The New SmugMug is Here!

Tuesday, SmugMug unveiled a complete rebuild of their photo-hosting site, with a whole new look and new features. It hasn't received a warm welcome from some users, but moving to the new format was fairly painless for me. I still have some tweaking to do - and I'll need to make a few changes here, once I figure out all the HTML stuff that has to be modified to look more like my SmugMug site.

Since it's been a while since I last updated this (yes, a very long while...) let me share a few recent photos.

Space Shuttle Discovery at the National Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center



The Presidents Race at Nationals Ballpark, Washington, DC. I had to go all the way to Washington to watch the Mets lose...



Charlotte, NC skyline

There's a Change in the Air!

Wow, it's been a while!  Much has happened since my last post - the Space Shuttle arrived in New York, I've been to air shows, car shows and NASCAR races - but the biggest thing was (finally!) starting a new job as a sales analyst with a financial services company.  While I've been working in Manhattan since March of this year, the position was slated to be based in Charlotte, NC.  Well, the time has come, and this week I'll be loading up my stuff and heading south - with a little detour to attend the Pocono 400 NASCAR race.  Look for updates of my trip down to Charlotte, and reports on life in Charlotte. It will be a new city, new friends, and a new adventure!

In the meantime, enjoy a look at a few of the highlights of the past few months.

The air show at Jones Beach thrilled the crowds.





The American Airpower Museum sent its armored division to liberate Old Bethpage Village Restoration.



It was a hot time at Pocono when the NASCAR circus arrived in town.



Pink Mopars rule!



The Thunderbirds know how to make an entrance!



And finally, Space Shuttle Enterprise arrives in New York to be displayed on the USS Intrepid museum.

Lights,Camera, Action!

Republic Airport was once again the setting for not one, but two different television shoots last week. Damages, starring Glenn Close, was filming at the airport terminal for several days, transforming the Long Island setting into a small airport in Maine. At the same time, Unforgettable, with Poppy Montgomery, was filming in and around the SheltAir building, and on half of one of the airport's runways. They used the American Airpower Museum for meals, so several of us got to watch the action up close.

The scene they were filming out on the runway had a "suspect" attempting to flee in a light aircraft, while the "detectives" chase the airplane onto the runway, and shoot out the nose wheel to bring it to a stop.





The crew taxied the airplane up the runway, with a Dodge Charger chasing along side, and a camera truck following along for filming.




After dark, they headed into the SheltAir hangar, but also did a little filming outside with the airplane.

Photo Fun with Fred...

So Fred calls me up and says he's having a few photo folks over to have some fun and try some new things. With Fred, you never know what to expect, so you never say no! When I got there, he had a fish tank on the table, with extra flashes, some food coloring, and other assorted "playthings".




This is Fred, by the way...


Once we were done with the water, we dried everything off and started playing with lights.





These were created using (carefully) broken light bulbs in a work light holder. Just a quick touch of the plug into the outlet gives a spark of light and a wisp of smoke. A little off-camera flash and a black backdrop completes the scene. Very interesting to try, but if you do - take all necessary safety precautions!

As I said, you never know what you are going to end up with when Fred wants to try something, but it's always worth it!

It's That Time Again

The calendar page flips from 2011 to 2012, and another new year begins. Many use the new year as a reason to re-evaluate life, make new plans and changes. I've never been about making "New Year's Resolutions" - who needs that kind of pressure? Instead, I'll start the new year, and the third year of posting here, with a look at Jones Beach on New Year's Day. It's now three or four years that I've gone down to Jones Beach, to walk along the ocean and take a few photos.


"Happy" wouldn't sit still long enough for her owner to take a picture, so I offered to help.


Later this week, I'll take a look back at 2011, and some of my favorite photos from that recently departed year.

A Special Visitor to Republic Airport

The producers of the television show Pan Am were back at Republic Airport recently, filming scenes for an upcoming episode. And once again, they brought a classic airliner in for the shoot. This time, it was the Boeing 707 owned by actor John Travolta. The airplane is restored with historic QANTAS markings, and had temporary Pan Am colors applied for the show.


The transformation complete, the big 707 was ready for her close ups.



The American Airpower Museum once again hosted the production company, with the museum hangar being used to prepare extras, for catering, and as a backdrop for some of the scenes. Spending two nights - all night, until sunrise - with them, gave me the opportunity to meet many of the cast and crew, who were all friendly and happy to talk about their show. Lead actor Mike Vogel, who plays Captain Dean Lowrey on the show, is a pilot himself, and he spend much of his time between shots with museum volunteers, talking aviation.

This time, Republic Airport acted as a stand-in for Haiti, where the crew of Jet Clipper Majestic have to make an emergency landing in an episode titled Unscheduled Departure which will air this Sunday, November 13.

A Big Week of UN Visitors

Each year, the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly brings many of the world's leaders to New York City. The week is also a special treat for local area aviation photographers, as a collection of aircraft rarely seen in the area gather at Kennedy Airport. Kuwaiti government A310 on approach to JFK.

One of the highlights of the week - a Russian Il-96, the first time I've gotten a good photo of one of these.

This Boeing 727 brought the South African delegation.

When the President visits, the Secret Service brings in a variety of equipment and vehicles to support the trip. Here, an Air Force C-17, used to carry that gear, departs JFK.

Finally, the big VC-25 arrives as "Air Force 1".

And a short time later departs again, as "SAM 28", after dropping off the President.

But my catch of the year as far as UN traffic is concerned...a Colombian Air Force 767 Air Refueling Tanker departs LaGuardia Airport heading back home with that country's delegation.

It's only the second time that tanker has been in New York. A huge thank you to my friend Ron for alerting me to it.