Last night my wife and I were talking about patriotism or lack of. I told her Texas is probably the only state where you will see as many state flags, or maybe even more state flags than the American flag on July 4th. Then, today...there goes the Galveston Historical Foundation Elissa tall ship based in Galveston, Texas, sailing on the Hudson river in New York, sporting two Texas state flags on the main mast with the single American flag properly displayed at the stern. It's a Texas thang.
Thank you gentlemen! Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July.
Yesterday I parked at a garage few blocks from the US Marine Corps War Memorial (aka Iwo Jima Memorial), took a uber to the Navy & Marine Memorial by the river to shoot the airshow/flyover, in just to see the opening act of the flyover of the NASA jets in American paint scheme. The best $15 I have ever spent! Imagine pulling the heavy wagon with all the camera gear, tripod, cooler, chair for 2 miles in 100 degree and sun? The air was much clearer than on Friday when I went to see the practice.
I was staying under a tree when there was no action and there were breezes once in a while. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I drank 8 or 9 bottles of water and Gatorade. The flyover/demo was fantastic! They did cancel the F-22 demo, F-22 afterburner and B-1 afterburner passes due to the weather. They were scheduled around the best hour for light. I had never seen the legendary B-1 afterburner so I was so looking forward to that. I left the river bank around 8:00 and walked to the Netherlands for the fireworks. My friend saved me a spot. It was packed and people were singing patriotic songs while waiting for the firework to start (at 12:00!!). One doesn't have to like the President to celebrate this big day for the country.
The firework display was amazing. it covered a much wide area than the normal 4th of July fireworks and broke the world record in terms of number, I think it was 875,000. I just bought a new blue tooth camera remote control, just set it up in the morning, it worked when I tried it after I paired it with the camera, but when I tried to shoot fireworks, I couldn't make it work. Also some people stood up when the fireworks started and blocked the lower part of the frame. I had shot fireworks from the Netherlands Carillon several times before, never saw people standing up. So no firework pix from me this time. I felt it was more important to witness it with my own eyes. Plenty of professionally created pictures and videos can always be found on the net anyway.
I will post the airhshow/flyover pictures once I get around to work on the files.
Ray Swindle wrote:
Last night my wife and I were talking about patriotism or lack of. I told her Texas is probably the only state where you will see as many state flags, or maybe even more state flags than the American flag on July 4th. Then, today...there goes the Galveston Historical Foundation Elissa tall ship based in Galveston, Texas, sailing on the Hudson river in New York, sporting two Texas state flags on the main mast with the single American flag properly displayed at the stern. It's a Texas thang.
Yes it IS Ray! Great for "Tay-has" but real sad for the other 49 states IMHO!
I fly my American flag and my primary military unit flag 24/7...Suzanne and I were up until the "wee" hours of the morning watching and listening to the accolades from our younger people about Proud To Be An American!
The 107 yr old WWII veteran was FANTASTIC! He hadn't lost a "step"!
Yesterday was a day for Patriotism!
Those who hate America should leave..Call me and I will help you pack!
What trash/hate they are spewing needs to stop IMHO!
I respect their need to vent but I don't accept it nor do I like it!
Hope everyone had a great Independence Day!
De Opresso Libre!
Dan
JWilsonphoto wrote:
I have credentials for that show and it’s my understanding that there will be a dusk static shoot involving the Phantom .
Just out of curiosity, what does having credentials get you as a photographer/opportunities that I'm missing out on? I've often wondered if I should try to get credentialed, but don't really know why I should!
RoamingScott wrote:
Just out of curiosity, what does having credentials get you as a photographer/opportunities that I'm missing out on? I've often wondered if I should try to get credentialed, but don't really know why I should!
The only credential you need to have is that you are Jim!
RoamingScott wrote:
Just out of curiosity, what does having credentials get you as a photographer/opportunities that I'm missing out on? I've often wondered if I should try to get credentialed, but don't really know why I should!
Scott, credentials get you access to areas others cannot get to. Credentials put you closer to the "subject" than the "gallery".
It also should provide you with access to pilots, crew, sponsors, aircraft's "private parts"(engines, cockpit.....)
Since "9-11", obtaining them was much harder. For me anyway.....That is fine with me! But it can cause some trepidation while you await the arrival of said credentials!
Douglas L wrote:
The only credential you need to have is that you are Jim!
I know you are probably extremely busy with your photos Douglas but how did it go? Must have been a long day and very tiring with all the waiting, heat, humidity and crowds.........
Get wet? Boy we had terrible lighting and thunder but not much rain.
Dan
Danpbphoto wrote:
I know you are probably extremely busy with your photos Douglas but how did it go? Must have been a long day and very tiring with all the waiting, heat, humidity and crowds.........
Get wet? Boy we had terrible lighting and thunder but not much rain.
Dan
Hi Dan, I spent hours deleting 95% of the shots I took.. I just learned the delay of the start of the fireworks from 10:30 to midnight was because folks on the national mall were told to go the government buildings nearby to seek shelter during the thunderstorm and they had to pass through the security check again to enter the designated area once the storm was over.
They canceled the F-22 demo and the F-22 afterburner pass due to the weather. I really wanted to see the scheduled B-1B afterburner pass right before sunset. That got cancelled too. It would have been epic! I have never seen B-1 afterburner before. The B-1 did gave an afterburner pass right over our head at the Netherlands Carillon at midnight, it was over like 2 seconds. My cameras were on the tripod, it was too dark to get a good shot anyway, maybe just a ball of fire.
I am posting some of my favorites from show. 100+ degree temperature be damned!
ILCE-1M2FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens200mmf/7.11/2500s320 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens600mmf/7.11/3200s320 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens600mmf/7.11/3200s320 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens600mmf/6.31/4000s800 ISO+0.3 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS lens400mmf/6.31/3200s400 ISO-0.3 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS lens200mmf/6.31/3200s400 ISO-0.3 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens800mmf/8.01/3200s320 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens584mmf/8.01/3200s320 ISO-0.7 EV
Douglas L wrote:
More... The B-1 is such a good-looking beast!
Just PHENOMINAL photography Douglas!
Suzanne and I were glued to the tv watching the events happen, or in your case, the afterburner flyby that didn't happen, but what we saw were fantastic frames for your photography!
The F35C's were just wonderful going vertical, inverted, rolls.......so glad you endured the weather! It was brutal here both before and after the celebration...over 4inches of rain in 3 hours!
Nice, again! I agree ... the B-1 is a beautiful beast. I love the capture of the F-22's computerized control surfaces deflecting wherever is best. Thanks for bringing us all a taste of the show!
In 1970 when I was in jet engine mechanic school (USAF) they had a C-5 engine on a stand in our lab. Most of the other engines were used in the century series fighters, so they looked quite small compared to that General Electric TF39.
Looking at the C-5 in the photo provided by Douglas, they look small, especially compared to the KC-135.
Ray Swindle wrote:
In 1970 when I was in jet engine mechanic school (USAF) they had a C-5 engine on a stand in our lab. Most of the other engines were used in the century series fighters, so they looked quite small compared to that General Electric TF39.
Looking at the C-5 in the photo provided by Douglas, they look small, especially compared to the KC-135.
The C-5 really needs to park next to a C-17 to see its size..
RoamingScott wrote:
Just out of curiosity, what does having credentials get you as a photographer/opportunities that I'm missing out on? I've often wondered if I should try to get credentialed, but don't really know why I should!
Hi Scott,
"Credentials" can mean a variety of things, from you get to shoot from the photo pit and you don't have to pay, to, you shoot from locales that no one in their right mind would be. Honest to goodness credentials are getting pretty difficult to secure. There was a period 10 years ago when anyone with a great white, or great black lens felt like they were entitled to special treatment. Airshow promoters loosened up and some unfortunate things happened. People have a tendency to toss caution to the wind when they are in pursuit of an image that they never thought they would be able to get, in aviation activities that can be fatal, or at least get very legal quickly.
Truthfully, while it is fun, shooting from the center of the action doesn't always get you the best images. I'm often amazed at shots people get from the crowd line or the photo pit. I actually am finding myself graciously opting out on some of the opportunities that are offered, what's that old German saying..."Too soon old and too late schmaaart!". One gets in those rare locations where trash bags filled with 100LL and blasting caps are blowing up all around you and you begin to realize that one wrong step and it's a really bad day all of a sudden, or out in what is affectionately called "the scatter radius", where aircraft can turn into shrapnel quicker than a Canon frame rate. I have said it many times......"it's all great fun............until it isn't".
