JWilsonphoto wrote:
Someone just sent me a youtube video of the icon crash that killed the baseball star yesterday. I guess that when I was back in high school I could swear toe to to with most of my friends, but does it bother anyone else that language seems to have devolved to a level that it's difficult to come to grips with? If the language from the stoner taking the video doesn't completely have you losing faith in humanity, the string of comments following the post will. A guy is out having fun in his new airplane, obviously he made a mistake somewhere and it cost him his life, then come the comments. An occasional RIP is lost in the sea of profanity and ridiculously heartless, rude, thoughtless comments. What is the matter with us? Tell me that this isn't what we've become and that this is a tiny segment of the population who have had their human sensibility exponged from too much of some energy drink or something. I just do not want to believe that the majority of us have become what we look like on the web, it's downright demoralizing..........actually that is the perfect word for the syndrome........."demoralized". I don't mean this in a preachy way, just a milk of human kindness way.
This little conversation may well be the last best place on the web, where, with only a very rare exception, everyone who joins us brings their better selves and buoys the entire group. God bless you all for being those kinds of people and for giving everyone who visits a glimpse of what we were created to be. If we could bottle this place we could all retire tomorrow, and more importantly, the world would be a better place....Show more →
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Someone just sent me a youtube video of the icon crash that killed the baseball star yesterday. I guess that when I was back in high school I could swear toe to to with most of my friends, but does it bother anyone else that language seems to have devolved to a level that it's difficult to come to grips with? If the language from the stoner taking the video doesn't completely have you losing faith in humanity, the string of comments following the post will. A guy is out having fun in his new airplane, obviously he made a mistake somewhere and it cost him his life, then come the comments. An occasional RIP is lost in the sea of profanity and ridiculously heartless, rude, thoughtless comments. What is the matter with us? Tell me that this isn't what we've become and that this is a tiny segment of the population who have had their human sensibility exponged from too much of some energy drink or something. I just do not want to believe that the majority of us have become what we look like on the web, it's downright demoralizing..........actually that is the perfect word for the syndrome........."demoralized". I don't mean this in a preachy way, just a milk of human kindness way.
This little conversation may well be the last best place on the web, where, with only a very rare exception, everyone who joins us brings their better selves and buoys the entire group. God bless you all for being those kinds of people and for giving everyone who visits a glimpse of what we were created to be. If we could bottle this place we could all retire tomorrow, and more importantly, the world would be a better place....Show more →
Is it that there are more of those kind of people than in the past, or are we just so worldwide connected that we see and hear them more now? The loudest noise gets heard, but the masses are not noticed because they're silently going about their business. Whenever an incomprehensibly horrid violent event occurs I ask if the entire human race is going nuts. Then slowly we start to hear how many people ran toward the troubles to help out, or who shielded others with their own bodies. At times it seems like things are going to hell in a handbasket, but the good is still there even if we just have to filter out the loud noise.
Edit for TOPP: Business end of the Space Shuttle and the future SLS rocket. Amazing to think this maze of plumbing produces over 500,000 lbs of thrust in vacuum.
ELinder wrote:
Is it that there are more of those kind of people than in the past, or are we just so worldwide connected that we see and hear them more now? The loudest noise gets heard, but the masses are not noticed because they're silently going about their business. Whenever an incomprehensibly horrid violent event occurs I ask if the entire human race is going nuts. Then slowly we start to hear how many people ran toward the troubles to help out, or who shielded others with their own bodies. At times it seems like things are going to hell in a handbasket, but the good is still there even if we just have to filter out the loud noise. ...Show more →
I'm firmly in the camp of "we hear more because we're so connected." There have always been good, evil, and weak souls in the world. Stupid is waaaay too common. We just see more of it.
Also, the world is getting more polarized in many ways and I think that's a very bad thing. Far right hates far left, there's greater income inequality, lots of things. People get too polarized and radical about things. I believe nearly everything can be addressed with a mixture of elements from about 30% left to 30% right, and some kindness and compassion. Won't get into any specifics here -- gotta go, and it's just not the moment for it -- but I'm a committed centrist in most ways. Some things I lean left, others right, but overall I think we have to mix the two to get a good result. Lean too far in any direction and you fall over.
Hey guys, just quickly dropped into the forum tonight for a quick catch up, currently on a tour around the UK launching the next best thing in hearing aids to clinicians.
I just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback on the Lancaster shot. I wish I could say I had planned the shot, positioned the Lanc, set the flight path of the helicopter, waited until the light was perfect; but it truly was a case of luck, right place at the right time and a bit of an educated guess on the exposure.
Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
I'm firmly in the camp of "we hear more because we're so connected." There have always been good, evil, and weak souls in the world. Stupid is waaaay too common. We just see more of it.
I agree. We have a tendency to romanticize the past and think of it as a simpler time, but we forget the bad. Just read an old newspaper. The NYTimes often has links to full pdf's of old issues. Let's take an issue from the 1950's. You'll find murder, robberies, rape, drunk drivers, pedophiles. Not to mention blatant discrimination, the Cold War, incurable diseases, etc. It's all there. And now there are more of us, so there are more knuckleheads too.
JamesG wrote:
I just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback on the Lancaster shot. I wish I could say I had planned the shot, positioned the Lanc, set the flight path of the helicopter, waited until the light was perfect; but it truly was a case of luck, right place at the right time and a bit of an educated guess on the exposure.
F/8 and be there...
Re your educated guess. I don't remember what you shoot, but I know Nikon has a behavior that's extremely convenient for this kind of situation. If you set up the camera to bracket, and you shoot in burst mode, when you hold the shutter button down you'll get exactly one bracketed set and then the camera will stop shooting. I don't believe you have to set anything up in the menus to get this behavior, it's automatic... but test anyway to be sure in case my memory is failing me (and/or wait for someone who shoots more frequently than I to correct me).
In a situation like this, where you don't feel confident that you have the skill to nail the exposure and you don't want to miss the opportunity, you can set the camera to something like a three-shot bracketing set at -2, 0, +2 EV and high-speed continuous shooting, then simply fire off three-shot sets as you choose and buy yourself some latitude for later.
I would assume Canon and other makers do the same thing or something similar, but I can best describe it by example so I'm using my gear to illustrate.
Thanks Rodolfo, great advice. I shoot Canon which does have the ability to do auto bracket.
In this case I decided on a fairly lengthy exposure. I'm not sure if it was the trainee or not in charge of the searchlight but they couldn't keep it steady for love or money, lighting up half the airfield where the Lanc wasn't positioned, so I thought a lengthy exposure would be enough to capture the brief moments the searchlight did fall on the aircraft.
If anyone's interested the exposure was 10s @ f/6.3 ISO 640. Canon 5D mkIV with Canon 24-70L II
Because The Spirit homecoming was a surprise to most everyone, we didn't have a lot planned. Winging it isn't always a bad thing because shooting this sequence gave me some great ideas for a scenario where I can choose the light and direct the participants. And, it wet everyone's whistle for more cinematic pursuits.
Off to KSLR to return their Cub and pick 7PC up. Anxious to try out the new tundra tires on SLR's manicured grass strip!
Wait until things calm down and we get a chance to orchestrate a series of those clips with cinema lenses and the right light. I've already created story boards for that particular series of clips.
Finally found a sweet spot to shoot the afternoon performances from at AFW. I'm tempted to say it took "an act of congress" to get approval, but some expressions just lose their meaning over time.
msalvetti wrote:
Don, thanks for posting - that is one beautiful plane. I noticed the the photos of her you posted a few days ago, but didn't have a chance to comment.
Lots of elbow grease went into that finish, I'm sure.
Mark
Thanks, Mark and glad you like them. Yea, they really did a great job on her.
Don
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Finally found a sweet spot to shoot the afternoon performances from at AFW. I'm tempted to say it took "an act of congress" to get approval, but some expressions just lose their meaning over time.
Jim,
that is fantastic - love the lighting on the top of the upside down plane, if that makes sense
Thanks Gero! I worked on some relationships and pushed the envelope a bit this year. Alliance is a very difficult event to shoot properly and it has taken me a decade to build the relationships necessary to be cleared into spots that allow the types of images they truly want. I had a meeting about six months ago with a couple of key people and just explained that if they want the images that capture attention, I need to be "where no photographer has gone before"...well sorta. They knew what I was saying and they definitely wanted those types of images. This year would have been the best ever if our weather had been better, but my plan for next year, based upon what I learned this year, will be wonderful. Chandler and I will go into stealth mode each day from about noon on.
