Paris - Montmartre

This is the eclectic part of town – filled with tourist traps and over-run with tourists.  Even though it may seem almost staged in it’s charm, it still,  to me,  retains it’s value as the “not to be missed” part of Paris.  In the 18th, off the Metro 9 line at Anvers, it is easy to get to. The Metro signs even say Sacré-Cœur on them. My niece says it’s “dicey” at night, but I usually have a heavy tripod and generally don’t look like the “victim type” so I have never had a problem.  Besides, everywhere I look there are plenty of people making their way to the clubs and seeing all the sights, making criminals hard to stay inconspicuous.

For photographers  the early morning rise is probably the best time to get good shots of all the buildings and other scenery around this part of town.  The streets are empty, but the …

Cleveland holds a special place in my heart, it’s the place where I started over, where my life took a turn for the better and created the family I have today.  My wife is from Cleveland and I spent a year flying back and forth from the west-coast to see her as often as I could.  There has been an enormous amount of change since those early days 11 years ago, but my love of the “Forest City” continues today.

On January 31st, 1944 thousands of United States Army soldiers from the 7th Infantry landed on Kwajalein island.  At the time,  the Island had sustained heavy bombarded by American battleships and aircraft from nearby islands.  When the Americans came ashore they encountered little resistance and found only about 1500 weary Japanese soldiers remaining.
Today the Island is served by a major commercial airline and multiple charter and military aircraft that transit the airfield daily   The islands only purpose to act as a missile testing facility and tracking station from test sites originating mostly from the coast of California.
This is the Tower and Base Operations building located on the parking ramp

 The Layover:
The layover is the cost of doing business in this job.  Some are good, some are not so good.  Boston is one of the exceptional ones; a great city.  Every time I think of Boston I think of Guinness on tap, my Irish relatives and lobsters, it doesn’t get much better than that.
One of my favorite places in Boston is Emmets Pub and Restaurants on Beacon Hill.  The lobster rolls are fantastic and the atmosphere is friendly.  Go there and you won’t be disappointed.

The North side of the River – Old Town
This was taken looking south, out of old town.  I shot it with my Nikon D800 and a 5 frame HDR.  The rain added some drops to my lens, causing these octagon looking shapes on parts of the photo.  In a few of my photo’s they were circles.  I did my best to PS them out, but some still  remain.

We arrived in Switzerland on a Tuesday morning, caught the train from the Zurich Airport into downtown trying to find our way to Lucerne.  Fortunately, everyone in Switzerland speaks almost perfect English.  The signs are in both German and English, making getting around very easy.  The best advise I can give when leaving the Zurich airport for any-other city in Switzerland in go to the Travel Agency, Ticket office and buy your tickets from the representatives there.  They could not have been more helpful or kind, and the expression “it runs like a swiss watch”  is right on the mark.  The place, its people are all very efficient, gracious and extremely helpful.
On this night, the only night we had in town before heading further west; I was determined to get the best pictures I could after dark.. I brought my …

Recently, on my way to the AXALP Airshow I stopped in Lucerne for the night.  We had gotten there early so as not to miss the show the next day and had some time to kill before heading to the town of Brienz.  The town is beautiful, old -world charm and as clean as any other Swiss city.   I wish that I had more time there, but we had to move on the next day.
The bridge is the Chapel Bridge built in 1333 is 693 feet and made of local wood.  The Water Tower in the center has been used as a fortification, a Prison and a Guard tower.  Today it holds a small gift shop.

We were heading east over Kansas, somewhere near Liberal (LBL VORTAC) at Flight Level 370, on our way to Dulles when I shot this.   The effect of the darkening sky ahead, the cloud deck below and the full moon made for a beautiful night sky.  This view didn’t last very long, by the time we got over Missouri it was gone.  I quickly grabbed  my camera and placed it up on the glare shield supported by my bean-bag mount, The Pod   and fired away.  The ride was smooth, no turbulence or chop to speak of so shooting at 1/15th of a second wasn’t a factor.  I shot about 10 frames before the light changed enough to make the scene to dark and unusable.

I love the simplicity of this shot, it’s very peaceful and calming.  To me, it seems as if  heaven might …