Monthly Archives: November 2011

More El Centro Stills

The main purpose of the visit to El Centro was to shoot still images.  I have previously posted some of the shots from outside here and some video from inside here but the real purpose was the stills on base.

Michelle Dee and her team at El Centro are very progressive in their approach to allowing photography on base.  They organize regular visits for photographers where it is possible to shoot from right alongside the runway at the LSO shack.  This means the aircraft are touching down right beside you and launching past you in close proximity.  This provides a chance for some shots that are not the norm.

Such access is quite unusual but the success of these events is hopefully persuading other facilities that it can be done safely.  A big part of this is having people on the shoot who understand what is possible and what is not and following those rules.  Everyone is ready to self-police as well.  Besides, the location is so good, where could you possibly be that would be any better?

Anyway, enough of the description.  Thank you again Michelle and team and thanks to Kevin for setting things up from our side.  Great to see you again buddy.  Here are the pictures.

 

 

 

 

El Centro Video

We were kindly hosted by the team at NAF El Centro for a photocall.  I will post later with some of the shots from the visit to the base itself.  However, one of the things I wanted to do this time that I learned following my previous visit to El Centro was to shoot more video.

I was still going be predominantly shooting stills but the motion and proximity of the aircraft is hard to appreciate sometimes from a still image (a failing of mine as a photographer of course).  Video gives you more of a  sense of the activity.  Therefore, I took a GoPro with me to the day and mounted it on top of my camera on the hot shoe.

This had the advantage of allowing me to shoot video at the same time as stills.  It did have a couple of disadvantages.  One is that the sound of the shutter clicking is picked up by the camera on the soundtrack.  When the jets are close it isn’t too bad but when they are further away, it becomes more intrusive.  Second, the GoPro is fixed at quite a wide angle so it makes everything look a little further away than it is.  However, this is an add-on to my normal shooting so both compromises are worthwhile.

I did shoot a small bit of video with one of the SLRs and it probably won’t be hard to spot which bit of film that is when you watch.  I didn’t bother with any music since I think the sound of the jets does a pretty good job.  Here is the result.

El Centro Preamble

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was heading to NAF El Centro in California for a photo shoot.  The main part of the shoot was going to be on the base.  It was due to commence at noon.  That left a free morning.  El Centro has a couple of good locations off base where you can photograph the aircraft and one is better suited to morning shooting since the light is good for departing aircraft and those breaking into the pattern.

I was ready for an early start and got out as the early departures were underway.  Not only was this a good spot to shoot from, it was also a good gathering spot for some of us going on base later so it served multiple purposes.

There was a fair amount of morning activity.  The majority of traffic was from T-45 Goshawk from NAS Meridian who were deployed to El Centro for training.  The local ranges provide opportunities for basic weapons training but other missions as also flown including some field carrier landing practice (FCLP).

Hornets and Super Hornets from the west coast training squadron were also operating and provided a regular stream of departing and arriving traffic.  The Canadian forces were also operating Hornets from the base.  They tend to depart reasonably straight out and break into the pattern a little early but sometimes come into a good location for shooting.  When they are weapons training, though, they always come to the end of the runway to make all weapons safe so we get a good view.  They had also brought a C-130 tanker with them which was a nice addition.

A couple of C-2 Greyhounds were practicing their pattern work to mix it up.  Helicopter traffic included some AH-1 Cobras from the Marines transiting and a British Army Apache although they stayed well to the south so were not something I could get any shots of.

All of this gave us an idea of what was on base and provided some good shooting opportunities from a different position to that we would get later in the day.

 

Planes of Fame

With a day to spare during my trip to Los Angeles, I wasn’t short of places to go that would satisfy the aviation fan within.  One museum an hours drive from my hotel was on my list of places I really ought to have been to already.   That was Chino’s Planes of Fame museum.  With a better forecast than for the previous day in store, I made an early start.

The museum opened at 10am on Sunday’s and the drive was supposed to be an hour so I planned to arrive just as it opened.  Traffic was playing ball and I did indeed get there just after the doors had opened.  There were three cars in the parking lot.  Mine, the person running the shop and one of the volunteers, Stephen Andridge, who arrived at the same time that I did.  For the time-being, the museum was going to be mine.

Stephen said hello when I came into the shop and, since he didn’t have a tour booked until later in the day, he offered to wander around with me and show me the collection.  This worked out very well for me.  I could effectively do two tours of the facility.  The first with Stephen would show me the sum of everything that was on site.  The second would allow me to go back around with the camera and take the shots of the things that had caught my attention the first time.

Stephen and I ended up taking a long time as we went around the museum.  There is plenty to see and we had a lot to talk about as we went around.  We had nearly finished everything when he realized that the time was up for him to go and take his tour around.  I have no idea where the time went to but I am certainly grateful to him for being such a great host.

The collection is certainly very varied.  There are a range of vintage aircraft from the US with a lot of second world war aircraft as well as jets.  However, other countries are well represented.  There are a few old British aircraft that caught my eye as well as some rare Japanese aircraft.  They also have a FW-190 built using components from a supplier in Germany.  A Buchon is also undergoing restoration.  I prefer 109s to have the original BMW engine but Buchons are still great to see.

There are other interesting bits in the collection.  An original Bell P-59 Airacomet is undergoing restoration, possibly to fly.  While it is historic as America’s first jet fighter, everything I have read about it says it was a pretty useless fighter.  However, its place in history is important.  Also in the hangar is the fake propeller that was mounted to its nose to disguise its, then secret, technology.

Most of the aircraft in the hangars are in great condition.  However, one airframe is a wreck that was brought back from the jungle.  I was impressed that, in this case, they chose to display it as it crashed.  The layout with scenery around it and the airframe on the ground is pretty impressive and a great reminder of how so many aircraft actually ended up in those days.

There are some very significant aircraft also on display.  One that caught my interest was the Douglas Skyrocket.  One of the three airframes built is on display.  A major part of the race to expand the speed envelope, the Skyrocket is often overlooked against the Bell X-1 series but it was the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2.  I didn’t find out exactly what this particular airframe had done in the program but that hardly really matters compared to it being there at all.

Aside from the display aircraft in the hangars, there is also a boneyard in the museum.  This includes a variety of aircraft including some more modern jet fighters.  An F-104 from Belgium, an A-7 and F-8 facing each other, a Sabre, a Super Sabre (once a target tug at China Lake and missing some pieces as a result of a close call!), a Fury plus a bunch of disassembled airframes in racks.  There were some Russian jets as well although the airworthy examples were off in Las Vegas for the Nellis show.

I have not even started to cover the collection here and there are plenty of other fascinating and noteworthy aircraft in the collection.  I am not trying to provide a comprehensive overview.  Instead, I hope I am providing enough temptation for you to consider a visit if ever you are nearby.  If the ones I have mentioned are of interest, the rest of the collection will keep you happy for a day at least.

By the time I was done, a good chunk of the day had gone.  I grabbed some late lunch at Flo’s across the field before heading back to the hotel.  This had originally been part of my plan for the day but it was so enjoyable, it ended up being the whole day.  I will be back, I am sure.  I will definitely try and get to their annual show as well since that must be quite an event.

If you want to see more, go to the website at www.planesoffame.org.

Griffith Park Observatory

After I paid a visit to the exhibition of Gerry Holtz’s images (which you can read about here), I had some time to spare in the vicinity of Hollywood.  It wasn’t the greatest day from a weather perspective – that was one of the reasons I had chosen that day to go to the gallery – but it was still a reasonable day to be out and about.  I asked Gerry whether he had any recommendations.

He suggested that I visit Griffith Park Observatory.  Interestingly, this was one of the things that I had been contemplating so, when Gerry brought it up, it seemed like it had to be the place to go.  I had seen the location in movies and TV shows at various times over the years and the view over the city seemed to be quite appealing.

Gerry gave me some directions as to the best way to get into the park and I followed these without difficulty.  The route it took into the park went past some very nice houses.  Given the size of the places, the way in which they had been maintained and the location near Hollywood but on a hill, I suspect those places were not for those short of cash!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it was a Saturday, I wasn’t the only one thinking that this might be a good place to visit.  The parking lot at the observatory was closed off since it was full at the time.  I ended up descending the other road to the summit which was lined with parked cars in both directions.  Rather than join this idea, I turned around and went back over to the side I had ascended, found a parking bay and walked back to the top.  It wasn’t a long walk and it was nice to get the heart pumping a bit after a lot of time in the car.

The observatory itself was well worth the visit.  The location is impressive and the view across the city below was great although it would have been better if it weren’t such a grotty day.  Of course, LA does have a reputation for smog so perhaps I was actually getting a better view than normal.

I not only had a great view of the city below but also a good angle on the Hollywood sign on the hills not far away.  I had seen the sign a number of times in the distance but had never really been this close.  I obviously took a few shots.  Another cultural icon was commemorated here.  James Dean’s film Rebel Without a Cause had some scenes filmed here and a bust of Dean is mounted on a plinth on the foreground of the observatory.

I made the most of the outside views first since I was a bit concerned that the rain might show up.  Once I had satisfied my initial interest, I headed inside to see the observatory’s exhibits.  It seemed to be a well laid out place and have a number of interesting presentations.  It certainly seemed to be popular with a lot of people visiting.  I scooted around looking at some of these but I was slightly more interested in the historical elements.  There were a number of older technology items to look at including the old projector for the planetarium and the telescope.

After wandering the insides, I headed up to the roof for one final look around before heading back to the hotel.  The view from up top was a nice extra addition to the visit and seemed to be less popular than the rest of the place.  Maybe the trip up the stairs is more than some what to make.  The rain hadn’t come but I still decided to walk back down to the car.  It did have a little drop of rain as I went but nothing that caused any problems.  The view back as I descended was quite appealing and I was glad to have ticked off another one of those famous places I had always intended to see.

Gerry Holtz Exhibition

I was recently in Los Angeles and, while there, took the opportunity to catch up with Gerry Holtz.  Gerry is a great guy I met at the Kennedy Space Center when we were both there to witness the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.  Gerry lives in LA where he runs his own business in the video editing and production business with much of his work being on your TV screens on a regular basis.

However, Gerry is also a photographer and a pretty good one at that!  One of the things that he has been working on in recent years is a form of panorama shooting that creates a 360 degree view in a single square format image.  Gerry has an exhibit running presently at a cafe in Hollywood.  If you are nearby, the details of the venue are below and, without jumping to the end of the story too quickly, I do recommend a visit.

Gerry makes use of some familiar software tools to create the panoramas but the important elements of his work are the ability to visualize how the components of the scene will appear in the finished image and the willingness to do more than just use the basic software tools.  He works on the details of the image – both the elements and their blending and the dynamic range that can be present in a shot covering such a wide area.  The result is a far more time consuming process to create the final image but a result that justifies the effort.

He also has put a lot of effort into the display of the images for this event.  A number of them have been mounted on rotating frames since the image can be viewed from many angles and the rotating frame makes this easier for the viewer to achieve.  A smart idea and one that works very well.

You might have noticed that I normally have a number of images in my posts but this time there are none.  Since this is Gerry’s work, I did not want to reproduce it here.  However, you can certainly take a look at what he does by visiting his Facebook page.  Go to www.facebook.com/gerradaholtzphotography to take a look at examples of Gerry’s work.  I think you will be both impressed and fascinated.  Some of the images can appear very abstract but then you can explore them further to see more of what is there.  Some will be of familiar locations and others you will not have seen before.

I would like to thanks Gerry for taking the time to show me around the exhibit and to wish him well with further displays of the work.  I understand he is considering a book of more of the images and think this would be a great idea.  The exhibit is at 6547 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90038 .  If you are in the area, take a look!

Can Everyone Do Anything?

First things first, if you are interested in the photography pieces I put up, this one might not be for you.  This is one of those things that has been making me think for a bit and I felt like blogging about it since it might provide some interesting feedback from anyone out there.

I have seen a number of things recently that seem part of a trend.  The death of Steve Jobs was one of these stories but it is by no means unique.  The general theme is that with hard work and commitment, anyone can achieve their goals and ambitions.  This is a very nice feelgood kind of thing but I wonder if it is really true.

I certainly do not disagree that, to achieve high levels of success, you are probably going to have to put a ton of effort in and make sacrifices along the way to get what you want.  (There will be occasional cases where the great stuff falls in the lap of someone but I don’t think they are the rule!)  For those of you that like logic options, I wonder whether one implying the other is being misconstrued as an equivalence.

A friend recently tweeted a link to a motivational speaker that I checked out.  They had the same message:  anyone can achieve their ambitions with hard work and determination.  I just don’t think that is true.  The fact you hear these messages from people that have achieved something gives it credence but, are they natural achievers and not a fair sample of the population?  Are they telling everyone to never give up and never settle when, perhaps, that might actually be a good thing for them to do?  Do you know someone who you suspect could never achieve their goals however hard they tried?

This is part of a general theme I notice today about wanting things enough being what matters.  A parallel to this is sickness, particularly cancer.  There is a common theme about fighting cancer and not giving up.  Cancer can be a vicious illness and there are times when it is going to be fatal however hard you try.  Are we now judging its victims as people who didn’t try hard enough to live?  I don’t believe that is right but it seems to be the subtext a lot more these days.  Phrases like “He finally couldn’t fight it any more” get used and imply that they could have done more.  What a rotten message to send and a poor impression to leave the bereaved about how you view what happened.

What is all this to say?  My point is that we can strive to do things and to overcome situations.  However, we don’t all have some preordained right to achieve everything we want that can be attained only if we try hard enough.  Try, yes!  If you don’t always make it, you are not a failure.  You are a human-being, just like those telling you how wonderful they have been doing something you couldn’t do in the end.

Waterfall Glen

It’s always nice to get out and check out a place that you haven’t been to before. Nancy spotted one of the forest preserves in DuPage County called Waterfall Glen. Despite the name, it isn’t about a waterfall – although there is a small man-made one there. It is actually named after a guy called Waterfall from many moons ago.

The preserve is a sizable area. The middle of it is off limits though. It is the Argonne National Laboratory so I guess they don’t want people wandering in whenever they feel like it. There is a trail that runs all the way around the area and it was part of this that we sampled.

This was a walk and not a photo outing so I only took one camera and one lens with me. There was a fair bit of wildlife around so, if I was prepared to hump the equipment around, I suspect there could be some good shots to be made. We saw a coyote, a deer, many types of bird and a small snake that was right on the path in front of us – good spot Nancy.

However, they were just a benefit on top of the nice walk. The weather was rather warm for this time of year and I was surprised how much color was still in the trees with some still very green. There was also the little waterfall mentioned earlier. A nice spot and one I suspect we will visit again.

Looking forward to El Centro

One of the benefits of the blog being relatively new is that I have the opportunity to dig up stuff from the past and turn it into a post.  I will shortly be heading to El Centro in California for a shoot at the Navy base there.  Last year I made a similar trip and I thought I would remind myself and prime you for some of what might be there.

What will show up on a given day is hard to predict.  Last time we had some T-45s that had made the trip across from Meridian TX.  Whether there will be any this time, we shall see.  Hornets may drop in from other bases to use the facilities and last time some Canadian Hornets were in to use the ranges.

It is the luck of the draw what you get but one thing you can, hopefully, rely on is the weather.  El Centro has sun most days of the year.  I have had bad luck at some locations with weather but I am hoping this one will behave.

What might I try differently this time?  Last time I used a variety of lenses and positions.  The heat haze is a big issue so looking to far back up the approach is problematic.  Getting ahead of, beside and behind the touchdown location mixes things up a bit.  Getting the aircraft and the hold is also worthwhile and I may spend more time there.  I am also going to try and mix in more video this time too.

We shall see how it goes and what I can get off base before and after as well.  Wait to see what we get!

Oh, to have been digital then…

When I am working on a project that relates to something older than 10 years ago, I have to dig into my film archives and see what I have shot in the days before digital came along.  Almost invariably, when I undertake such a task, I am struck by how things have changed when shooting digitally compared with film.

There are two main differences I notice between now and then.  First the number of shots and second the quality I can get from them.  I should, at this point, confess that I always shot negatives rather than transparencies (well, almost always) when I was a film shooter and they will be plenty of photographers who will consider never speaking to me again as a result.  However, while the reasons for that are in the distant past, I don’t know whether it would really change much at this point.

Numbers are easily explained.  When I shot film, every frame had a cost.  The film had to be bought and then it had to be processed.  It also then needed to be stored which I didn’t always do as well as I should.  Consequently, some images that should be available are in less than perfect condition.  That is my fault, of course, not that of the technology.  This cost meant that shots were taken sparingly.

When I went to airshows in the late 80s, I would probably shoot about six or seven rolls of the 36 exposure.  I used to think this was a lot and my none photographic friends used to think it was extravagant.  About 200 shots was a lot.  Compare that to a show today and I can safely say things have changed.  I would miss good shots because I was waiting for what I hoped was the slightly better one to come.  Now I shoot all of them and worry later.  A reduction in skill and technique?  Maybe or perhaps it is just making use of what is available to you.  Certainly, I can experiment with a number of different shot types now in a way I couldn’t before.  Slow shutter speeds are a particular example.

I still have to store them of course but storage is cheap and digital files don’t degrade – you can lose them completely of course but backups are straightforward which they certainly weren’t for film!

Quality is another issue.  RAW converters continue to improve and you can extract some good detail from the shadow and highlight areas if you are not too reckless.  The film is set at development and then you have to work with it.  Again, a skill that can be controlled but going back is a lot more difficult.  I don’t have access to the best of film scanners but getting a crop out of an old neg is a bit hit or miss.  Compare that with a crop of a digital file and I think the benefits to me are obvious.

I look at shots of long gone airframes from events in my past.  First, I wish I could have them as digital files from a camera rather than a scanner.  However, I am more shocked when I see something rare and look at the next few frames to see what I shot and see a totally different subject.  How could I have been so blase?  I guess this is a lesson to learn now.  We might be bored with what we see a lot of now but, one day, these things will be history too so we had better make the best of what we have now and learn from our/my mistakes of the past.