I took this self-portrait in my garage with no backdrop. It's not where you take a photo, it's how.

It was a challenge to cram my personality and experience into 60 seconds, 500 words, a 5×7 photo and 7 page application but with a little help from my friends I did it.

If selected, I will be staying at Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. I will have limited contact with the outside world, aside from tweeting and blogging. The sleeping arrangements are provided in various exhibits around the museum, like the U-505 German submarine or the “Smart Home” or maybe even on the Pioneer Zephyr. According to the contest site, there will also be public appearances and demonstrations with the museum patrons.

The semi-finalists will be notified by August 25 and by September 1, the semi-finalists will fly to Chicago for an interview. Then, three finalists will have their videos posted for public vote. The winner will be announced on October 6, move into the Museum on October 20 and spend the next month exploring the museum both during and after hours reporting their experiences via tweets, blogging, Facebook and other social media.

Check out the photos I obtained from the press release, this is the “home base” for the winner:

As a complete and over-the-top bonus to this unique experience, the winner gets a laptop, camera, and $10,000!

Thanks to Carrie, Brittany, and Anna for reviewing the essay; Rae for lending her awesome public relations and social media expertise; Rylan, Jay and Sam for being references; the Ellison family, Shala, Caleb, Brandon and James for helping me spot errors in the application and offering suggestions; Kitty and Dan for letting me use their cameras and finally, the neighbor kids for making the science demonstrations fun.

Wish me luck! and leave a comment if you think I’d make a good candidate or just want to comment.

Its not easy to get a photo of a dragonfly.

As a bonus I started my day at 5:15 AM to the sound of thunder. I literally jumped out of bed, ran to the window to make sure it was really lightning and was out the door by 5:23. I try not to miss lightning photo opportunities if I can help it. Here is one shot from the batch:

I love the smell of lightning in the morning.

I went home, burned a bagel and left for work. All in all, a great day.

For those Canon advocates out there, I acknowledge without reservation that Canon makes some very nice camera equipment.

In addition to the Nikon stuff, I have Tiffen filters, Sandisk SD memory cards (in a pinch I’ve used micro SD cards with an adapter), Lowerpro camera bag and a Manfroto tripod.

On any given day I’ll have the following in my camera bag:

• Nikon D80 (going to upgrading soon)
• Nikon SB-600 Speedlight

Lenses:

• Nikon 18-70mm Lens – For general use, landscapes and group shots
• Nikon 50mm Lens – I use this lens for low light situations, it is considered a “fast lens“
• Nikon 70-300mm Lens – Typically used for wildlife and portraits

Other Equipment:

• Batteries (for flash and camera)
• Pen
• Paper (notepad and post-its)
• Lens filters
• Extra memory cards
• Business cards
• Tripod
• Lens cleaner and cloth
• Flash light (good to have in dark places and can make interesting illumination for photographs)
• Camera Remote (for self portraits and long exposures to minimize shake)
• Bounce cards (for getting the lighting just right)

Let me know if you ever any questions or want tips for taking photos.

Click here for the complete the gallery.

I took some great photos for my cousin and his new wife. It was windy/raining/snowing on their wedding day so we went back on another day and it was still raining.  Go figure.

I’m working a photo series of Provo. This is my first image of the set. Let me know what you think and I’m still open to updating my list.