Infamy - Thoughts and Shots

It is hard to believe that 80 years ago, the war to end all wars was started.  I was not around, or even thought of, in that era and will not pass judgement on what happened or the response.  If those who were involved can find a way to live with what happened, I can.  It is strange that over the years, our enemies of the time have become our allies today and some of our allies at the time have seen it necessary to part ways with us today.

But what I take away from what I've been told about the time is the term 'greatest generation'.  What a shame it will be when the last are gone - and those with second-hand knowledge pass as well.  The further away we get from the era, the more likely is that history will fade and become blurred.  I think of the scene in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome where Max is 'rescued' by a band of feral kids and they recall what they know of history.  Maybe not be too far from the truth in the future.

I digress.  

I'm also about the air power that evolved during the conflict.  To survive, the process of design, production and creation had to be shortened.  Just about every aircraft had a modification in design in development when it rolled off the assembly line.  I think about all the change control I have in my paying job today.  I often joke about R&D in the field these days.  But in the early 40's, people lost their lives in aircraft crashes because of this accelerated practice.  But airpower was created and used and was a big part of final victory.

Again, I digress.

One of my favorite activities during an airshow is the Heritage Flight.  A Heritage Flight is a formation or two or more aircraft from different generations.  I have posted Heritage photos before:  Wings Over Northern Michigan Thunder Over Michigan (USN) Thunder Over Michigan (AF)  

Any flight formation of WWII aircraft will get my attention.  When I get out to Reno for the races, that seems to be the heart of aircraft restoration operations.  One of the groups that shows up is the Commemorative Air Force, Southern California Wing.  

The aircraft in these shots are a North American PBJ Mitchell, Grumman F6F Hellcat, Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat and a Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero.

Technically, no some of my better shots, but the memory of seeing the aircraft in flight makes the post worthwhile.

Radial piston engines with straight pipes, the sound of Music to me.

Honors to the Greatest Generation.

Chasing the #1225 Again

Not that we're totally back to normal, but the #1225 is running again after taking a year off.  It's a good sign.  From what I can tell about yesterday's morning ride is that there were far fewer cars for passengers that what I've seen before in previous years.  That led to some interesting photo opportunities as the engine and car movement prior to the ride were all on east side of Washington Ave by the train yard.  In the past, there were so many cars to load that the engine would have to stage on the west side of Washington Ave, separated from the passenger cars.  That adds some extra time on the departure end to connect up with the passenger cars.  And if you are a passenger, the engine is not off the railroad crossing signal so while you are in line for the ride, the audible crossing noise is going while you are in line.  Yep, the line goes right by the signal.  

The new positioning of the engine allowed for better photo chances, which was great.  And a bit more quiet.

The train schedule calls for a departure time of 10:00 AM.  In 2019, I took some of my best photos while the train was loading coal and moving around before staging for the days activity.  Looking at the time stamp of the photos, most of the action started at 9:00 AM.  I figured the kit for the day would be the D850 and the 24-70 lens.  And that worked for 90% of the shots.  There was one scenario when I could have used a longer reach, but I can get around that.

The goal was to get anything I didn't have already.  Like blue in the sky where I can.  The sun was out for the most part which presented a large dynamic range from the black of the engine front in the shadow to the white steam and the clouds where they are.  Good demo photos for a  club meeting on how to deal with the situation.

There is what I call the money shot when the engine begins to roll.  Steam everywhere.  There has to be a bit luck with how the steam will frame the rest of the engine from where you stand.  This shot works for me, lots of steam and you can see the engineer looking out of the cab.  Not a big fan of the train year background, but from where I was it could be worse.  At least it is somewhat environment related.

#1225 Moving Forward

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

38 mm, 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 64

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

The shot is a bit of a reach for a 70 mm lens.  A lot of crop necessary.  Gigapixel.  I was trying to stay away from carrying two camera sets.  This was from my favorite location, but from a different angle.  I wanted to keep the shorter lens for the close up that would happen.  And that backfired on me, because when the close up happened it was all in shadow.  See if I can save it later.  But for now, a classic 'bend' photo.

#1225 On the Bend

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

70 mm, 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 64

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

And with this final shot, I managed to get in position to get the train and sun in a decent relationship.  Blue sky.  I was as close as I could legally get.  (Yes, there was a county sheriff at the intersection to make sure that the train chasers remained safe.)  I worked on this photo a lot longer than I should have.  There were power lines to remove.  A lot of power lines to remove.  There was a lot of 'learning' going on.

#1225

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

70 mm, 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 64

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

It was a good day.  I look for anything that resembles a return to 'normal' as good.  it was fun to watch all the kids and parents going to the cars in their flannel PJs.  And as a rider alumni, good to see they keep the kids and their families segregated from the more senior folks, not in their PJs.