For those of you interested in watching the eclipse,  due to an overwhelming demand from customers as far away as Kentucky and Idaho, we have completely sold out of filters and viewing glasses. We have also heard that the planetarium is also sold out of observation glasses and many welding supply shops are sold out of the #14 welding glass. As an alternative, the Nevada astronomical society will the entire event streaming live on their website here.

For those of you lucky enough to get some viewing supplies, check out this great video with solar observation tips from “Fabulous Lake Tahoe.”

Dust off that old photography equipment and let us help you do some spring cleaning. We are teaming up with KEH (the largest used camera broker in the country) for our Spring Cleaning Buying Event on Saturday, May 5th from 10am to 2pm. We’ll pay you on the spot and give you an extra 10% bonus for trade-ins! Don’t miss out!

Check out what UPS delivered today! We are pleased to announce that we are now an official GigaPan dealer and we plan to carry their award winning Epic series.

For those who aren’t familiar with the product line, the Epic series is a line of revolutionary robotic camera mounts designed to produce ultra high resolution gigapixel plus sized images by creating an automated matrix of images to be stitched together using Gigapan software. Note that an image that is one gigapixel in resolution contains 1 billion (10^9) pixels or 1000 megapixels. Check out sample photos and some videos on the mounts here.

From the manufacturer:

Capture phenomenal depth and clarity in multi-gigapixel panoramas with the remarkable EPIC Pro. Strong enough to hold a camera and lens combination of up to 10 lbs., EPIC Pro will take hundreds, even thousands of detailed individual photos for one intricate gigapan. With the new GigaPan Stitch software, these photos are efficiently combined into a seamless panorama and uploaded to GigaPan.com, where you can view, share and explore.

 

Article by Craig Moore

Tip: Don’t forget your Circular Polarizers if you are going to shoot landscapes, water or glass. This filter will reduce the glare in all. The second photo has the CPL filter installed on the lens. This simple technique is covered in our DSLR 101 class.  Photos by Instructor, Craig Moore.

On Sunday, May 20th 2012, Reno residents will be one of the few lucky cities to get a perfect view of the annular solar eclipse. We are offering solar viewers for observation as well as special neutral density filters that allow photography of the event. There will be a free viewing event offered at the Maclean Observatory on the UNR Redfield Campus.

For more information on the eclipse, check out the University of Nevada Reno’s information site. And for tips on photographing solar eclipses, this site has a nice write-up.

A man takes a photo from a Virgina & Truckee rail car during the Virginia City Photo Walk put on by Gordon's Photo Service in 2011. Photo by Lisa J. Tolda/Lisajphotos@gmail.com ...

At Gordon’s, our staff consists of active photographers. Since we are always out doing photography, we try to get as involved as possible in our local photographic community. In the past, our store has organized photo-walks, telescope star parties, photography workshops and other events.

For over 20 years, Gordon’s has sponsored the ever-growing and highly successful annual photography event called Shooting the West. Shooting the West is a large photography symposium consisting of hundreds of attendees, presentations, workshops and classes by big name photographers and booths from the large industry companies like Epson and Manfrotto.

Fielding Cathcard looks through a Meade telescope at a star party hosted by Gordon's Photo Service and Meade Telescopes. (Photo by Dan Newton)

In addition to Shooting the West, Gordon’s is also a co-sponsor for the Northern Nevada Photographer’s Meetup Group, a group with over 110 active members.

Aside from the photography related events, Gordon’s gives back to the community by regularly donating to local high schools and various non profit organizations.

This year, we are also proud to be providing all of the prints for Help Portrait Reno project, a “movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate.”