Many people helped to make this country what it is but did not live to see it become so great. Thank you to all who laid down their lives to secure our freedom.
Aviation
Aviation photography is one of the most adrenaline-packed fields to work in! It’s fast, fun, and full of challenges. From static planes, ground to air, or air to air, each area possesses its own obstacles and its own rewards. On
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Wildlife
Humans are not the only inhabitants of this world. All wildlife share an important role in the world ecosystem. Telling their tale takes patience and knowledge but it is important that we document their stories while they are still here.
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Tech Talk
There are ten straps out there for every camera body. Each person has a preference as to which one is the best. For me, it comes down to safety, functionality, and comfort. We spend a lot of money on our
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Education
From books to magazines to websites, there is always something to learn and as a photographer, our job is not just to take pretty pictures but to also push the envelope for ourselves and our fellow photographers through that knowledge.
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Field Reports
What’s happening in Montana or the Rocky Mountains? What’s the latest adventure and the newest story? Every photoshoot is something different and each one has its own lessons to be learned. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned.
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A Little Mouse Hunting
I spent last Sunday enjoying a drive through Yellowstone where I hadn’t been for some time. The park has only been open a couple of weeks, but the remnants of the harsh winter are already visible. Carcasses lay across the land as Elk, Deer, and Bison who couldn’t handle the cold long winter perished. Nature is a cycle and while it is sad to see all the ungulate remains, the benefits of the dead are all the scavengers have plenty to eat. This particular Coyote didn’t seem to be interested in those carcasses but was sure intent on catching a mouse next to this creek. He walked up and down the creek for a good bit, pouncing occasionally as he was trying to find a meal. While I was watching he never did catch anything but he was photogenic.
The Waddle is Sooo Cute
I feel like one of my coworkers calling something cute but honestly, it’s the right word to describe this little guy. I was on my way back home from a fun day out and about in Madison Valley and I happened to see this Porcupine in a field just munching away. Spring finally arrived in Montana and the snow has melted away to reveal what’s growing in the ground. Well, I wasn’t equipped to photograph this Porcupine because all I had was the Nikon Z6 II and Nikkor Z 24-120 f/4 which doesn’t have the range even when I switched to DX from FX. Now seeing that the ground was an ugly brown and wanting to show more of this animal’s world I tried to get lower and to be on a more level area with it. The results were…..
Nope, I’m out of here. Oh well, a brown butt is better than one stuck with quills. Since I haven’t photographed Porcupines very much I considered this a win.
The Doolittle Raid 81 Years Later
I remember writing this blog post last year and thinking to myself how amazing it is that so much time has passed since this reunion. Life has been quite the journey since then. Now I repost this and all I’m thinking is what the journey must’ve been like for these gentlemen.
11 years ago I went to Grimes Field in Urbana, OH for the 70th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. It was an event like no other and it cemented my love of aviation. There were 20 of the flying B-25s in the world in one place at one time, it was the most ever seen together since WWII. Better than that four of the last surviving Doolittle Raiders were in attendance, along with Carol Glines an honorary raider, and one of the survivors of the USS Hornet CV-8 (I’m sorry to say I don’t recall his name at this time). Since then, Edward Saylor, Dick Cole, David Thatcher, and Thomas Griffin have all passed away with Dick Cole being the last of the raiders to fly north. Today marks the 81st anniversary of the raid that made them all famous.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, Roosevelt went to Congress to ask to declare a proclamation of war against Japan. Congress agreed and soon after Japan and Germany declared war on the US with the US declaring war on Germany. This would set off the United States’ involvement in WWII. Roosevelt went to his military leaders to devise a strike against Japan’s heart in response to Pearl Harbor. A submarine commander came up with the idea of launching bombers from a carrier to attack mainland Japan. It was a bold and highly dangerous plan in which the precious American fleet would have to go well into the domain of the far superior Japanese fleet. 16 B-25 bombers launched from the USS Hornet on April 18th, 1942, and bombed mainland Japan before flying further onto China where the planes were to be handed over to American allies in China for further use in the war. This did not happen as all but 1 plane crashed due to bad weather and nightfall. The one surviving plane landed in Russia and was confiscated. The history of the raid is fascinating and many historians have spent a lot of time researching and interviewing survivors from all nations. This blog post hardly does it justice. You can read an older post of mine here to learn a little more but I would advise you to pick up Carol Glines, the Doolittle Raid for a more in-depth account of events.
Lastly, while the anniversary of the Doolittle Raid has always been about the brave men that took part in the raid itself, being able to remember and honor those folks wouldn’t have been possible without volunteers like those of the Children of the Doolittle Raiders, National Museum of the United States Air Force, all the private museums that fly and maintain the B-25’s, all the folks that are involved with these planes and these functions, but most importantly are the veterans. If you see any of these people say thank you.