Horse Stall Window

The goal today was to intentionally underexpose shots by up to five stops ISO, and then recover the final product.  The event was something called the 'Fun Event' at a farm near by.  The equestrian event was an interesting way to spend a Sunday.
But first the disclaimer.  My learning curve got ahead of my goals for the day.  One of the YouTube videos I was watching explained the benefits of the camera program Banks.  Good enough for me.  I created three banks.  One for standard settings, one for HDR setting and one for low light.  Guess what I chose today?  Yep, one of the new ones not for HDR.  When new banks are created or are used, the default settings are used.  Shooting in RAW is not a default.  Guess what happened?  Yep.  JPGs only.  On the bright side, it was JPG Fine in a large format.  Not a total disaster.  And, in a good way I'll get to see how much software has improved over the years to handle JPGs.
The goal today was to shoot action shots in crappy lighting.  Action being defined as 1/320 to 1/500 depending on the amount of movement.  And intentionally under-exposing the shots by lowering the ISO.
One of the downfalls of using this methodology is the preview images are all very dark.  So it may be a while before I get through all of them.  Maybe I will put them on the laptop and take them with me next week?  Post from the road.
If the rest of the JPGs turn out as well as my first effort, I'll be very happy.
I'm guessing there were about 20 to 30 families at this equestrian event today.  In each class there was probably an average of five riders.  There were judges and there was a support group.  And there were ribbons given out.  Very cool.
And everyone let the one that didn't belong (me) roam around.  Very nice people.
I moved around a lot.  During the moving about I passed a stall with the occupant looking toward a very dirty window.  It was a clean dirt.   It was barn dirt.  Maybe overly dusty?  So the stall is very dark and this light is hitting the occupant very nicely.
Yea, this isn't my normal interest.  But the scene did whisper to me.  Didn't talk, just a whisper.  And that was enough.  The question is, shooting in JPG, can I save it?

Horse Stall Window

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

20 mm, 1.125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I get it, it's dark.  I ran a version with a bit more light, but the stall walls sort of took away from the horse.  The light on the horse is what gets to me.  Just enough to see the horse's face, or part of it anyway.  I don't generally favor dark images, but again this one whispers to me.
This may be a candidate for a paint job, in which case I would lighten it up considerably.
On a related note, one of the Topaz modules is a JPG to RAW program.  Since I have a number of JPGs to work with, maybe I should try it.  30 Day free trial.  Yea, that's the ticket.  That's why I shot JPGs only.  HA.

ISO Invariance

What in the wild world of sports is ISO invariance?
Definition, pulled from the web: The short answer is that ISO invariance means that a camera will produce the exact same image quality by staying at ISO (or whatever the base ISO is on the camera) and dramatically underexposing the photo and then brightening it up again in Lightroom, as if you had shot the camera at the proper ISO in the first place.
That would have been helpful to know.
Some time ago, a little over four years now, I had a post about shooting to the dark side.  Essentially, for all the wrong reasons and probably doing it wrong, I was on to something.  And I didn't know why.  My life is a blast!
I've often thought/known you can play with exposure settings in ACR, increasing or decreasing by what appears to be 5 stops.  Assuming you are using a RAW file.  For some action shots that I wanted to HDR, I'd make my own exposure range.  Wasn't always as good as taking three or five independent shots, but in a pinch I could get good results.
Back in the day when I thought shooting dark was the right thing to do, I was taking an ordinary day and using the exposure compensation to darken the image.  Clearly not understanding anything, I was kind of doing it right.
Since the MIHA shoot, I've been thinking on how to get better quality images either through software or new hardware like a faster lens.  So now there is another option, technique.  And it has a name.  Frigg'n awesome.
So here's how it will go.  At the MIHA for me to shoot, without flash, a 1/500 sec shot at something around f/5.6 that would be in the area of ISO 10,000.  Cleanable, but would clearly like to be a lot lower.  Knowing that I can add exposure of 5 stops, that would mean I could set my ISO at 640 and still save the image.  OK, that's to the edge but you get the point.  Shots I took at the MIHA at 1000 ISO were more than OK and cleaned up very easily.
So tomorrow there is another horse event close to home.  Seriously, less than 5 miles from the house.  It will be indoors.  Hopefully warmer than the MIHA, but the light will be bad - or worse.  So if I can remember what I learned today I have something to work on.
So the plan will be to initially set the camera to 1/500, f/5.6 and auto ISO.  If the metered ISO is around 10,000  I'll set the fixed ISO at 1200 - and start working my way to ISO 800.  See what happens.
With any luck, I'll learn something about this invariance thingie.  And something more about the horse world.  I should probably learn to spell equestrian. 

Over the Weekend

I was busy over the weekend.  It was a great combination of create, think, think, and delete.
Works for me - and I learned a lot.
The overall issue is I have a number, between 100 and 150, pictures of high school kids and their horses at the MIHA that I think are fairly usable if someone like a parent would lower their 'photo' standards a bit.  And at this point, I'm not trying to make any $$$$s.  Yet.  You get what you pay for, eh?
I did some searching on how to automate Photoshop processing.  It's easy, although there are plenty of parameters to 'experiment' with.  Or miss and have to re-create.  The editing of actions will come later.  The nice part is the automation will also work the noise reduction and sharpening processes using my third party applications.  That's the good news.   In part, it is also the bad news.  Automation is automation.  That might work for some things, but even if I'm asking someone to take one of my creations - there is still a standard I have to maintain.  My initial batch of 130+ pictures didn't cut it.
Delete.  No issues, once I had the process down, the batch was less than 30 minutes.  And, I did learn a lot.
So what went wrong?  All the images are not the same.  I batched by ISOs as the main component was noise reduction.  That didn't work out so well.  Shadows in the wrong places.  The auto leveling did OK, but there were some misses.  And some images needed a little warming.
In the end, I wound up with a process that takes less than three minutes a picture.  I'm still not doing much, just the DeNoise, ACR Auto light levels and leveling.  Then slapping my name on it.  The longest part is waiting for the DeNoise to process.
The end product is much better.  I can do batches of 10 before I need to walk around.  I can probably find some efficiencies in there as well.  I created shortcuts to work folders and the final folder.  It's coming together.
One other issue I learned was a little noise is OK.  Again, there aren't perfect and I was jumping all over the place light-wise.  Some are considerably easier to work with.  Others will depend on what a parent will take for free.  
I mean really, I'm competing against a phone camera.
I also updated the firmware on the D500.  The D7200 did not require and update.  No lens update was necessary on either camera.  There is so much discussion on firmware updates on the forums.  I live in the word of firmware updates, so it is not a big deal.  In this case, I waited about six months after the release to do the update.  I'll let others do the testing.  I believe in staying relatively current.  Fall too far behind and you might lose the easy update path.  Off the soapbox.

High ISO Shooting (Try it)

I came back from the MIHA event this past weekend with two thoughts.
First, I should have dressed warmer.  A few days later, I'm still trying to kick the cold.
Next, I really wanted to solve the shooting action pictures indoors.  Without flash.
Prior to this event, my idea of high ISO was anything north of 800.  I was stuck in the 35 mm film days.  Was.  No more.
If I left the event with no usable pictures, but a better understanding of the ISO and a slew of shots with different settings for analysis - success.
In the end, I shot a few at 12,800 ISO.  Usable?  I'd have to define the term.  I will say that most of the shots at 10,000 are usable.  I have them as backgrounds on the 23 inch monitors.  Very usable.  Sure, I can see the imperfections.  (I'm looking for them.)  Yes, all things being equal, I would love the same result at 100 ISO.  But, isn't going to happen.  Probably not even with professional equipment.  But with what I am using, 10,000 in that arena can work.
I'm guessing any parent would love to have these shots on their PC, but not the 72 inch TV.  But the monitor is very usable.  Tablets and smaller, very usable.
I'm not sure a print will do well.  And I'm too cheap to throw away ink on testing a 11x14 print.  I'll cross that bridge when I need to.
So for giggles, here is the original shot at 100%.  Noise and all.
The stats: D500, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000.  (EV +2)
This is the original image, 100% background layer.

Using PS ACR Luminance and Detail - 70%

(Oh yea, the dude had to go.)  PS ACR helps a little.  What I've found with ACR, is it does a great job with noise under 1,000.  But this is heavy duty stuff.  I am a big fan of the Topaz AI line, and a lot had to do with this.

That is a lot of help.  It's not perfect, but for me and the pictures I took at this event, it is a lot of help.  I don't know what help a flash would be, but I'm not going to find out.  
I'm not saying everyone's equipment will get the same results.  Not sure the D7200 would do this well.  But I should have tried it anyway, just to see its capabilities.  Could I get this with ISO 8000? Would that mean only 1/200 sec speed?(Reason to go again?)
Great day to find out what lies in the ISOs past 1000.  It's not that scary.  

MIHA - Cloverleaf Event

I can't get over this is called a Cloverleaf event.  It's Barrel racing.  But my knowledge of anything horse sports related is quite limited.  But I know more now than I did a year ago.  
When it is drawn out, I see the cloverleaf.  But when I look up, I see the barrels.
What ever, it is fun to watch.
My goal for the day was more about shooting with different settings.  The event was in an arena with questionable lighting at best.  To start, I had no idea for what speed to use.  For the Cloverleaf event, I was guessing over 1/320.  For the increase in speed, I was giving up ISO.  And I wasn't going to use a flash,
In the end, 1/500 worked well.  I could get by with 1/400 if I had too.  I also settled in on f/5.6 to start.  I'd also start, with the D500, at ISO 8000.  Less is clearly better in the ISO department.  What I'm finding out is that with the higher ISO, the image size is limited.  They are fine on the phone and tablet, and OK on the monitor but I think a large print is out of the question.  For a large print, a flash would be required.
Again, this issue is only with shooting in the arena.  Outdoors in the sunshine, no issues.
The point of all this is that I don't have many photos that are really 'good'.  Most images are dark - but somewhat savable.  Thank you RAW.  Most are really noisy - but somewhat savable.  Thank you Topaz DeNoise.
Most of the shots look alike.  There were only two good shooting vantage points, and I logged time at both.  Also, because I'm new at this, I was fairly fixated on certain points in the event.  So, a lot of the shots look alike.  That's OK, lots of room for improvement.

I like this first shot because for me to get the banner in, I couldn't go in real tight.  To me, the banner helps center the shot.  The subject team did their part.

The first two are ISO 10000 and the last one is ISO 12800.  Good on the small screen.

STOL Race Class

STOL (Short TakeOff and Landing) Drag Racing is a new class of racing at Reno.  At the time of this year's races, it was more of an exhibition show, however it didn't take long for the class pilots and the crowd to express their enjoyment with the format.  It is now an official class or racing.
Apparently STOL racing has been going on for a few years in the high deserts of Nevada.  There is a group of pilots who get together who test their skills, and aircraft, at an event called the High Sierra Fly-In.
The racing aircraft are working aircraft.  These aircraft are flown every day.  Many of the modifications appear to be 'home made' to make the aircraft more versatile.  The goal is to get into and out of places no one else can.   For the pilots, there are hundreds of flight hours involved.
The drag race is between two aircraft over a 2,000 foot, plus or minus a few, straight line course.  The goal is to start at a point, take off, fly the 2k foot distance, land past a point such as a painted line, come to a complete stop on the line of flight with the tail wheel on the ground, turn the aircraft around with power while keeping the tail wheel on the ground, fly to the start line and stop in the line of flight.  The end of the race is the first aircraft to come to a stop and get the tail wheel on the ground.  Got it?
When the rules were explained to me, I didn't connect the dots right away.  But after seeing one race, I could see there is much more strategy involved that just going fast and turning left.  Not that is anything wrong with that.
Strategy points:  Get to speed quickly.  Lose that speed quickly.  Stop without running the propeller into the ground by tipping the aircraft forward.  Add enough power to turn airplane 180 degrees, while keeping tail wheel on the ground.  Much of the strategy can't be seen from the viewing stands.  One strategy that can be seen is the post take off acceleration and the pre-landing slow down.   And it is fun to watch.
After the take off phase, prior to landing the pilot will literally throw the aircraft sideways to slow it down.  And keep it moving toward the landing area.
The drag race course was the unpaved area between the taxi way and active runway.
These shots are all pretty much the same settings, 1/320 seconds, f/13.

Usually in these races, you can't tell who the winner is.  There really is no finish line, per se.  First one to stop.

Four off the Floor

One of the better parts, for me, at the MIHA event yesterday was meeting the event's official photographer.  We had a few hours of interesting conversation.  Clearly, he did not see me as a threat.  I didn't ask any trade secrets.  During our conversation, I did ask where some of the better angles for shots would be for the Cloverleaf event.  The photographer was very knowledgeable of the event and the arena.  He suggested a few places, what I would see in each place and where to stay away from.  Very cool information.
When it was suggested to me by a photo club member that this would be a fun shoot, the only advice I was given (more of a directive) was don't use flash.  And that made sense to me.  Last thing I want to do do is startle a 1500 lb critter.  Oh yea, and maybe ruin a kid's career.  And I'm OK with not using a flash.  I have a nice flash unit, but it is very rarely used.
Wait, what?

Wasn't me.  It was the guy who takes pictures at these events for a living.  I was shooting 7 FPS at this time.  We matched.  Sure, the image is a bit off on my end, but that's what you get when you use flash and 10000 ISO.  Anyway, moral of the story is the horses and riders at this level don't startle easy.
Back to the real purpose of the post.  In my conversations with the photographer, he was nice enough to tell me some of the things people look for in a photograph.  One of those shots would be where all four hoofs are off the ground at the same time.  And he told me where in the Cloverleaf pattern I would see this.  He also said, not every horse and rider is capable of this coming together and I'd be lucky enough to catch it.  In fact, there would be very few opportunities.
I had a mission.
Here are the three I have with all four off the ground.

Four off the Floor #1

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Four off the Floor #2

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Four off the Floor #3

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 12800

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Fun part of the event, and lots of good 'horse' type photos.  Great practice and stretching the D500's abilities.

Helping Hand

Had a wonderful day today at the Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association (MIHA) State Finals.  I'm still very much a novice at what I saw today, but I do know more about the event than I did 24 hours ago.
I'll get to more about the event in later posts.  Tonight I had to work on something photographic specific.  It is not going to wait until tomorrow.
Today. the D500 and I went to places we've never been before with regard to low lighting.  The event is held in covered arenas, with the main arena open to light on only one side.  I arrived just after 8:00 AM, just in time for the National Anthem.  It was not a pretty day.  Overcast, damp and early.
The short version is I spent the first three hours fiddling with exposure settings to match the lighting.  What speed do I need for this?  And what ISO can I live with?  The only thing I had an idea on was aperture.  This is a lot different than a sunny day in Reno.
The shutter actuated 1,180 times today.  The bad news is I have a lot of throw away images.  The good news is I will be able to see a real world examples of the ISO settings from the D500.  I think, or at least I tried to manipulate the settings enough to, I have many combinations of trading speed for ISO to evaluate.  
The first round of looking at the images went well.  Nothing out of focus.  Some of the subjects are a bit fuzzy, but those are low speed shots.  All in the name of learning something new today.
In the end, I was shooting 1/500 sec with ISO at 12.5k.  That's not a typo.  I think the highest previous ISO was 11.4k for an indoor train shot.  Doable.  That's good, 'cause I have more at this level and higher.
But this was 'fast' action.  Would that make a difference?  Yea, a full frame would be nice, but I have what I have.
And that is what this post is about.  Can I save an image with that high of an ISO?
This was a fun picture.  The most interesting part of the day, for me, was the Cloverleaf event, maybe better/also known as Barrel Racing.  I think I have some wonderful shots.
Many of these kids are very good.  Many others will pay their dues and get to be good.  As you could tell, this wasn't their first rodeo.  (Yes, I said that.)
This rider was in the process of being assessed a five second penalty for knocking over one of the barrels.  Only in the process of.  Then, this rider had the presence of mind to stabilize the barrel while riding.  The cynic in me says this was not the first time that the horse and rider had come into contact with a barrel.  But it is what it is, and they saved a five second penalty.  Awesome.  

Helping Hand

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

90 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I'm not sure this would print all that well.  On a small screen and the monitors it shows up well.  On the monitor the shot is soft because of the noise removal.  The good news I have lots of shots to work on noise removal and develop a technique to manage it.  Winter is coming, and I have something to work on.

Thunderbird 6 Ship Formation in Overcast Sky

On the last day of the Air Races this year, the sky was more overcast that the previous days.  One reason I didn't take so many shots this year was, in the case of the Thunderbirds, I have plenty of Thunderbird shots against a clear blue sky.  I really wanted to see the show, without the camera between me and subjects.  But I was ready for the cross shots, can never have enough of them, and new formations.  With the overcast, I did take a good number of shots.
The overcast resolved a number of photographic issues.  No hot spots to remove.  In the Thunderbird case, the sun on the white paint scheme really plays with the camera metering.  OK, I lose some light but the camera can handle it.
Sure, there is a lot of optical illusion here but these aircraft are pretty close.  I like this image, for some reason the light from the overcast makes the aircraft look more 'real' to me.  There is mass, there is depth.

Thunderbird 6 Ship Formation in Overcast Skies

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

262 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 220 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size, DX

Looking forward to the 2020 airshow season.

#1225 Cadillac Express

Yesterday I had a chance, for a fee, to ride the #1225.  Wonderful experience.
The Cadillac Express is a one day out and back adventure from Mt. Pleasant to Cadillac.  Time in the train car for both legs is just under 6 hours.  Quick math give me that about 3 hours per leg.  That's a long time for a trip that is about 60 minutes in a car one way.  But the train is limited to 35 MPH, even though it was designed for 60 MPH and more.  Apparently this speed limitation is a federal regulation that deals with the weight of the steamer on the rails.  The weight of the Steamer is quite different from that of current day diesel-electric models.  The tracks have not been maintained for the Steamers.  In the end, the day is limited by speed.
The ride was surprisingly smooth.  And quiet.  
The car I rode in (#5447) was built in 1954.  It was built in Canada for the Canadian National Railway passenger services.  This car was obtained earlier in 2019 by the Steam Railroading Institute.  The car is still going through restoration, but the interior was more than adequate for the day's adventure.
Any plans made for Michigan in October are iffy at best.  So, weather-wise the day could have been better with the morning's sun can light breeze all day.  Or the entire day could have been as the last half with threatening skies and gusty winds.  So a day with half and half is OK.  The pictures for the day start with great light, then.........
In the parking lot, we had the hobo band to keep us entertained while we were waiting to board.  The trio would roam the cars all day with their music.

I had no expectations of any good 'engine' shots during the ride.  Lots of photographers, like me, were on this ride and as I would find out later there were very few places to take good shots of the engine from within the train.  There was only one real good 'bend' in the entire trip where we could see the engine from the car.  My plan was to get the engine at rest, in the beginning and in Cadillac.  Just enjoy the ride.
When we arrived in Mt. Pleasant the engine was totally blocked from our side of the Chippewa River.  I wasn't sure I could make it to a good viewing place on the other side of the river and back to the train in time so I didn't venture about.  At some point, one of the SRI folks came through the lines stating that the train would be moving back in a few minutes for the passenger loading.  That's all I needed to hear.  Back to the field next to the river.  I wasn't disappointed.
Prior to moving, there was a loud rush of steam.  Camera ready.

This was awesome.  Nice greens, nice blue sky, sunlight and the white to gray of the steam - and that's working just the photographic side of my mind.  The smell, the noise, the vibrations and the engineering were working on the left side of the brain.  If it could come back just a bit more?
And it did.  And there was a steam release.  Awesome.

Already thinking of next year's photos from across the river.
At this time, the cars were loading.  On to my car, #5447 - with the nickname of Comet.

Some three and a half hours later, we were in Cadillac.  Along the way there were wonderful scenes of back yards, farmland, small towns and some color.  (If the trip was two weeks later this year, color boom.)  Along the way, at most intersections were the train chasers.  And in a few places, I saw what were probably hunters (bow season is open I'm told) looking out of tree stands and from behind trees.  C asked me if that is what I was doing last November and December when I was chasing the #1225 during the Polar Express season.  Why, yes it was.  None of the train chaser pictures came out to where I'd work with them other than for the sake of the day's story.  But the chasers were part of the day.  We'd see many of the same people at multiple places, the cars matching speeds where they could.  There are some serious chasers out there.  I am not in their league.  Yet?  Maybe?

So we arrived in Cadillac, on time.  No excuses about headwinds, gate confusion, storms or late take offs.  On time.
We had a two, two and a half hour stop over.  After we unloaded, the train departed Cadillac and did some of that train magic where the engine, cars and cabooses all had to switch directions for the return trip.  After a quick lunch and some tourism, including a few shots of a Shay locomotive for another post, I took ground where I guessed it would be a good place for shots of the train coming back in to town.  During that time I could chat with some of the more seasoned chasers.  A lot of fun.
The #1225 coming into Cadillac.

Once the train was in Cadillac, then more fun started.  I can only equate this to a NASCAR professional pit stop.  People and equipment over the wall to get the vehicle ready for the next leg.  And that is what happened here.  One of the things that had to happen was water needed to be on loaded.  I was stuck in Hollywood thinking that 'special water machinery' was needed.  Nope.  Just hook up to a close by fire hydrant.  Good to go.  I'm fairly certain there was a city official there counting the gallons.  
I overheard a few important facts from one of the volunteers.  The #1225 goes through 150 gallons of water per mile.  Water returned to the atmosphere.  The water tender holds 22,000 gallons of water.  As for coal, the tender holds 22 tons, and the train consumes one ton every 12 miles.  Do the math for range, but enough fuel to get us back to Mt. Pleasant.
Back to the pit stop.  Seriously, there is a support team there.  I should say, the team and equipment travel with the train.  

On the right is the biggest dude handling the biggest air gizmo I've seen or heard.  I'm guessing it is an air powered grease gun.  The air used is in the tank above his head.  Loud.  I bet one release of grease would take the hand off a mere mortal.  So this team worked on one side, then moved as a team over to the other side when the maintenance was completed.
While this was going on one side, the other side was being tended to as well.

As you would think, along with our riding crowd, there were locals out to see the train stopped in town.  I did the best I could to keep my shots 'focused' on the subject, without distractions.  But to be fair, I have to show some of the locals.

A few hours later, we were back in Mt. Pleasant.
All in all a very nice trip.  The crew and volunteers were incredibly informative.  Great way to spend a day.

And now for something completely different....

The good news - I've had a great 2019 collecting images.  The end of 2018 saw a number of aircraft and nature images come into my collections as well.  With all these recent images to review, edit and write about one would thing that is a good thing, and it is and was.
The bad news - I've lost the time, and the effort, to develop the digital art side of the hobby.  I've had a lot of pictures I wanted spend time with.  In prior years, I could could play with HDR to 'alter' the looks of photographs, to make that my art.  I've missed that over the last few months.
In December of 2018 my art 'direction' was to be able to work a illustrative image.  I ended up purchasing a program to help me a along with that effort, that I often refer to as 'painting'.  Call it getting lazy, trying to get something out fast.  But while I was looking, I played with Photo Shop exploring all the filters, and colors, and shades - a lot of fun things that don't make the YouTube videos.
I had forgotten about this work until a few days ago when looking for photos to put in the Nine O Nine post.  I didn't post it in December.  Not sure why, maybe brain freeze?  But as I look at this image now, and what I was able to do with it - time to post.  
All I would say about this is it is how I would see a B-17, in it's own era looking at the skies awaiting its next call to serve.  Maybe it is too many movies, but I don't see many sunny days in the area around the aircraft.  It has a crappy job to do, but as the people who flew it they were going to do the best they could.  Dark.  If I cold draw, this would be it.

Looking Forward

I think this works,it does for me.  The photograph is OK, but in my head this tells the story a bit better.

B17 - Nine O Nine

I heard the news that today a B-17 crashed.  Most other details after that were blurry.
I do believe, without apology to some new age thinking, that the WWII generation was the greatest generation.  It is a loss to greater humanity when one of dwindling numbers of these people transition to the next life.  White Shores.
I also believe just as much that the equipment used to see them through the struggles of war is disappearing almost as fast.
I enjoy so much seeing old war birds of that era.  On the ground.  In the air.  So much smoke, so much smell, so much sight.  I could watch them fly around the flagpole for hours.
Today's news of the loss of a B-17 is disheartening.
The Nine O Nine entered the US inventory destined for European theater in December 1943.  She was delivered to England as a replacement aircraft in February of 1944.  In January of 1986, the Collings Foundation acquired her and began the restoration process.  And in September 2015, our paths crossed.
And in the smaller world, I've been on the aircraft that was mortally wounded today.  In September of 2015, the Collings Foundation brought to WWII era bombers and one Mustang to Flint.  I was there.  The two bombers were a B-24J and a B-17G.  The Mustang was a P51-D.  I have photos of the inside of both aircraft.  I wasn't special, the public was invited in.  One of the best aircraft pictures I have the pilot's panel on the B-17.  The post is here.    I've used that image as a screen background for a few years.  I have an interesting of one engine that I used for a workflow post.  The post is here.   I have a nose on image that is on my rotation of screen savers, even after 5 years.  The post is here.  I did a B&W take on the bombardier's compartment.  The post is here.   I got a lot of photographic mileage out of that visit.
There are certain types of aircraft that I just plain like, aesthetically.  The F-22 Raptor might be the baddest aircraft out there today, but I'll take the F4 - Phantom any day.  Staying with the F-4 theme, the F-4U is my favorite WWII fighter.  (What a thrill it was to see one fly this year!)  And for the WWII bomber class, without a doubt it was the B-17.  No idea why - just is.  Sorry Liberator.
I'm guessing at this point there will be no saving this airframe.  The limited images I've seen so far are not good.  I would love to be wrong.
Some of the other images from that day in September 2015.

Nine O Nine on Display

Nine O Nine Nose Art

Nine O Nine Looking Forward

Nine O Nine Crowd Pleaser

Nine O Nine on Departure

Please spare me the comments about frozen props, I know that now.  I've worked on that aspect in my photographs over the last five years.  The camera used was a Nikon D90.  The lens was my walk around 18-200 DX.
Unfortunately there was life loss in this incident.  The details are still coming out.  
Hoping for a return to health for those who survived.  Thinking of those who were lost.