Inspired Photo Blog

One of the grooms I photographed happens to be an F-15C Eagle pilot. He and his wife travel all over the world and continue to stay in touch, sending updates about their lives. His mission is a seemingly simple one…Air Superiority. In today’s world that is very serious, but his life is one that brings out dreams we’ve all had since we were little boys.

My father treated my brother and I to an Air Combat mission a few years ago. That is something I will never forget as long as I live. We flew three dogfights in the SIAI Marchetti SF-260. This small prop plane is so swift that it’s considered a trainer for jet fighter pilots. From the time you lift off until just before touchdown, you are in complete control of the aircraft. The co-pilots are ex-military pilots and the whole flight is video taped from both planes so you can compare your flight in the debriefing. While that was one of the most exhilerating experiences of my life, I can only imagine what it would be like to fly in an F-15 fighter.

This pilot was kind enough to share a couple of photos that he thought I would enjoy. These are F-15C Eagles, just off the coast in “the Wash” region of the North Sea, north of East Anglia in England. You may think this photo is oriented incorrectly, but it’s actually a 150 degree bank as the two jets turn into the clouds along the coast.

The F-15 banking in formation. What beautiful countryside!

Two F-15’s flying above the clouds in formation.

No Comments

For the second year in a row, I was asked to join photographer Gary Voth as an associate photographer for the Microsoft CEO Summit. This conference is held every year at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. It’s fascinating and exhilerating to stand behind the scenes and document the world’s business leaders. Access that I would never have if I were not a photographer. It’s one of the aspects of my profession that I enjoy the most. It’s one thing to hear Bill Gates speech “The New World of Work” and quite another to see it up close and in person.

Due to the nature of my agreement with Microsoft and the very private nature of the attendees, I am not permitted to show you my work. But Gary Voth has posted a few images from our photo shoot on his web site. CEO Summit 2005 Working with Gary is an amazing experience. He is extremelly talented and I am continually humbled when I work with him. His ability to pull out great images from these very challenging situations is inspiring and uncanny. Be sure to visit Gary’s web site. His archive of newspaper photojournalism is impressive as well as his photoessays on Africa and India.

No Comments

This is how Urban Dictionary defines blogging. Urban dictionary is an online slang dictionary with definitions written by “real” people. As such, it’s not always appropriate for everyone. Use with discretion.
n.
Short for weblog.
A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. Consists of such riveting entries as “homework sucks” and “I slept until noon today.”

v. intr.
The act of posting to a weblog.

My goal is to provide interesting contributions and photos that will inspire or intrique you. Finding time to actually keep up with this is another story! Please feel free to write to me and let me know what you think or what you’d like to see. This is all new to me and I hope you enjoy your time here and want to come back. Thanks for looking!

No Comments

Oregon International Airshow in Hillsboro, Oregon

Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve been fascinated by planes. This is something my father, my brother and I all share…our passion for planes. It was refreshing to step out of wedding mode and point my camera towards a new subject. Photographing a jet breaking the sound barrier requires a whole different set of skills. I hope you enjoy a few of my favorites from that rainy Saturday in September.

This is an F-15C fighter that is flown by the Oregon Air National Guard, stationed at the Portland International Airport. I live close to the airport and hear these fighters take off daily on their routine missions patrolling the coast. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them ripping up the skies.

There is nothing quite like the sound of a jet fighter’s afterburner. Look at the pulsing exhaust coming out of the jet and onto the runway.

It’s easy to be enamored by the loud and fast fighters, but I have to admit this pilot (Sean D. Tucker) was easily one of the best at the airshow. His plane is a custom built Pitts S-2 Special called the Challenger II and this guy really put it through it’s paces.

Some interesting facts about his airshow routine. More than half of Sean’s maneuvers are original and have never been duplicated by another aerobatic pilot. Twice, during every air show, Sean will fly the Oracle Challenger-II backwards at a speed of more than 100 mph.

The G-forces exerted on Sean when he is flying are greater than those on the pilots in modern fighters like the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels. From his normal weight of 175 pounds, Sean will weigh nearly 1,700 pounds while pulling 10 positive G’s…and will resist the force 1,200 pounds pulling on his head as 7.5 negative G’s tries to pull him out of the cockpit!

The Red Baron acrobatic team was on display at the airshow. Who knew pizza’s could pay for a vintage aerial acrobatic team? This near miss always makes your heart skip a beat.

Talk about a vintage airshow from the 1930’s…when was the last time you have seen a wing walker?

Two of my favorite planes flying together…the A-10 Warthog and the P-51 Mustang. Just the sound of the P-51 brings back memories of days gone by. There is nothing like the sound of that engine flying past at treetop level.

The Air Force Thunderbirds were the finale of the airshow. Unfortunately, there was a large thunderstorm in the area. It was rumored that the routine would be cancelled, but they showed up in the end. Their routine was a low level, shortened routine, but the Thunderbirds are the best of the best.

1 Comment