Monthly Archives: September 2012

Butterflies

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This is another one of those posts that is about not having your camera with you.  We went out to the Botanic Gardens for a walk around since it was a nice day.  They have a temporary exhibit in the gardens that is showing butterflies.  It is one of those tent structures with double doors so that they can check you don’t have any unwanted guests on your clothing when you leave.

I didn’t have my camera with me but I did have the phone.  It would have to do.  The butterflies were gorgeous to see.  So many varieties and beautiful colors and shapes.  It would be even better if the visitors paid a small amount of attention to the rules such as not trying to pick them up but I guess some people are idiots and there is nothing you can do about that.

I want to head back before the display is finished.  Whether our schedule will allow that or not, I don’t know.  I do hope I can go back.  Watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis and inflate its wings was quite incredible!

Hello Again Marine One

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It wasn’t long ago that I made a trip out to get some shots of the VH-3D helicopters that operate as presidential transports and are known as Marine One when the President is aboard.  You can read about that here.

It turns out I was going to get a second chance.  As I drove back up to DuPage airport after shooting Fifi on the approach, I noticed a selection of nice looking helicopters parked up between the hangars.  A presidential movement was planned and the aircraft were operating from DuPage.  With the TFR being published, we knew they would be heading out early in the afternoon.

Sure enough, in due course the helicopters came into view.  There were the two VH-3Ds along with three CH-46s in support – two of which were in the glossy green finish and one in standard gray.  They taxied out in line and lined up on the taxiway.  Then they lifted in unison and departed towards the city.  It was very cool to watch.

A while later I was off the field again shooting Fifi taking off when a couple of the CH-46s came back.  I was pretty disappointed to miss their arrival but I got the shot I was there for.  When I got back to the field, I was walking across the apron when I met one of the HMX-1 crew-members.  I told him how disappointed I was to have missed their return.  Not to worry.  He told me two more would be back in about ten minutes.  Sure enough, in they came.  What a great break to get them when I had no idea that they would be there.

Hello Fifi

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As part of her tour of the country, Fifi, the B-29 operated by the Commemorative Air Force was coming to the Chicago region.  She was scheduled to appear at DuPage Airport, west of Chicago.  I had been in contact with the team about covering the visit for GAR.  This is something to be published soon so I won’t spoil everything just yet!  However, it is safe to say that I did head along and meet up with the team and see Fifi flying.

She was scheduled to fly three times during the day with the first trip being in the morning.  The layout of the main part of the airport meant that the light wold be bad in the morning but better later in the day.  I found an alternative spot to catch her as she took off and got myself ready.  Unfortunately, my brain was not totally in gear and I had one camera on the wrong settings.  I did get lucky though and did not end up with frozen props in the shots, even if they are a little less blurry than I would like!

I then headed around to the approach lights to get her heading back in.  It was very impressive to have a B-29 coming right over your head.  I got the shots but did peak out the side to enjoy the experience – something that is a little lost some times when focusing too much on getting the shots.  I was about to head back when I noticed a P-51 on approach too.  A nice bonus.  Then it was back to the airport to get the interview and some ground shots.  A great bunch of people and a very interesting day.

Baby Bison

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Regular readers know that I am always keen to catch some photography opportunities with wildlife.  Baby wildlife is even cuter so that is something that will get me to visit a place.  One good wildlife spot but maybe one that is not so obvious unless you know the area is Fermilab.  This is a research facility located west of Chicago.  It does a lot of research in particle physics and it is home to the tevatron, a particle accelerator that was the most powerful in the world until the Large Hadron Collider was built at CERN.  The tevatron has now been shut down.

All of this leads to the fact the facility has a lot of land, most of which is not used for research.  This makes it quite a haven for wildlife and visiting to take a look around is very easy – as long as you stay in the public access areas of course.  Plenty of creatures make their home in the facility.  One extra thing is a farm that raises bison.  I have no idea why this is part of what goes on there but it does.  Breeding season has come and the herd had a few new additions.  We popped along to see them.

Baby bison are very cute whether they are roaming Yellowstone or in a field in Illinois.  We found the herd quite close to the road and so we could get a good view of the youngsters roaming around.  Some were staying close to mum but others were exploring a bit more on their own.  They will be big very quickly so it was nice to catch them at this age.