I took this photo from the new Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which affords an incredible viewpoint of the dam for anyone willing to walk out on the sidewalk. Just don’t look down, especially if you have a fear of heights.

Dairy Barn, Cambridge, Vermont. A 6-shot HDR photo of a working...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:44:58 -0500

Dairy Barn, Cambridge, Vermont.

A 6-shot HDR photo of a working dairy barn in Cambridge, VT.

Inside the Gates Family Bridge, Cambridge, Vermont. I took this...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:55:00 -0400

Inside the Gates Family Bridge, Cambridge, Vermont.

I took this photo at roughly the same time as my other photo of the Gates Family Bridge in Cambridge, VT. This photo was a 7-shot HDR.

Snowy October Leaves, West Newbury, MA.

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:50:27 -0400

Snowy October Leaves, West Newbury, MA.

Dog Bar Breakwater Lighthouse, Gloucester, MA. My wife and I...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:04:31 -0400

Dog Bar Breakwater Lighthouse, Gloucester, MA.

My wife and I took a sailing trip in the Gloucester Harbor where I was able to take this photo of the Dog Bar Breakwater Lighthouse.

Taking an HDR photo from a boat is a giant pain. To get three clean shots, you have to time the up and down movement of the boat exactly. (The calmer the water, the better.) Even then, I had to do some heavy editing to clean up the movement shadows from the HDR processing.

A Seat by the Sea, Ogunquit, ME. I took this nice sunset 3-shot...

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:19:00 -0400

A Seat by the Sea, Ogunquit, ME.

I took this nice sunset 3-shot HDR photo near Ogunquit, ME. There’s a small beach nearby, and when the lifeguard is on duty, they can watch the swimmers from this chair. It has a commanding view, and it’s a fantastic spot for anyone to watch the ocean.

How Steve Jobs Changed My World

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:24:00 -0400

(I originally wrote this for the uTest blog.)

My first experience using a Mac was when I was in college. I had a job with the university doing technical support, and they assigned me a brand new Blueberry iBook as my work computer. It was such a simple and elegant little laptop, and I was amazed at its build quality and design. But something was missing – the iBook had a handle on the back for carrying it places, but I was still tied to the wall by an Ethernet cable.

Apple had thought of this, and inside that little iBook they had included an incredibly cutting-edge piece of hardware that would let you use Ethernet wirelessly. This was new and risky – no other computer manufacturer was doing anything similar. In fact, this technology was so innovative that only one company made the base-station needed to create a wireless network: Apple.

When Apple launched the first generation Airport (itself a very elegant piece of hardware), I bought one immediately and set it up inside my dorm room. Then I detached my iBook from the wall, took it outside, and sat down on the grass in a nearby courtyard. Away from my desk, I checked my email. I surfed the web. I saw the future.

Eleven years later, I came home from work one night, picked up my iPad, and sat down on my couch. I asked the iPad to load CNN, and the wireless network in my house (a second-generation Airport) happily dispatched the request and delivered the result. The news stunned me: Steve Jobs, the man responsible for all this innovation at my fingertips, had passed away.

Before Steve Jobs’ return, Apple was a company that made respectable but odd hardware. They used a proprietary keyboard connector called Apple Desktop Bus. They used SCSI for their hard drives. Their networking was done with AppleTalk. None of these technologies were particularly bad, but none of them changed the world either. What Steve Jobs did for Apple was to force the company to push the boundaries of technology and hardware in a way that would change the world for their customers. The original iBook was a brilliant example of this vision. It combined innovative hardware (an 802.11b radio) with a wildly iconic design, included high quality components, used emerging standards for connectivity (USB), and sold at a price that every college student could love. It was a computer you could use anywhere and connect to anything. It changed my world.

Thank you, Steve. I hope that we can keep pushing ourselves and our civilization as well as you did.

Cattle in The Peaks II, The Peaks District, UK. The Peaks...

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:40:36 -0400

Cattle in The Peaks II, The Peaks District, UK.

The Peaks District in the UK provided a wonderful setting for a lot of great photos. This is a companion to another photo I took in the same location (of the same animals). No HDR on this shot - it’s just a single exposure.

Corn Maze, Stowe, Vermont.

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:14:00 -0400

Corn Maze, Stowe, Vermont.

Pink Sunset, Salisbury, Massachusetts. Sometimes, you’re...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 07:54:30 -0400

Pink Sunset, Salisbury, Massachusetts.

Sometimes, you’re just standing in the right place at the right time. You have your camera ready to go and it’s pointing in the right direction at the right things. Such was the case with this sunset over the Merrimack River as seen from the town pier in Salisbury, MA (facing Newburyport). For a brief moment - maybe 60 seconds - an already beautiful sunset suddenly lit up the sky with the most psychedelic shade of pink. For an instant, the river and sky were the color of pink lemonade, and then it was over.

This was a 7-shot HDR with some basic cleanup in Photoshop (to correct for some of the boat movements between shots). Otherwise - not much was done to this photo. If anything, I toned down some of the pink. It was one of the craziest sunsets I have ever seen.

Gates Bridge, Cambridge, Vermont. The Gates Family Bridge was...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:31:22 -0400

Gates Bridge, Cambridge, Vermont.

The Gates Family Bridge was originally in a different location, but after the Seymour river changed its path in the 1950s, the bridge was moved to this location. It currently provides access to the Gates Farm via VT 15 in Cambridge.

This is a 3-shot HDR.

Sunset, San Antonio, Texas.

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:10:14 -0400

Sunset, San Antonio, Texas.

House and Barn, Jeffersonville, Vermont. Please consider helping...

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:46:00 -0400

House and Barn, Jeffersonville, Vermont.

Please consider helping those who were impacted by Hurricane Irene. Thousands of Vermonters are homeless, and many of them are cutoff from traveling due to the destruction of roads and bridges all across the state. Without roads, homeowners are cutoff from rebuilding their homes, and many will be unable to get deliveries of heating oil or gas in time for winter.

If you can, please consider donating to some of the many charities supporting Vermont relief efforts for Hurricane Irene:

Vermont Red Cross

Mad River Valley Community Fund - The Mad River Valley was especially hard-hit by Hurricane Irene, with destruction hitting Waitsfield, Warren, Moretown, and Granville.

The United Way of Chittenden County is acting as the fiscal agent for the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund.

#VTResponse - A site for those who have the time or resources to help Vermonters, first hand.

Farm at Sunset, Cambridge, Vermont. Two weekends ago, I took a...

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:56:00 -0400

Farm at Sunset, Cambridge, Vermont.

Two weekends ago, I took a quick vacation to Cambridge, Vermont. I love Vermont, with its beautiful scenery, gorgeous farms, and scenic landscapes.

Yesterday, that same beautiful, innocent, wonderful place was washed away by the rains of Hurricane Irene. Across Vermont, three people are dead, dozens of roads and bridges are destroyed, and thousands of people are homeless. Formerly pristine farms have been washed away, and bountiful crops are now lost.

I am heartbroken - for the people of Vermont and for their beautiful state. I don’t know what to say or do, other than to keep posting my Vermont photos and hope that it reminds people of what a wonderful place Vermont can be.

This photo (3-shot HDR) was taken at sunset in Cambridge, VT. Behind the house is actually the Lamoille River, which flooded severely like many of Vermont’s rivers. I don’t know the current status of this farm, but I sincerely hope that everyone is ok.

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross. Vermonters, along with everyone affected by Hurricane Irene, could use your support.

Second Congregational Church, Jeffersonville, Vermont.

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:49:37 -0400

Second Congregational Church, Jeffersonville, Vermont.

Stairs, Rockport, Massachusetts.

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:27:00 -0400

Stairs, Rockport, Massachusetts.

Barn and Slio, Fletcher, Vermont. A barn and silo in Fletcher,...

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:54:06 -0400

Barn and Slio, Fletcher, Vermont.

A barn and silo in Fletcher, Vermont. This photo uses a very light HDR treatment - mainly to capture more detail in the foreground and sky.