Frontiers of Flight IV

A few more to finish off the pics I took during our visit last week to this museum.             

Near the end of our visit, Joey was getting tired so he took a seat and even buckled in.  

took the time to check out a lighted map. I didn't notice what the map actually was, but it spun around and she enjoyed spinning around with it...like it was the only "fun" thing to do there. As I mentioned earlier, they weren't too enthused with the museum. Probably because they've been to sooo many others that are big on the wow factor.  I hope they at least learned something.

 

Not a clue what the story on this was. There were several art projects on display and I picked one to photograph to test my camera settings. Just then I was called away by one of the kids and never read the notes about what this was or who made it.

Frontiers Of Flight III

Here's a few mixed pictures I thought were interesting.

The one above is actually the outside of a jet engine. I re-cropped it, rotated it about 80 degrees and made it black and white. I like it because unless you really know the workings of a jet engine, you'd probably never guess what it was.

I noticed my daughter staring at what looked like a tire off of Jim-Bob's 4X4 (sorry Jim-Bob). The plaque underneath it reads:

STS-89 MAIN LANDING GEAR TIRE This main landing gear tire was on the space shuttle orbiter Endeavor for the STS-89 mission, January 22-31, 1998. Shuttle main landing gear tires are a one-time use item and are replaced after one landing (nosewheel tires are used for two landings). Flying on his first space flight as Mission Specialist aboard Endeavor on STS-89 was Dallas Lake Highlands High School graduate Dr. James F. Reilly, II...."

On the bottom of the plaque it says the wheel is "on loan" from NASA. I guess they may need it again after all. The wheel is signed: "To the Frontiers Of Flight from your STS-89 crew, Jim Reilly. "

Also along the space theme is the command module from Apollo 7. I tried explaining to the kids that Apollo 7 was important because it was the first "manned" Apollo mission that ultimately led to landing on the moon. You couldn't crawl inside of it so I guess it wasn't too exciting to them.

Frontiers Of Flight II - Braniff

I don't know much about Braniff Airways other than they operated a major hub out of Love Field in Dallas.

While visiting the Frontiers of Flight Museum right next door to Love Field, I couldn't help but notice a big display on the 2nd floor dedicated to Braniff. I enjoyed the progression of flight attendants clothes from mid century on up. My favorites were these lovely numbers. Why don't flight attendants dress like this anymore?

In a display case nearby there were some model planes and other artifacts from Braniff. I couldn't help but notice a Braniff tiki mug, since collecting tiki is one of my hobbies. I've seen this one before in an antique store but they wanted $40 for it which I think was overpriced.






This mug was given to passengers during their Hawaii route but I'm not sure when. My guess is late 60's to early 70's. This mugs design is known in the collectors world as "Leilani" and was manufactured by a company called Orchids Of Hawaii.

Frontiers of Flight

The Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas is an assembly of artifacts celebrating the history of flight. My son and I were there once 3 or 4 years ago for someones birthday party but we never made it back with the family.

There are some interesting artifacts, several restored aircraft, some replicas..etc. Worth the admission price ($8.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids). My kids have been to some fantastic museums in the past, not to mention both the Kennedy Space Center in FL and the Johnson Space Center in Houston, so they've seen it all. Not sure what they were expecting, but I think this one left them a little disappointed. Still, plenty of interesting things to see.

The lighting actually wasn't bad for pictures, but like I've mentioned before, the Nikon D80 has severe limitations when it comes to low light. I used my 50mm f1.8 while we were indoors and got a few interesting shots, but the low light shots are far too grainy. I didn't push my ISO past 300.



The museum is located right next to Love Field so the kids enjoyed watching planes come and go from the parking lot. There's a wire mesh fence dividing the museum parking lot from the airport.

At first this pic looks like she's jumping, but she's actually trying to balance herself on one of parking space dividers while carrying a toy plane she bought inside.

WANTED!

Next week I'm doing a shoot at an elementary school dance. It's going to be a "western" theme and they wanted the pictures to look like "wanted" posters. Since I only offer 4X6's at these events it was a challenge figuring out exactly how to pull this off. I managed to locate some frames on line that already said "wanted" on them. The only additional thing I would need to do is give the pictures an antique look.

I wanted to try one picture before the event so I have something to show potential customers. The sun was a concern, but this was only supposed to be a throwaway that I could use to see how the pictures would look in the frame.

At first I took about 15 pictures of my daughter wearing a cowboy hat and then sent her on her way. Then I realized there was no memory card in the camera (OOPS). I called her back to do it again and she was a bit irritated with me. I quickly took 6 more shots (WITH the memory card this time) and managed to get this pose from her. I told her to look like a mean criminal and I think it was easy since she was already mad at me.

I edited the picture and put it inside one of the frames I'll be using at the event. Below is the result.

More B&W Please

It occurred to me while I was reviewing my past blog entries that although I market myself primarily as a "black & white" photographer, I haven't been posting nearly enough black & white pictures to this blog. My website is all black & white and it's a niche I like sticking to. I do plenty of color also and most of my clients get a mixture of both color and black & white. Still, if I want people to see the work I enjoy doing the most, I should probably start posting THAT work with an occasional color picture.

Anyway, the pic above was taken during spring break last year at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is my son, then age 12. He was in a playground area sitting in a jeep that was converted into a piece of playground equipment. He wasn't expecting me to take a picture which is how I was able to catch this expression.

Here's another taken moments later...his expression now says it all...

Spring Break

Spring break crept up on us this year. Usually we plan one of our two annual family vacations during spring break while the kids are out of school. I didn't even start thinking about it until two weeks ago or so. I can't take all of the blame though...my wife also knew this time off was coming. Due to the uncertain economy and my wife's employer being unwilling to commit to letting her have off for specific days, we made no plans.

Last year this time we went on a big week-long trip to Disney World and visited my family who live in the Orlando area. That was quite an excursion and I have the pictures to prove it. Maybe a later blog entry...

Anyway, Monday the 16th was the first "official" day of no school for the kids. My wife, always the one to keep the kids as busy as possible, made them each a "to do" list so they didn't get too bored too quickly. By 12:30 there was only one thing left on both of their lists..."walk the dog." So the three of us took the dog down to a nearby park. I brought along the camera and grabbed a few pictures. Totally wrong time of day to be trying to take good pictures due to the strong mid-day sun, but who cares..it's spring break!

Lampost Relection

The last of my more interesting shots from last weeks downtown excursion. Reflections are fun.

I remember the wind was blowing so hard I took this shot three times because I couldn't hold my arms still enough. This was the best pic and the "real" lamp post is still a little out of focus. I'll have to try this one again sometime.

A.D. Hope & Sons

I know...everyone who has ever walked around downtown with a camera has taken a picture of this old sign on the side of the building that is now The Pantry. I don't want to feel left out so here you go. 55mm 1/100 sec f5.6.

Wow...hardware and gifts? I wonder if anyone got one of those well pumps as a gift.

I also need to try that chocolate chip pie sometime.

WOW

Don't know the story on this. It's on the side of a building I noticed as I was walking down an alley.
55mm 1/100 sec f7.1

Same town, different lens

I had some free time one morning recently so I went to downtown McKinney to try to get some pictures. It was overcast and windy and was sometimes hard to hold the camera straight. I decided to take all the pictures with a lens I rarely use...my 55-200 f4.0.

A basketball goal and a pallet are two things you don't often see together. This was in the parking lot on the side of a restaurant. I forget what street. 95mm 1/100 sec f5.6. The ISO on all shots was 100.





These power lines and uneven poles always interested me. I'm sure there was some reason for this set up in the past but I have no idea. This picture would have looked much better with a blue sky, but as I said it was overcast. 90mm 1/100 sec f7.1.

My biggest fan

She got this from me.

When the kids were little I could never resist talking into a fan to alter my voice. They would always laugh and want to try it too. Now they're older and I need to be more creative to get a laugh out of my kids, but that doesn't stop them from taking my old habits to the extreme.

Shot with my 50mm at f1.8, 1/50 sec ISO 100.

Dallas Trader Vic's

My favorite place in Dallas...I'll spare you the company history. Suffice to say that Trader Vic's was a staple in the era of mid 20th century tiki/Polynesian pop culture. Tiki heaven for sure.

The Dallas location of Trader Vic's originally opened in 1967 at the Dallas Hilton. Polynesian style restaurants were just at the height of their popularity...as well as the strong rum concoctions served in crazy looking mugs. At this time these places were a common sight in every major US city. Dallas was also home to Ports O' Call on the 37th floor of the Dallas Sheraton and Dobbs House Luau at Love Field.

The 70's brought a period of tiki-devolution, and these once frequented establishments were now considered tacky and out of date. Business slowed, service suffered, and people just forgot about them. Dobbs House Luau closed in 1974 and Ports O' Call closed in 1978. Trader Vic's however, lingered on for quite a number of years. Finally, in 1989, the Dallas Hilton was sold...to the Maharishi! They had plans to turn the Hilton into a transcendental meditation center and had absolutely no interest in running a bar/restaurant. So, Trader Vic's was essentially mothballed and the space was occasionally rented out for private parties. The amazing thing was the interior, complete with tiki decor from the classic tiki period, remained intact. Beautiful carved poles by Oceanic Arts still brought the sense of escapism to a long gone era, not to mention the moai carved by famed carver Barney West that still stood guard out front for many years after the restaurant officially closed down.

Flash forward to 2005. The hotel, now called the Sante Fe, was sold to a couple of investors who had plans to rebuild, reshape and revitalize that old building into something new and trendy. They must have been amazed when they pried opened the doors to Trader Vic's and found a treasure trove of tiki artifacts that could be a centerpiece of a tiki museum (if there was such a thing). Plans soon began to breathe new life into the old space.

While the hotel was being remodeled into what is now the Palomar, Trader Vic's went through some renovations. First, anything that was still usable and up to current building codes was kept in place...right down to the lamps on the ceiling that had a few holes but otherwise were still usable. The sunken dining room area was brought back up to ground level, and the old carpeting was reproduced with the exact pattern that it had before. The bar was extended, the windows hidden, and paradise was reborn.






I was fortunate enough to attend a "mock service" at the restaurant before they officially opened and was in awe...here was a living time capsule of a slice of American pop culture from the 50's-60's. Never before had a classic tiki establishment reopened in the same location with the same decor. It was simply amazing. The old Barney West moai that stood out front had eroded to the point of unusablity, but I was led down to a secret room (in the parking garage) where he was temporarily housed so I could see him one last time.

Dallas Trader Vic's officially RE-opened on March 1st, 2007. It remains the ONLY real tiki establishment in the state. You're likely to get an experience there you won't get anywhere else. The food is exceptional, the drinks are fun and well made...no free pouring and always a top notch presentation. But, the MAIN reason I go to Trader Vics is the atmosphere. It's all about escapism, and Trader Vic's is the ultimate escape. Trader Vic's is located at the Hotel Palomar at Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane in Dallas.