Monday
Nov232009
KLM 747 on Short Final
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 5:37AM | in Aviation, California 
A huge KLM 747 photographed from atop the old LAX control tower.
Welcome
to my personal blog. Here I post examples of my photography and writing. I specialize in making unique and highly detailed photographs. Notice I said making and not taking. Yes I take photos but a lot of time and work is involved in pushing and punishing the pixels in my images to achieve the look I like.
Please feel free make comments about any of my words or photos. I enjoy constructive critiques, learning about locations to shoot or photography techniques. Click on the "Share Article" link to share any of my photos via Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Want to use one of my posts in your own blog? No problem, but please make sure it links back to the original post here and do the right thing and give me credit. Don't copy my words, crop the images, remove the watermarks or claim my work as your own. This has happened more times than I can count so I've had to report copyright violations to ISP's and regrettably the violators blog is usually taken down.
Can't we all just get along?
Entries in Aviation (69)
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 5:37AM | in Aviation, California Wednesday
Nov182009
Condor Flats and Chevron Gas
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 10:03AM | in Aviation, California, Disney, HDR 
Wonder if the restrooms are clean?
Tuesday
Nov102009
Check Six
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 11:46PM | in Aviation, California, HDR 
Following close behind a taxing 747-400
Taking HDR sequences from a moving car following a moving aircraft is difficult to say the least. Thank goodness for Photoshop's auto align function. We were riding in Mike's car who works at LAX in operations and were following this Singapore Airlines cargo plane. The tail was nearly overlapping the hood of the car. I have photos of it but being that my head doesn't tilt that far back, I had to extend my arms forward and just guess where it was when framing the shot. I guess I should try creating a vertorama. Being this close to such a large moving aircraft is amazing. You hear and feel it adjusting it's flight controls and throttles. When it turned in front of us the car rocked a little from the exhaust. Thanks to Kevin and Mike for an amazing day!
Tuesday
Nov102009
Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 11:03PM | in Aviation, California, HDR 
I think we're being followed...
I was on a ride along with a very cool LAX airport operations guy. He was called on to escort a FedEx MD10 Aircraft that needed to taxi from one side of the airport to another. An escort was required since a mechanic was behind the controls and an active runway had to be crossed.
When I looked at the aircraft in the side mirror, I started laughing at the "Objects in this mirror are closer than they appear" text you see in the picture. It reminded me of that scene in Jurassic Park where the T-Rex was chasing the Jeep. That aircraft looked huge!
Tuesday
Nov032009
Milestones in Flight
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 10:16AM | in Aviation, HDR, Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Spacecraft, Washington DC 
So much history in just one photo. From left to right are:
Charles Lindberg's "The Spirit of St. Louis" which was the first aircraft to fly solo from New York to Paris.
Scaled Composites "Space Ship One" which is a rocket powered aircraft that made the first privately funded space flight.
Bell Aircraft's X-1 rocket plane in which US Air Force pilot Charles "Chuck" Yeager first exceeded the speed of sound on October 14, 1947.
Sunday
Oct182009
B-29 Enola Gay
Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 11:29PM | in Aviation, HDR, Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Travel, Udvar Hazy Center, Washington DC 
This aircraft dropped the first of two atomic bombs that were used against the Empire of Japan and is credited with helping to end World War II. The bomb from this aircraft was dropped on the City of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The Japanese government unconditionally surrendered 8 days later. Between 90,000 to 140,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the aftermath of the Hiroshima attack.
Monday
Aug312009
MiG Parking Only
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 1:06PM | in Aviation, California, HDR 
A Russian built MiG-15 sits on the tarmac of the Chino airport awaiting its afternoon flight.
Post a Comment | tagged Aviation, California, HDR, Jet, MiG-15, Planes of Fame | Share Article Permalink Email Article Sunday
Aug092009
A-12 Spyplane Panorama
Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 7:03PM | in Aviation, California, California Science Center, Exposition Park, HDR, Museum 
I couldn't stop taking pictures of this aircraft. I don't know if it's the shape and size that attracts me or if it's because I have read so much about it and appreciate it for the amazing thing that it is.
The prototype first flew in April of 1962 yet it still holds several world records for speed and altitude. Everything about this aircraft was revolutionary. Flying at more than 2,000 mph and at altitudes as high as 90,000 ft, its pilots could see the curvature of the earth and out-run missiles launched at it. It's cameras had incredible resolution.
Built almost entirely of titanium to endure the heat of friction generated at Mach 3+ speeds, parts of the aircrafts skin would reach 1,200 degrees. It's twin engines spat out white-hot 3,400 degree exhaust plumes into the super cold air 17 miles above the earth's surface. This unprecedented propulsive power sped the Blackbird at an unbelievable two-thirds of a mile a second.
This was the first stealthy aircraft ever built. It's radar cross section was 100 times smaller than the US Navy's F-14 Tomcat fighter built a decade later.
1 Comment | tagged Aviation, California, Exposition Park, HDR, Museum | Share Article Permalink Email Article Thursday
Jul302009
RA-5C Vigilante
Vietnam era reconnaissance aircraft photographed on the flight deck of the USS Midway in San Diego, California. It was a beautiful, cool and sunny day. The clouds were particularly dramatic and made a perfect background in addtion to the skyline.
1 Comment | tagged Aviation, California, HDR, Midway, RA-5C, San Diego, Travel, Vigilante | Share Article Permalink Email Article Thursday
Jul302009
A-12 Trainer
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 10:33AM | in Aviation, California, California Science Center, Culture, Exposition Park, Museum 
This is the only 2 seat version of the A-12 spy plane ever built. Operated by the CIA, this aircraft was the predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird. Only one of 2 Blackbirds not actually painted black. This aircraft is bare metal with the exception of the nose and twin tails. Cloaked in absolute secrecy for most of it's operational life, it's good that the public can see this amazing aircraft now.