Explore the magic of capturing the Northern Lights with this comprehensive photography guide. Learn about the best locations, essential gear, and camera settings to create stunning images of the aurora borealis. This guide covers key tips on composition, post-processing, and the importance of patience, offering practical advice to help you make the most of this mesmerizing natural phenomenon. Click here to read the full guide and start planning your next aurora adventure!

If you haven't been out to World Wide Technology Raceway to catch an IndyCar race you are missing out! I took the camera over to Madison Illinois this weekend to spend a few hours in wonder watching the race. Check out my full photography blog for more details and of course check out the gallery!

If you're going to Lincoln Nebraska for the 2024 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships you should check out RainbowMarks Photography's pre-event photo package!

The MR340 is not just any race; it’s an ultimate test of endurance, teamwork, and sheer willpower. Stretching 340 miles along the majestic Missouri River, this annual race challenges paddlers to traverse from Kansas City to St. Charles, Missouri, braving both the elements and their limits.

The 2024 edition promises to be as exhilarating as ever. With seasoned veterans and eager newcomers ready to take on the river's twists and turns, the anticipation is palpable. The race brings together a community of passionate paddlers, supportive families, and enthusiastic spectators, all united by the spirit of adventure.

Learn how to access your SmugMug sitemap URL when using a custom domain. This comprehensive guide covers the importance of sitemaps for SEO, step-by-step instructions for setting up your custom domain, and how to find and submit your sitemap to search engines like Google and Bing. Whether you're a professional photographer or a hobbyist, ensuring your SmugMug site is easily discoverable by search engines can help attract more visitors to your stunning photo galleries. Enhance your website's visibility and SEO with these simple yet effective tips.

Welcome to the home of St. Louis Region Autocross Photos for the 2024 Season from RainbowMarks Photography. We’ll be updating this post with galleries from each event we cover during the 2024 Season.

 

Over on my Photography site I have a blog documenting our adventures to see the Total Eclipse from Jackson Missouri on April 8th, 2024

 

In February of 2024, I had the pleasure of spending some time in Florida for a work conference. While there, I kept an eye on the forecast and space launch schedule to see if I might catch a rocket launch while in town. SpaceX was planning to launch a Falcon 9 with the NASA PACE payload. The launch ended up being delayed for 3 days, finally happening early in the morning on February 8th, 2024.

 

📸 Book Your Game Today!

At RainbowMarks Photography, we’re thrilled to announce our exclusive photography services for the Blue Note Cup 2024! Get ready to immortalize your team’s moments of glory on the ice.

 

Recently I had my eyes opened up to the wonder of the Samsung Frame TV. If you have a Frame TV you can use it as a picture frame, either pulling in art work from Samsung (with a monthly subscription) or by providing your own digital files for use as display pieces on the device.

Over President's Day Weekend we went with the Chesterfield Falcons to the Kirkwood Ice Rink to take part in the 2021 President's Day Jamboree, as well as a pair of games in Webster Groves

Check out some of the photos from their games.
 

The weekend after Christmas 2019 the Chesterfield Hockey Association held the first Mini Mite Holiday Classic at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, Missouri. Rainbow Marks was there shooting, here are some of those shots!

The weekend after Thanksgiving 2019 the Chesterfield Hockey Association held the first Mini Mite Turkey Jamboree at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, Missouri. Rainbow Marks was there shooting, here are some of those shots!

In late June 2014, we took a family vacation. We left from St. Louis and drove west to the promise land. Colorado, that’s my promise land. The beautiful country, the place I would go if I were rich and could move all of our family (immediate and extended) to one place without thinking about the cost involved in such an undertaking.

Our family of four (myself and my wife, plus a 3 year old daughter, and recently turned 1yr old son) visited Denver, friends, family, and then we went further west, to a place 50 miles from the nearest town, at 9500’, deep into Wilderness country.

We went to Trapper’s Lake.

I’ve been one to do a lot of time lapse videos, I’ve actually been doing them since 2006, I think this was my first one, it is at least the oldest one I could find on YouTube. Over the years I have used a number of different cameras, different software and as you can see from my YouTube Channel different subjects (predominantly cars, though lots of them).

I’ve spent the last two evenings in the French Quarter. No, not drinking it up and partying like a college kid, but like a 34 year old married man, walking around with a camera looking for interesting things to take pictures of. No pictures of people yet, but check out some of the photos I took tonight.

 

You should head over to OliviaTech.com and check out the video about using a Circular Polarizing Filter, I must admit my newb photographer ass had no idea how they worked, and now I wish it wasn’t dark here in Half Moon Bay so I could go out and try out my new knowledge!

https://oliviatech.com/circular-polarizing-filters-if-theres-one-thing-you-need

Denver really goes all out in lighting up City Hall for the holidays. Check out this photo I took down there earlier this evening.

I’ve still got quite a few photos to go through from the Amsterdam trip, though I did post another one this evening as well.

Photo Courtesy of Oliver Hine, launch of STS-129

So one of the things I have always wanted to do is see a Space Shuttle launch, and take photos of a shuttle launch. Well 2010 is slated as the final year for the Shuttle program so I think it is time to start making a trip to watch/shoot the launch happen. I started looking around at the NASA launch schedule a week or two ago and saw that there is/was a launch scheduled for 2/4 (STS-130, Endeavour). I say is/was because of some information I found today, but more on that later.

Natalie and I are going to try to go, and I’ve talked to a few friends lately who have said they would be interested in seeing a launch as well, especially since there are no current launches scheduled past 2010 (also subject to change). So I started putting feelers out to see who might be interested in going, so far I know at least one, Terec, will attend, the rest are sort of up in the air.

So Terec and I started doing research, he’s done most of that so far, looking to see what the best locations are for watching the launch, and of course, where the best locations are for taking photos of the launch. We are both amateur photogs, so we are hoping to get some cool shots, Terec being far more advanced though in his skills. We shot some bald eagles last February in Illinois, and his shots turned out far better than mine.

We’ve got just less than two months until the launch is scheduled, and there is actually a launch of an Atlas V scheduled on 2/3 as well. It would be cool to get to see both launches in the same trip. We realize that the launch can get rescheduled, so when we do go to book a flight we’re going to try to be flexible, likely planning for being in Florida for a week. After doing some reading today it looks like the launch may already be rescheduled to 2/6 or even 2/7. Those dates might actually work out better, being on Saturday/Sunday, but I haven’t seen anything official from NASA yet with those dates mentioned.

We’re still working on finding out the best location to view, and also looking for a place to stay. I’m also keeping track of NASA on twitter. Back in November they held a Tweetup, in which they had 100 twitter users and showed them things for the launch that not many people have been able to see. A friend of mine, Oliver, was able to attend and got some great photos and video. I’m hoping that they do another Tweetup for STS-130 (the launch of Endeavour scheduled for February), though I think they might do a tweetup for the SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) that is scheduled on the Atlas V launch on 2/3.

If I got selected for that tweetup I would definitely try to stick around for the shuttle launch, though if I didn’t get selected I would likely concentrate on the shuttle launch exclusively.

From a photography perspective we have some planning to do as well. I just got a Canon 5d Mark II from my wife this weekend for our Anniversary and as my Xmas present. I'm still using the existing lenses I have from my Canon Rebel XT that I've been shooting with for the past few years. I'm likely going to rent a large lens, 600mm or 800mm for the launch. The launch is scheduled for somewhere before sunrise last I checked, so I'm curious to see how this whole thing turns out. I might need to get there early to do some test shots the day before at the same time of day to make sure I get everything right. I definitely have a lot to learn in my photography skills, I should see about taking a class this spring if I can.

If you are interested in trying to attend the launch as well let me know, it would be cool to have a group of people down there. I believe KSC (Kennedy Space Center) will be putting launch viewing tickets on sale in the next couple of weeks (hopefully not while I am in Amsterdam this weekend). Terec and I are going to try to buy some tickets, though I hear they sell out quickly, so we will see how that goes.

Well, Grafton Illinois sure markets themselves as the winter home for Bald Eagles, but we didn't see any there today! We went up the Great River Road today hunting for Bald Eagles (with a camera, not a gun). We ended up seeing a couple flying near the Brussell's Ferry though nothing too close. After that quick stop we headed up to Pere Marquette State Park to see what we could find. The kind lady behind the counter at the park told us she got a phonecall that there were a bunch of Eagles at the Winfield Ferry. So we took off, back to the Brussell's Ferry and then drove across the peninsula to the Winfield Ferry to cross over the Mississippi River back into Missouri. When we got to the Winfield Ferry we weren't sure we were going to see anything but a quick hope out of the car found a couple of Eagles flying above. After crossing over the Mississippi we took a quick jaunt north towards the lock and dam, which ended up being the most fruitful of our efforts on this bitterly cold Sunday. We found a pair of Bald Eagles hanging out in the trees near the lock and dam. I'm going through photos right now and hope to have some of them posted on Flickr later tonight!

Earlier today I started working on a new DotNetNuke Module that displays Flickr Photos. The initial version is posted on my photos page so you can see my 50 most recent Flickr photos. There is still a lot left to do with this module, but at least it is displaying photos for now. https://www.chrishammond.com/photos.aspx

I put a few of my old Sony Camcorder accessories on Ebay as my camera broke a few years ago. Check them out at the links below. Sony ECM-HS1 Camcorder Gun Zoom Microphone Sony VCL-0637H Wide Angle Conversion Lens   Sony Mavica 2.0x Telephoto Lens VCL-R2037   They were all used on a Sony Handycam DCR-TRV740 ...

So you might have seen all the DotNetNuke posts lately, but what about just a Chris and Natalie post? Well here it goes! (you can follow along with some of the photos here on Flickr) Natalie and I had a blast in Las Vegas this past week. We went on the 3rd, a day before her Birthday. Her parents came out on the 3rd as well so we got to spend time with them for a few days before the DNN conference started up. During those few days we went and saw "KA" at the MGM, took a trip out to the Hoover Dam. After the Hoover Dam we took a quick jaunt North of Las Vegas looking for Red Rock, only to figure out an hour north that Red Rock was actually West of Las Vegas, so we turned around and headed back towards LV. It turned out perfect though, our little detour had delayed us enough to see the most brilliant sunset I've ever seen from Red Rock. Monday I had a DNN Core Team lunch, and then came back to the hotel to go with Natalie and meet Rich and Henry (two owners of Engage Software) and their wives for dinner and drinks. We repeated that process on Tuesday evening after the conference as well. Wednesday evening Natalie and I went to a gathering of people at Mix In Las Vegas, the restaurant on the 64th floor of "THEHotel" which is attached to the Mandalay Bay. The dinner was great and I must once again thank Tracy from www.t-worx.com for the most excellent evening. Thursday evening a large group of us, 17, got together for dinner. We met up in the bar at the Mandalay Bay and then decided to take Taxis down to the Venetian. Somehow we all actually made it to the same place and got to eat dinner together at one restaurant. It was a great time and I got to talk to Erik quite a bit, hopefully talking him into trying to get me to speak at SDC in the Netherlands next September! One can only hope :) Friday Natalie and I took off by ourselves for once. We went to Grand Canyon West, with the main goal of getting out onto the SkyWalk (www.grandcanyonskywalk.com). It was roughly 120 miles from the hotel, though took 2.5 hours as there was 14 miles of dirt/gravel road. The funny thing (well one of them) about the road, this 14 mile stretch was County maintained, as soon as we got to the Indian reservation grounds the road became paved... We were in Minivan for the trip, it was what you might call dirty at the end of the day. Lucky for the Minivan it didn't have a handbrake, just a footbrake/e-brake, otherwise I would have had an easier time getting the tail end of the car to swing out around the corners. We had a good time at Grand Canyon West, even though I have a little beef with the operation they have running there. The SkyWalk is very cool, and you essentially have to pay $79/person to get out on the SkyWalk. They don't allow you to take any personal items out there, for fear of you dropping them on the glass, or worse over the edge into the Canyon below. So you can't take a camera out there with you, they of course will gladly take your photo for you and sell it to you for $25/each. We ended up buying 2 photos, so we got the third one free. But they can only print them, not give them to you on CD, or even email them to you. The prints weren't what I would acll the highest of quality. I'm hoping I can email the staff there and try to get better quality photos from them. Friday evening we returned back to Vegas and went to see "O" at the Bellagio. It was another great show, definitely worth the investment to go see if you're in Vegas anytime soon. Saturday morning we headed back to the airport and flew back to St. Louis. We got home around 7pm and pretty much crashed. Sunday I headed out with Nick and went hunting. It might be deer season here in Missouri but I was hunting bugs, one particular blue one that I hear rumored to still be around Alton Illinois. Our hunt was not fruitful, we didn't find my old Super Beetle, but I will keep hunting. Sunday evening we joined Dominique and Colby for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to...

I posted a lot of photos we took yesterday and today. Quite a few of Natalie and I, as well as the fire in the sky we got to see for a Sunset Today. https://www.flickr.com/photos/chammond/sets/72157602928388453/   ...

In honor of the 2007 World Series I figured I'd link to my pictures I took at Game 4 of the 2004 World Series! https://www.flickr.com/photos/chammond/sets/72157594541829383/ And how could I forget all the photos I took at Opening day of this year at...