Mark Venner Photography

30sec
f2.8
200mm
Nikon D7000
Tripod

Smithsonian Magazine - Photo of the Day (Click photo to visit Smithsonian site)

This is one of my favorite photographs. There is so much character in the car lights, and the runner's chest-light on the right hand side of the photo. I really like how the headlights illuminate the bumps in the road that are the cause of erratic lines in the first place. To me the lines symbolize the chaos that is the daily commute in DC. A commuter really never knows what he or she will face when they first leave the house in the morning.

This photo was taken with my Nikon D7000 with the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens. It is a 30 second exposure at f2.8. I was actually standing on the edge of a round-about, protected by some construction signs (which is also seemingly fitting). I did not have a good tripod at the time, but made the clunker that I had work. As far as timing goes it snapped this exposure about 25 minutes prior to sunrise. You can see the haze creating a nice reddish tint on the horizon.

At first I thought I would have liked to have taken this photo a bit earlier in the morning, but the more I study the photo the more I like how the white, yellow and red of the sky match up with the colors in the break and headlights that flow across the bridge.

1/400 sec
f2.8
ISO400
70mm
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens

National Geographic Traveller - Editor's Choice (Click photo to visit National Geographic site)

Photographing lava flowing in to the ocean is a challenge. The water is open ocean, and thus not calm. You are constantly battling waves, ocean spray and toxic gases; and this is during the "calm" part of the ride close to the shore near the flow. Don't even think about pulling the camera out of your waterproof storage during the ride between the dock and the flow; you risk complete salt water annihilation of your gear. Additionally, It is nearly impossible to change a lens while at the lava flow (I foolishly attempted this, but luckily no damage was done). Oh yeah, and that doesn't take in to account that you are photographing a fast moving, bright and glowing subject (the lava), against a black dark backdrop, from a moving vessel, with unpredictable billowing steam and constantly evolving lighting conditions.All that being said it is an amazing experience.  This photo was taken just before sunrise, thus providing great glow but also the ability to see the surrounding scene.  The real trick for me was balancing shutter speed with my ISO as the lava is moving fast, the boat is bobbing a lot, and there is all in all a lot going on around you.  An experience I can't wait to repeat!

My White Sands Golden Dawn photograph was selected as one of six winners of the I Love New Mexico photo contest.  With over 9,000 submissions it was a exciting to see my photo all over the state, I even scratched a couple.

My Glow Commotion photograph won second place in the Balloon Glow portion of the 2014 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta photo competition.  This is a long exposure of the entire balloon field taken near astronomical dusk.  A helicopter can be seen streaking in the top left while a siren whaling vehicle drove by on the road down and in front of the camera.