Through The Lens 176 – Steam in the Snow

Jim Thorpe Station

One of my favorite images of Reading & Northern locomotive #425 during a photo charter in February 2016.

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything here. Life got in the way, but I did a lot of shooting and will share images more frequently here.

Through The Lens 166 – Reading & Northern

Hunter Street Tunnel

More Steam and Snow from the archive. This time from a 2016 charter on the Reading and Northern. Heavy snow on Saturday turned to rain on Sunday which gave us some great atmospheric effects, including the ground fog seen outside the tunnel.

Trip Report – WWII Weekend 2018

This past June I had the privilege of attending the Mid Atlantic Air Museum’s WWII Weekend with a couple of friends who always inspire me to be a better photographer. To Pete, Matthew, and Mark, thank you for allowing me to shoot with you for the weekend. Also thanks to John for saving me a seat on the flight line for the airshow. Last but not least, Thank you to Dave for inviting me to hang out in the Cafe.

Photographing people is not something that comes naturally to me. But I learned a couple of things from following Pete, Matthew and Mark around for the weekend. First, for the candid shots, it’s all about being in the right spot at the right time. Anticipating the moment is going to take some practice. Second, reenactors are incredibly kind people. When it comes to posed shots they’ll usually say yes when asked.

Through The Lens 160 – Mid Atlantic Air Museum WWII Weekend

I finally editing all the photos from last June’s WWII Weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum. Look for a trip report on Tuesday.

Happy Friday!

Trip Report – Photographing Doc

As I mentioned Friday, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a photo shoot with Doc, one of the two flying B-29 Superfortress’ this past June.  The original plan was to shoot one of the B-24’s out on the hot ramp, but an afternoon thunderstorm resulted in the protective covers being installed on the B-24’s which nearly derailed the shoot.  Thankfully, Doc’s Friends were willing to allow us to photograph Doc on short notice.

We started with crew and civilian shots on the ground:

And then we moved inside for some cockpit shots:

It was a great shoot, and I hope to have the opportunity to do it again some day.  Thanks again to Doc’s Friends and Brett for being awesome hosts and to Pete and all the reenactors who made the shoot possible!

Through The Lens 148 – Bombardier

One of the shots from the photo shoot with Doc that I was invited to participate in back in June.  This was a challenging shot to get, involving carefully holding the camera in the air at the top of a monopod and a lot of guesswork on composition.  The unique angle, featuring the bombardier through the window of the B-29 was worth the effort.

More from this shoot on Tuesday.

Happy Friday!

Through The Lens 143 – Doc

'Doc'

As soon as I heard that the second flyable B-29 Superfortress, “Doc” was going to be at this year’s Mid-Atlantic Air Museum’s WWII Weekend I made travel arrangements to be there.  I followed the restoration progress over the last few years and wanted to see it in person.  Even better, I had the opportunity to see it fly.

I also had the privilege of doing a photo shoot with it, but that’s a story for another day.

Happy Friday!

Through The Lens 65 – B-29 Superfortress

B-29 Superfortress - Fifi

FiFi makes a photo pass during the 2016 Mid Atlantic Air Museum WWII Weekend.

The B-29 Superfortress was manufactured by Boeing from 1943 to 1946 and was flown by the US Army Air Corps and later the US Air Force from 1944 to 1960. Of the 3,970 built, only a few remain.  Twenty-two are preserved in museums worldwide, a handful of airframes are in storage plus a couple of known crashes scattered throughout the world. For many years, FiFi was the only airworthy B-29 Superfortress. Recently a second B-29, Doc, completed its flight testing, earning a revised airworthyness certificate from the FAA, allowing it to travel without restrictions.  I can’t wait to see Doc out on the airshow circuit starting this summer.

Through The Lens 35 – Boeing Turns 100

B-29 Superfortress - Fifi

Today is the 100th Birthday of the Boeing Company, so I thought I’d share a photo of one of my favorite aircraft, the B-29 Superfortress which was first introduced in 1944, helping the United States win WWII.  Currently “Fifi” is the only flying B-29, but if things go well on Sunday, “Doc” will become the second flying example.