Maxwell Kruger Photography

This past weekend I went camping. Usually when I go camping, it’s far enough away from a big city that light polution is minimal. I like to bring my camera on these occasions to get some sort of star photo; whether it’s an image of the Milky Way or a star trail photo. This time, I tried for a star trail photo. I set the camera on an intervalometer to capture 29 second exposures repeatedly. The camera ran for 3 hours (346 images) before the battery died. I then combined the photos into a single image you see below that demonstrates the rotation of the earth in relation to the stars. Apparently we were right above an airport approach path, which you can see the many plane streaks across the center of the image. To see a higher resolution version or purchase prints, please click here.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 16 mm, 346 29s exposures, f/2.8, ISO 1250)

I’ve been collaborating with my longtime friend, Matt, on some art for his new CD. We had fun with different wardrobes and scenes as we tried to find a variety of images he could use on the album and in different marketing scenarios. Below are some of my favorite images. All were lit with a single Paul C. Buff White Lightning X1600 and large Octabox. We’ve been using the Vagabond Mini power source, which has been awesome in the field.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 24 mm, 1/250, f/9, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 24 mm, 1/250, f/11, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 24 mm, 1/250, f/11, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 40 mm, 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 16 mm, 1/13, f/8, ISO 200)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 16 mm, 1/25, f/8, ISO 200)

After a successful playoff run, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs among many others got their first Super Bowl ring, while Ray Lewis got his second ring playing the last game of his career.

On Tuesday following Super Bowl Sunday, the Ravens traveled back to Baltimore to celebrate with fans in the city. A parade procession began with a celebration at City Hall and made its way down Pratt St, eventually ending in M&T Bank Stadium. You can buy photo prints here.

Terrell Suggs, Anquan Boldin, and Ray Lewis stand at City Hall with the Lombardi trophy.

(Canon EOS 40D, 300 mm, 1/800, f/4, ISO 640)

Coach John Harbaugh has a moment with Baltimore City mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

(Canon EOS 40D, 300 mm, 1/640, f/4, ISO 640)

Ed Reed sings Two Tickets to Paradise to the fans, while Terrell Suggs laughs.

(Canon EOS 40D, 300 mm, 1/640, f/4, ISO 640)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark II, 16 mm, 1/640, f/2.8, ISO 400)

Continue on for more photos of the event.

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A few weeks ago, I learned that Conowingo Dam in Maryland is home to dozens of bald eagles from October-December every year.  Not being very experienced in bird photography, I decided to see what I could capture. Unfortunately, I missed the peak of the season and there weren’t too many eagles left during my visit.  I’ll be sure to visit the dam more than a few times next year!

An eagle with a freshly-caught fish.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 800 mm, 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 560 mm, 1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 400)

Eagles fight over a fish. It was awesome watching them tumble in the sky fighting for fish they had caught. I was disappointed I didn’t see any mid-air fights close enough to photograph.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 560 mm, 1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 400)

After catching a fish, they would often fly right over me and land on a nearby tree to eat.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 560 mm, 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 500)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 560 mm, 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 500)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 560 mm, 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 500)

And all of the turkey vultures waiting below the trees to get the leftovers.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 560 mm, 1/80, f/5.6, ISO 640)

I recently returned from a trip to Israel.  I had an amazing time. We swam in the dead sea, spent a night in the desert, climbed Masada, and spent a few days in Jerusalem among many other things.  Overall, it was one of my favorite trips that I’ve ever been on.

Some of my images are below.  You can see the full gallery here.

As a plus, all my photos were geotagged using the Canon GP-E2. You can see the map of where I went here.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1/1, f/23, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 6s, f/2.8, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 100)

Sunrise from Masada.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 200 mm, 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 500)

From the top of Masada.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1/100, f/5.6, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1/500, f/11, ISO 400)

The dead sea.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 35 mm, 1/200, f/5.7, ISO 100)

Jerusalem

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 200 mm, 1/640, f/5.6, ISO 100)

Prayer at the Western Wall.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 200 mm, 1/500, f/2.8, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 200 mm, 1/320, f/2.8, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 200 mm, 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 34 mm, 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 100)

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 35 mm, 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 100)

Full gallery here.

Picked up a new 5D Mark III in preparation for my trip to Israel next week. Took a walk around the monuments in DC to test out the new GP-E2 GPS module.  With that, I leave you with an image I liked of the Jefferson Memorial.  Boy does that 16-35 II vignette.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1/3200, f/2.8, ISO 100)

As usual for the last several years, I covered the Preakness Stakes this past weekend. Preakness is one of the more difficult assignments I cover as it requires a lot of pre-planning, multiple camera positions, and running around.  It’s an extremely long day that if everything comes together can pay off with great  images and a lot of published images.  This year was no different – I ended up making the front page of Yahoo Sports and Fox Sports and was also published on the first and second pages of USA Today’s sports section (in print). Click the link below to read on for some of my images from the weekend.

(Canon EOS 40D, 16 mm, 1/3200, f/5, ISO 640)

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Today was the last time Space Shuttle Discovery will fly. As a sendoff to Discovery and the Shuttle program, the Shuttle was loaded onto its carrier 747 jet and made the final trip from Kennedy Space Center to its final resting place at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (National Air and Space Museum Annex).  The shuttle made several low passes over the DC metro area, where viewers could watch it in the air for the last time.

As soon as I heard about the plans for this last week, I immediately arranged access to the roof of a building in the area.  My father, who owns a window cleaning company, was able to coordinate getting me on top of a building in Crystal City.  Turns out the building had an awesome view of DC and I was able to get some great photos.

A full gallery with more photos and prints is available here: photos.maxwellkruger.com/Airplanes/Discovery-Flyover/.

Bonus: Here is a first clip from Ian’s video footage, who was also on the roof with me.

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 400 mm, 1/4000, f/4, ISO 200)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 800 mm, 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 200)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 400 mm, 1/6400, f/4, ISO 200)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 400 mm, 1/8000, f/5.6, ISO 200)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark II, 70 mm, 1/8000, f/2.8, ISO 200)

(Canon EOS-1D Mark II, 200 mm, 1/5000, f/2.8, ISO 200)

More photos and behind the scenes after the jump.

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