Jake Peterson's Blog

Under the Weather

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:37:49 +0000

The worse part about getting sick, your sick. It makes wanting to get up and do something none existent. This past week I was fighting off that feeling and then suddenly I woke up on Saturday and it hit me. Darn Colds. Well naturally the urge to do more than just sitting on the coach watching movies and drinking fluids wasn’t there. But, the weather was so darn beautiful that yesterday a buddy of mine called me up and we went out for a hike. This is the top of Drinking Horse Mountain, it’s basically on the other side of the “M” going up into the Bridger’s. Looking out is the town of Bozeman.

In the Camera Bag:
Nikon D3, AF-S f/2.8 24-70, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Too Vertical or Not?

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:00:02 +0000

There are many basics to this photography thing and one of the principle ones is do you compose vertically or horizontally? With some subjects the answer comes naturally. Take for instance these B-25′s. They are long, wide, and pretty difficult to compose vertically. The hardest part I always found with them is that the engines are far enough apart that it is hard to get both engines are even just one in and make it look good.

These are just a couple of quick shots from Ohio. Top one is Devil Dog, a B-25 that is painted in Marine Corps colors and the bottom is Show Me a B-25J from CAF Missouri. The fun fact with these planes is when you look at them head on, they just look totally bad ass. Most have five machine guns some, like Devil Dog, have a whole lot more!

In the Camera Bag:
Nikon D3, 70-200 VRII, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

The FG-1D Corsair

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:11:28 +0000

It’s funny when you have an image in your mind looking a certain way, and then you go into Photoshop to finish it and doesn’t look good the way you had envisioned. Well that’s the story with these two. I had originally intended for them both to be black and white, I keep trying to find plane shots that look good converted, but after going through Nik SilverEfex Pro it just didn’t work. I think that’s funny because you always hear people saying that you need to have the image in your mind before you take it. That doesn’t always work.

Anyways this a great aircraft that i have blogged a little about before. This is the FG-1D Corsair. Back in 1943 and the Pacific Theater was in full swing with the agile Zero out flying many of our aircraft, the Gull Wing Design fighter was being test flown. It was proven to be one of the best fighters, bombers, reconnaissance, night fighters, and escorts in the Pacific. It became so popular and beloved by the Navy that high orders started to come in and the Vought Plant had to start having the Goodyear Plant start making them. They in turn changed the designation number. This is in fact a rarer plane not only due to that fact but also due to certain mechanical differences. One of the most obvious being the three bladed prop. It’s part of the Flying Texas Legends Collection.

In the Camera Bag:
Nikon D3, 70-200VRII, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

The Yellow Light Bomber

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:28:17 +0000

This particular plane is the A26 Invader. It was light bomber used in WWII but mostly in later years all the way up through the cold war. After service many of them went into fire crews and national guards. The last one that was used in the National Guard was retired in 1972. Today not many can be seen flying. Although a great plane, like all twin engine bombers they require lots of maintenance.

At Grimes Field this A26 was parked outside the museum and it was just begging to be photographed. Any plane with a bright yellow paint job is a good subject. It just pops! And yes for those with really good eyes that is Bugs Bunny included in the nose art.

In the Camera Bag:
Nikon D3, 70-200 VRII, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

A Good Time to Pull a Book out

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:00:42 +0000

For anyone out there like myself, who enjoys spending quality time reading, especially now that it’s Spring and being outside it so nice, then I have a recommendation fro you. A book that i just finished reading, Whistling Death, goes deep into the engineering factors of test piloting the F4U Corsair. It’s written by Boone Guyton, who sadly is no longer with us, and test pilot of the Corsair. It’s truly an amazing story with lots of facts, personal insights of the time and an inspiring story of how one man was so lucky. If you’re into Aviation History, or planes, or engineering then it’s a good read for you.