Helo's are the toughest Tony, you did good! Speaking of helicopters, I met a guy last month who was desperate to get some shelter for his new Cirrus. I wasn't looking for a renter but I told him to come by for lunch and we'd talk. Well, turns out this Gentleman is a retired Blackhawk Commander and a first class guy. I gave him the front spot at HQ so he would have an easy in and out. I went out today to get something and he had put a check on my desk, on top of it was this challenge coin. Turns out he commanded this squadron in Iraq in 2004 and they flew more combat missions than any squadron in history. He's a good fit at HQ, I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.
I’ve had this location / pov in my head for some time. Needed low tide, no moon and a clear sky. The partial cloud actually helped a bit, I think. Processing this stuff is a bit of a tightrope walking exercise – slow progress – but that’s OK.
The line up for The Fort Worth Alliance Air Show 2020 is looking pretty good. It's being billed as "a drive in air show", and as usual social media is allowing a platform for professional whiners and bitchers to vent and declare that it will be a disaster and they aren't coming. Why do people feel it necessary to make a big deal out of something that they aren't going to? Just don't go for crying out loud. Will it be ideal, nope, but what the hell has been ideal about 2020? We're all so discombobulated we don't even know what day it is half the time, aren't there bigger fish to fry?!
Personally, and I guess this is a bit selfish, I'm kind of looking forward to the format. Would I choose it if things weren't totally jacked up? No, but looking at the bright side, it's an air show and the line up gets better everyday. As far as the selfish angle, there will be no crowds to navigate, no loudspeakers in the way of ground level shots, much more freedom to be where we need to be, when we need to be there, and a lot less pressure for once. No dusk and dawn tours, so this year will lack the 5 am wake up calls that follow a 3 am bedtime due to downloading and processing the clips and stills that the media folks need asap. Inside the fence it will just be me, Chandler and the close friends who have dedicated themselves to this event for the past 30 years and specialize in making lemonade out of lemons.
The box is going to be moved east and slightly north so the attendees will have a good view from their grassy parking/picnicking spots. I'm just glad the folks at Alliance are willing to put forth the creative effort to make the show happen in it's 30th year, not to mention shouldering what will certainly be a substantial financial hit so the tradition can continue.
I haven't posted for a while, had to catch up with all the work I've been blessed with lately. At the end of August, I photographed five aircraft, in three days, in two cities. It was a very rewarding feeling, but I was sooooo tired when I got home, but it was a good tired.
Other than Teterboro, I don't think I've seen a busier ramp than Van Nuys, CA for corporate aviation.
This one was rolling in, while I was waiting for one of the four jets to be moved while I was in California a couple of weeks ago. Those ramp guys at Van Nuys sure earn their wages, to say the least!
Up and running, yet another 128TB array. This should hold me for a little while........................... I read today that Google and others hook people into using cloud storage with free deals, then after 30 days the fees begin, and they don't talk about it but they charge substantial fees for every TB that is retrieved. I do the math about once a year and it always comes out that my way is the most economical by far............and it isn't "economical" in the least.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
The line up for The Fort Worth Alliance Air Show 2020 is looking pretty good. It's being billed as "a drive in air show", and as usual social media is allowing a platform for professional whiners and bitchers to vent and declare that it will be a disaster and they aren't coming. Why do people feel it necessary to make a big deal out of something that they aren't going to? Just don't go for crying out loud. Will it be ideal, nope, but what the hell has been ideal about 2020? We're all so discombobulated we don't even know what day it is half the time, aren't there bigger fish to fry?!
Personally, and I guess this is a bit selfish, I'm kind of looking forward to the format. Would I choose it if things weren't totally jacked up? No, but looking at the bright side, it's an air show and the line up gets better everyday. As far as the selfish angle, there will be no crowds to navigate, no loudspeakers in the way of ground level shots, much more freedom to be where we need to be, when we need to be there, and a lot less pressure for once. No dusk and dawn tours, so this year will lack the 5 am wake up calls that follow a 3 am bedtime due to downloading and processing the clips and stills that the media folks need asap. Inside the fence it will just be me, Chandler and the close friends who have dedicated themselves to this event for the past 30 years and specialize in making lemonade out of lemons.
The box is going to be moved east and slightly north so the attendees will have a good view from their grassy parking/picnicking spots. I'm just glad the folks at Alliance are willing to put forth the creative effort to make the show happen in it's 30th year, not to mention shouldering what will certainly be a substantial financial hit so the tradition can continue....Show more →
Glad you have a show, Jim! As I mentioned a couple pages back, the second (and last) show I went to this year was a drive-in format as well. They pre-marked over 2000 spots, each with a 6'x20' rectangle next to it to be the vehicle's occupants "play pan" in order to maintain the social distancing thingy. Mask was not required within the "play pan". The general admission (starting from the 5th row) that I paid was $120+$10 convenience fee+ the NEW YORK TAX(!). The ticket was for per vehicle with up to 6 people. I went by myself, spent 10 hours on the road and $50 on the tolls. But I enjoyed it.
You are an intrepid soul Buddy! Alliance will have a similar attendance, forty bucks a car. They'll lose their shirt on this show, but that's The Perot Spirit, the show must go on. Quite a family, I'm honored to be involved.
Don't know if a retired military can drive 200 miles and pay $40 for one person...awe heck, I did it and payed $30 to walk a mile to the viewing area and loved it!
You are an intrepid soul Buddy! Alliance will have a similar attendance, forty bucks a car. They'll lose their shirt on this show, but that's The Perot Spirit, the show must go on. Quite a family, I'm honored to be involved.
It beats watching the NFL kneelers for sure, but that’s just my opinion as a proud American who wasn’t born and didn’t grow up in this country that I love.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Up and running, yet another 128TB array. This should hold me for a little while........................... I read today that Google and others hook people into using cloud storage with free deals, then after 30 days the fees begin, and they don't talk about it but they charge substantial fees for every TB that is retrieved. I do the math about once a year and it always comes out that my way is the most economical by far............and it isn't "economical" in the least.
….. “yet another 128TB array”. That has this long retired systems engineer shaking his head in wonderment. I don’t know what to admire the most. Is it the steadfast fortitude in protecting your data in every way you can – and then some? Or is it the “burning the candle at both ends” way you run a photography / video business, and run a data centre, and be your own data museum curator?
kdrk888 wrote:
It beats watching the NFL kneelers for sure, but that’s just my opinion as a proud American who wasn’t born and didn’t grow up in this country that I love.
Well said Douglas! I guess it now takes a person who has lived the truth outside this wonderful country to realize what it is we have as Americans. We all seem to be too damn spoiled and spend all of our time and energy on minutia that doesn't matter following rabbit trails that lead to our destruction. Glad you are soaking up what America offers Buddy, you deserve it!
nickjohnson wrote:
….. “yet another 128TB array”. That has this long retired systems engineer shaking his head in wonderment. I don’t know what to admire the most. Is it the steadfast fortitude in protecting your data in every way you can – and then some? Or is it the “burning the candle at both ends” way you run a photography / video business, and run a data centre, and be your own data museum curator?
Thanks Nick! Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to protect years of client files, very few photographers do it and it really is a significant expense. I know that most clients will lose the images I took for them at some point and I'll get a call hoping that I have a back up and I always do. I did a quick calculation yesterday, it runs about $37.00 per TB to store my files these days and I have 2 Petabytes of storage...................Yikes, better not do that math.........................
The update I did yesterday was replacing a perfectly functioning Drobo 5D, but drive reliability gets better every year and it is at an all time high at this point, so it makes sense to phase out arrays that are getting long in the tooth. The Drobo is 12 years old, runs 24/7, I guess it doesn't owe me much at this point.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Well said Douglas! I guess it now takes a person who has lived the truth outside this wonderful country to realize what it is we have as Americans. We all seem to be too damn spoiled and spend all of our time and energy on minutia that doesn't matter following rabbit trails that lead to our destruction. Glad you are soaking up what America offers Buddy, you deserve it!
Thank you, Jim! I took this picture of the bald eagle in January this year, posting it here to commemorate 9.11.
If you are interested in seeing the higher resolution version, click the Flickr link, once you are in Flickr, click the image twice more, you will be amazed.
Ttown Aubie wrote:
Wow!!!!!! That eagle shot is wonderful!
Thank you! I went to photograph the 9.11. light tribute in DC and Arlington, Va last night. The cloud ceiling was very very low so the light beam "hit the ceiling", didn't get that soaring into the sky look. But I am glad I went. I don't recall they ever did the 9.11. light tribute in DC area.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Thanks Nick! Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to protect years of client files, very few photographers do it and it really is a significant expense. I know that most clients will lose the images I took for them at some point and I'll get a call hoping that I have a back up and I always do. I did a quick calculation yesterday, it runs about $37.00 per TB to store my files these days and I have 2 Petabytes of storage...................Yikes, better not do that math.........................
The update I did yesterday was replacing a perfectly functioning Drobo 5D, but drive reliability gets better every year and it is at an all time high at this point, so it makes sense to phase out arrays that are getting long in the tooth. The Drobo is 12 years old, runs 24/7, I guess it doesn't owe me much at this point. ...Show more →
Thing is – if one goes cloud based for our backups – who cares about our data when (not if – when) our local storage has a failure sufficient to need the stuff in the cloud? Are we confident that the service provider will be there for us in our time of need?
At 12 years of 24/7 that Drobo has done you proud! Just as a matter of interest, have you needed to replace any of the drives?
