Musings of an Aviation Photographer

Occasionally, you’ll shoot that one photo that really stands out above the rest.  Sometimes it can be totally unexpected, and you don’t even realize it until you see the photo on your computer.  Other times, you can see the photo falling into place allowing you to click the shutter button at the exact moment that you know you’ve caught your own personal masterpiece.  Ever so often I’m going to showcase some of what I personally think are interesting and pretty cool photos I’ve taken, with a bit of info behind the photo and how it all came into place. First up is a photo from recently, in fact it was from last Saturday (August 7, 2010).  I was at the Naval Base … [Read More]

With the abundance of conventions throughout the world, it only seemed natural to one day have a massive Star Wars convention.  Star Trek, Comics, Sci Fi, ANIME, and what seems like a million other pop culture topics all had big conventions, but Star Wars was lacking in that department aside from the inclusion in one of the other existing conventions.  But it was clear from the popularity and size of Star Wars at the San Diego Comic Con Convention that Star Wars needed it’s own venue.  Finally, it all came to light with the very first Star Wars Celebration convention put on by LucasFilm for the fans in May of 1999 in Denver, Colorado.  The first Celebration (called CI) was held to coincide with the … [Read More]

When I first heard about the Airshow taking place at the former MCAS El Toro base in Irvine, California, naturally it really peaked my interest.  Having grown up next to the former home of the Third Marine Air Wing, I was beyond excited to not only be able to step foot on the base once again, one of the first times since the 1997 last El Toro Airshows, but to also see aircraft flying over the base.  I used to fall asleep to the sounds of F/A-18A Hornets taking to the skies on night missions, and since the base closed finally in 1999 and was sold to a Miami developer and renamed into the ‘Great Park of Irvine,’ a silence has fallen over the area … [Read More]

Being an a photographer who loves aviation, I always love shooting photos from aircraft.  Thankfully, given the chance to travel a few times per year on airliners or smaller civilian single engine aircraft, I naturally take every opportunity I can get to take photos from the air of the world below.  There’s something so fascinating to me about being up in the air beyond the heights your mind can comprehend realizing just how small you really are in this great big world, and to see how the human race and mother nature creates these extravagant patterns and magnificent shapes on this planet earth. I’m always amazed at how structures, cities, buildings, etc can come together to form these intricate patterns and shapes that are never … [Read More]

For some people, it’s the lure of being one of the first to step into the chilly San Diego exhibit hall in the mid morning, for others it’s the excitement that comes with showing up in a elaborate costume and having others want to take photos with you.  The annual Comic Con International convention that takes place in San Diego each year means a lot of different things for a lot of different people, and each of them have different things they look forward to each year during the Con.  Each of these little traditions are the life force of the otherwise exhausting 5 days of the convention, it’s what keep people going and keep the exhaustion at bay.  For myself, however, it’s something a … [Read More]

“Artoo, Lightspeed to Endor!”  That’s how the journey to Endor has begun for years, following a few minor mishaps of wrong detours.  Millions of people have heard that line over the last 23 years, and somehow they always never make it to Endor.  I’m of course referring to the Star Tours attraction at the Disneyland Resort.  It’s a simulator motion ride based on the Star Wars movies created by the director George Lucas and amazing minds at the Walt Disney Company.  Opening in 1987 to the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland, Star Tours was an innovative ride that combined the motion of a military style flight simulator synchronized with the wonderful footage of a Star Wars space battle which highlight the tour to the Moon of … [Read More]

The lure of Pinups have lasted through history for over 70 years.  Since the first pinups became popular in the 1920s to they outbreak of their fame in the 1940s, they’ve represented not just fantasies but symbols of an ideal time and the celebration of the female form.  While the pinups of today don’t quite have the same classy clean fun as the art of yesterday, the main idea and love of the playful pinup lives on in various forms.  The Pinup of yesterday was created from the brush on an artist, usually being inspired by real life models for the artist.  Today, the pinup is most often found in photographs in favor over the airbrush or watercolor.  A resurgence of the style has emerged … [Read More]

In the field of Aviation Photography, I’ve had some pretty amazing experiences.  I’ve gotten to not only see some of the world’s rarest and most famous historical aircraft fly along side me during air-to-air shoots, but I’ve also had chances to ride in some warbirds as well which served as camera ships for shoots.  Air-to-Air photography is a special type of photography, where you get to capture aircraft in their prime as they should be captured! I’ve had the chance to fly in various parts of a World War 2 era North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, which in itself is an adventure and experience all on it’s own with the cramped space to move around.  But the views are spectacular. But no matter how … [Read More]

Disneyland: The Happiest Place on Earth. It’s the home to the ever growing lineup of beloved characters that graced our TV screens through our lives.  Visited by millions of people every year, Disneyland is not just a theme park tourist trap, but a special place for everyone who enters the gates.  An escape from our normal lives, Disneyland presents you with another world full of Pirates, Princesses, Mice, and much more.  From Mickey Mouse to the Mad Hatter, Princess Aurora to Cruella Deville; Disneyland and all the other Disney parks in the world are the keepers of magical characters that come to life before our very eyes.  This series on Disney will focus on photography at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California. … [Read More]

When many people think of Pin-Up Art from the 1940s and 50s in this day and age, they often will think of Alberto Vargas’s work, which goes from the classic PinUp look to the dawn of the Playboy style art.  However, if you were to ask someone from World War 2 into the early 50s, you’ll find they remember a different type of PinUp: The Petty Girl.  The Petty Girl was not just art for the fancy of men in magazines, but she was a symbol for a homesick GIs at war and a metaphor for the innocence of the times.  The Petty Girl captured the classic PinUp look that has, in my opinion, never been matched since and it’s all due to one … [Read More]