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?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 7:08AM | in Aviation, HDR, Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Udvar Hazy Center, Washington DC The Russian built Mig-15 Fagot and the American F-86 Saber jet fighters were adversaries during the Korean war. Very closely matched, either could be deadly in the hands of a good pilot.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 8:57PM | in Aviation, HDR, Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Space, Spacecraft, Travel, Udvar Hazy Center, Washington DC The only space shuttle ever built that never flew in space. The space shuttle Enterprise is on display at the Udvar Hazy center near Washington D.C.
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 6:24AM | in Aviation, HDR, Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Panorama, Travel, Washington DC I mounted my DSLR on my gorilla pod and put it on the ground at the Udvar Hazy Center in Washington D.C. for this 3 shot HDR panorama. Each of the 3 shots consists of 10 exposures. I used Photoshop CS4 to stitch this. Original file size before downsizing for upload was over 14,000 pixels wide.
Monday, November 30, 2009 at 7:14PM | in Aviation, HDR, National Air and Space Museum, Udvar Hazy Center, Washington DC Udvar Hazy Museum's SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.
Positioned front and center, this aircraft greets all visitors to the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center located at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.
No other aircraft in history operated globally in hostile airspace as successfully and for a longer period of time than the SR-71. No aircraft was ever lost to hostile fire.
On its last flight Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour and 4 minutes averaging 2,124 miles per hour. Upon landing, the air force donated the aircraft to the Smithsonian.
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 5:32AM | in HDR, National Air and Space Museum, Spacecraft, Travel, Washington DC If you want to get the attention of any Smithsonian Museum security guard, just lay down on the floor. This worked for me. Elapsed time about 10 seconds.
Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 9:39AM | in HDR, National Air and Space Museum, Space, Spacecraft, Washington DC In July of 1969, Mike Collins, Edwin "Buzz Aldrin" and Neil Armstrong flew in this spacecraft and made history as part of the first manned space mission to land on another heavenly body.
This is the Apollo 11 Command Module which re-entered the earth's atmosphere at greater than 25,000 miles per hour and you can clearly see by it's burned and charred skin that it must have been a pure "E" ticket ride.
This photo was taken from the second floor of the National Air and Space Museum. Again they don't allow tripods so I used my trusty Gorillapod to steady my camera.
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.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 12:56AM | in HDR, National Air and Space Museum, Space, Spacecraft, Travel, Udvar Hazy Center, Washington DC As I was walking around the space hanger, I noticed a flight of stairs with a platform at the top that was 15-20 feet above the floor. There wasn't a sign that said "Museum Staff Only" so I decided to go up there and take another HDR series from there. The Udvar Hazy Center does not allow tripods but I was able to use my gorillapod without anyone objecting.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 12:28AM | in HDR, Space, Spacecraft, Travel, Udvar Hazy Center, Washington DC I was amazed when Kathy and I first entered the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport. Directly before us was the incredible SR-71 Blackbird and in the distance beyond was the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Being a big fan of space flight, I just couldn't believe I was actually standing in front of this incredible (and huge) piece of American history.
This was the first Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle. It was built for flight test in the atmosphere and never flew in space. It was carried to a launch altitude on the back of a specially modified 747 where it was released and then it glided down to land at Edwards Air Force Base.
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.
