Tomorrow is the big day.  The 138th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Laura and I arrived in Kentucky on Tuesday to get settled in, and to start work on several multimedia pieces.

We’ve been at the track every morning by 5 a.m.  It’s my favorite part of this event.

Dawn on the backside of Churchill Downs allows me to make beautiful pictures at a slower pace.  It’s peaceful and beautiful.  Tranquil, but exciting.

But I don’t come to the Derby just for the horses.  I come for the people.

I’ve been covering this event for more than two decades, and through the years I have made some of my closest friends here.  People like Bill Luster, Dan Dry, Matt Goins and Skip Dickstein, just to name a few, are the main reason I wouldn’t miss the Kentucky Derby.

The Run for the Roses also gives a chance to catch up with colleagues, like SI senior staff writer Tim Layden.  He is a wonderful writer and great friend.  Working with him is always a pleasure.

He was the subject of our first multimedia piece, a multi-camera stand-up where he gives viewers his picks for this year’s race.

Our second multimedia is a backstage look into the making of champion race horses and the beauty of the Derby.

Stay tuned for more….

Karma B Flame is a rap and hip hop artist based in our home town of Jacksonville, FL.

We wanted to use the D4 in a different way than we did in Istanbul.  That film is a multimedia project shot as a documentary.  This production is a video that was shot in a completely controlled environment.

We wanted to show the range of DSLR video and what this technology is allowing us to do.

We hope you like it.

Lights, Camera, Action from Straw Hat Visuals on Vimeo.

Five cities.  Five countries. Five days.

Crisscrossed Scandinavia this week talking photography to groups in Estonia, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden as part of the Nikon Nordic Tour.

It was an ambitious schedule, but the Nikon Nordic team was on top of everything.

Joe McNally‘s flight was late.  He flew from DC to NYC to Prague and into Tallinn — overnight.  He landed, sans luggage, and came immediately to the Museum of Art and gave a perfect speech to a  full house.  He never missed a beat — total respect.

Joe over Finland.

It’s a real pleasure working with Joe.  We’ve been friends for a long time . Not only is he a terrific colleague, wonderful photographer, and excellent teacher, but even better, he is flat out fun to be around.

Joe in Oslo.

We had tremendous audiences at every stop.

I can be pretty talkative. It may come from growing up in a small Nebraska town, where I was happy to find anyone to talk to… So many of our stops were exceptional. In Tallinn, I was onstage an extra hour.

Peter Brodin kept giving me the “stretch” sign, which of course I loved.  The audience was engaged and challenging me, which just solidifies how much I love teaching — thanks Mom.

Our venue in Copenhagen, the Royal Library.

Responsive, invigorated crowds were capped by a standing room only crowd in Stockholm at Fotografiska — one of my favorite galleries in the world.

I’m so thankful to everyone who came out. This tour was a great chance for me to learn from some very talented folks.

Me, Peter Brodin, and Joe McNally.

I rolled onto the plane this morning more in love with photography than ever.

Time to make some images.

Keeping a secret is hard, especially when it’s a really good secret.

Nikon asked me to do some of the image creation for the launch of their new flagship the Nikon D4.

With 16.2 megapixels in a newly designed FX-format image sensor, the D4 handles all lighting conditions seamlessly. The ISO sensitivity range is from 100 to 12800 at normal settings, expandable to ISO 50 equivalent or ISO 204800 equivalent.

The camera has three image area options for Full HD video expanding the possibilities.  That’s what these guys do, they allow us to have the ability to see things in new ways.  Exciting ways.  They provide the technology to unleash your imagination.

But for me, the best thing Nikon did with the D4, is what they have always done.  They have built a camera that I can depend on to do what I need it to do, seamlessly, every time I push the button.

It gives me more options, more functions, faster response time, better everything, and best of all,  tt always works.

This is my life, and I need partners I can depend on.   These guys are always there.

Learn more about the new Nikon D4 in the brochure available online now. We will be posting a review of the camera, with examples in the next few days.

Also check out Joe McNally’s blog for some more great shots of the Nikon D4 in use. More coming soon…

For years, Bill has used Kata bags of all shapes and sizes when he’s traveling and on location. Featured now on Kata’s Homepage, Bill sets up for a shoot and shows why he needs such rugged, durable storage.