Gary Gionet

In Huntington Beach today, I visited the annual Civil War reenactment. I spent a few hours wandering through the different camps. The participants were very accomodating and welcomed photographs of their period costumes and props. There was a good deal to see with many outstanding displays of historic memorabilia. If you ever have a chance to visit one of these events, I highly recommend it. It is like a living history lesson. There is obviously a lot of effort and time that goes into planning and executing an event like this. Thank you to the Huntington Beach Historical Society for offering this FREE event to the community.

Preparation for battle! The commander musters the troops for a last minute inspection, then he marches them off to the battle field.

The colorful dress of the day. This group of young ladies made their way to the Union encampment, probably to wish their men a farewell to battle.

The "Gatling Gun" saw only limited use in the Civil War. This 58 caliber gun used six barrels rotating around a center shaft. The gun was capable of 600 rounds per minute (100 rounds per barrel), but at a cost of $1,000 each, the gun was impractical for the armies. I would not want to be staring down the barrel(s) of this gun. It was known to cut men in half, literally! CLICK HERE for a link to more information about this weapon.

Even "Honest Abe" was there! CLICK HERE for the complete album of todays images.

August 29, 2008

A *new* poster made from Alisyn's first session. This weekend we will attempt a sports look for a new poster. My goal is to build a good variety of these posters targeting teens and offering them on my web site.

Today was our camera club outting to the Rodeo in San Juan Capistrano. The weather was perfect, the crowds were manageable, and the show was great! It has been at least 10 years since my last rodeo, so this was a nice treat, and a great photo opportunity. Enjoy the photos. CLICK HERE for all of the photos from the Rodeo.

Sometimes the cowboy wins...

HOLD ON BUCKAROO!

...and sometimes the animal WINS!

Alisyn has started putting together her modeling portfolio and today was her first session in the studio. She is a great model who takes direction well. We have a lot more shooting to complete her book, but we will take it one weekend at a time. Her focus is on catalog modeling, and I think this is a good choice for her. Thanks Ali for being so patient and fun to work with! Love, UG & AK

We had a lot of fun in the studio today!

Alisyn is such a great model. She can show many different emotions in one session. This is one of Ali being a serious teenager. I used this image to create her first teen poster. Click on the image to view are larger version. Use your brower Back button to return here.

More fun with some of Ali's studio images. This is her teen poster number 2. Click on the image to view a larger version. Use your browser Back button to return here. CLICK HERE to view all of the studio images.

I purchased a new camera this week, the Pentax K20D 14.6 megapixel camera body. So far, I am really happy with this purchase, and I am tempted to make this my main camera body. I've read the manual cover to cover, and I have become pretty familiar with most of the functions. I posted a few quick down and dirty images I took to make sure the camera was functioning. Now, I need to get out and put it through its paces. stay tuned for more. Click Here to see all of the specs of this camera (watch out, you might be tempted to buy one!)

Today, I made a quick trip to the Fullerton Arboretum to test out my new camera, a Pentax K20D 14.6 megapixel camera body. I used the only lens I have for this new camera, the Pentax 50-135mm f/2.8 lens. The following are just a few quick shots to test the camera and lens. So far I am very impressed with this unit. Pentax is not one of the Big Boys on the block, but they have sure put their effort into making one of the best camera bodies on the market. I think I may just be a Pentax convert after all.

Just your average Joe bee hanging out with me at the Fullerton Arboretum.