Tag : airplane

19 Oct 2013

Buzzing around in a helicopter

silo_aerial

fhrm13 Today was the annual Far Hills Race Meeting in NJ where 30,000 people try to outdo themselves and put on extremely lavish tailgate parties on a hillside while steeplechase horse races are happening. I’ve photographed the event from the air for over 15 years, buzzing the horses and seeing how many people wave at me. Usually we take the door off the helicopter and I put on a climbing harness and hang out the side. Last year we used a chopper that had a rear door that slide open so I could hang out. I meet the helicopter at an airport about three miles from the event and when it landed today I wasn’t real happy. It wasn’t the same machine we used last year and all the doors were on. The pilot said they didn’t want to remove the door, he didn’t say why, so I was stuck shooting through a small sliding window. That took all the fun out of it, plus the ability to move around much. The pilot pointed out right away that it was a twin engine jet helicopter, which is good since there is no logical reason those things should fly. Even though I didn’t get to wear the harness, it was still fun zipping around the countryside.

On the way back to the airport, I saw this abandoned grain silo and small building with a road curving around. It looks pretty cool, I’ll have to try and find it from the ground.

18 Jul 2010

Alaska photo adventure slideshow

Alaska – Images by Loren Fisher

These are some of my favorite photos from my trip to Alaska.

16 Jul 2010

What’s good: Memories of a week in Alaska

Crevices form in a massive glacier near Achorage, Alaska.

It was a great week during my first trip to Alaska. Going there has been long my list of places to see for a long time. It is the 49th state I’ve visited, now I need to make my way to Hawaii.

The sun barely breaks through the clouds in Denali National Park.

Alaska is big. Real big. We drove over 2,200 miles during the week making a loop around the bottom third of the state. That’s like driving from New Jersey to Las Vegas. The borough of Mat-Su is the size of West Virginia.

Eagles fill the sky in Ninilchik, Alaska.

I photographed critters I hadn’t before: bald eagles, golden eagles, sea otters, moose, sandhill cranes, Dall sheep, coyote and even a pocupine. There was scenery that can’t be described. The mountains are majestic and the valleys wide. The forest is extensive and seems to last forever, until you get to the North Slope where trees can’t survive the hard winter.

An Alaskan carries her net to catch salmon on the Kasilof River.

We met great people, natives, converts and tourists. The locals were friendly and happy to be there. They love the outdoors and most get out and enjoy it whenever they can.

The two main buildings in Chitina, Alaska.

The towns were neat, although few and far between. I like that though. Anchorage is a real city but easy to get around. Homer is eclectic. Chitina is real, old-time Alaska.

The owner of Wal-Mikes, a store unlike any other in Trapper Creek, Alaska.

I experienced more than I could expect while in Alaska, but there is so much more to see. If I am lucky, I’ll get back there again.

Animals / My life / People / Photo adventure / Scenic / Showcase 1

10 Jul 2010

What’s good: A flight over a glacier with an old friend

A glacier flows into Lake George near Palmer, Alaska.

Day three, more grandeur and beautiful weather around Anchorage. Everyone tells us it has been raining for three weeks, but it couldn’t be better. My highlight today was meeting up with an old childhood friend, Tim Kochert and his wife Rhonda. I knew Tim before we started school and we shared a locker in high school. I take credit for hooking him and Rhonda up, which seems to have worked out quite nice since they have been married 34 years. I haven’t seen Tim and Rhonda for over 30 years. They are great people and it was really fun to reconnect.

Walter, Tim, Rhonda and I after the flight of a lifetime.

Tim is a United Airline pilot and lives in Colorado and flew in Alaska for several years. Their son goes to college here and they spend a lot of time in Anchorage. Tim has a four-seat Cessna 180 and was kind enough to take for a flight of a lifetime. He took us to a glacier that is only accessible by air. Spectacular doesn’t cover it. We circled the lake below the glacier a couple of times and then flew low over the ice field. We then headed out in search of bears. We didn’t see any, just a bunch of moose and more great scenery, including an incredible view of Mt. McKinley unobstructed by clouds. The flight lasted nearly two hours and it seemed like forever.

My life / People / Photo adventure / Scenic / Showcase 2

06 Jul 2010

What’s good: In-flight WiFi

The wing of our plane as we head west.

The plane for Seattle was delayed for two hours. So much for making our planned connection to Fairbanks tonight. There’s always a silver lining, or in this case, an orange lining. The light on the horizon as we are in flight is brilliant orange then topped by a deep blue. It is gorgeous, what a way to start a photo adventure. Then the plane has WiFi internet connection, so I’m close to heaven.

My life / Photo adventure / Scenic / Showcase

26 May 2010

What’s good: Things are looking up

A robin flies over the backyard.

After dinner I pulled a chair out into the backyard and just looked up and watched the sky. It was a clear day with a few light clouds rolling past. Being 35 miles from NYC and Newark airport, there is almost always a jet flying by, some days we are on the landing pattern, some days they are just leaving when they pass over Somerville. Tonight was a landing night. As I was watching the clouds and planes, a few birds were buzzing around. Up high were swallows, down around the trees were robins and starlings.

A jet leaves a contrail.

Animals / My life / Scenic