Underwing
Here's another handheld job from the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC.  I sent out a tweet a few weeks ago and got in touch with the gal that works in the public affairs office...  I twitter-charmed her into giving me the thumbs up to use a tripod next time!  It took 140 delicate characters to make that happen...  there are still more steps, but I am well on the way to getting proper permission.  It's too hard to sneak a tripod into this place... just forget it... armed guards and that sort of thing...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs Blog.
The Blackbird in the Hangar You may not even really need to be into planes to know about the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.  The way those letters and numbers fit together is almost poetic, isn't it?  SR-71.  There is a melody to it that flows in a nice way.  It almost makes me wonder if there is some military muse that comes up with some of the better names for these vehicles.In the background there, waaay in the rear area, you can see the space shuttle ...  - Trey Ratcliff Read the rest of this entry here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Enola Gay This is a 5-exposure HDR of the Enola Gay at the Air and Space Museum in DC.  It was shot with a 14-24 lens and the Nikon D3S.  The aperture was F/8 and ISO 200.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Shuttle in Spacedock I finally got to see the Space Shuttle!  It’s one of those things a young boy always dreams of seeing, don’t you know?  I’m still waiting on that phone call from NASA where they invite me to see one blast off.  I’d love to do a creative shot there…This was shot in the new Air and Space Museum on DC.  Yes, not that old one that I used to think was cool when I was a kid.  This is a new and improved center that is completely unbelievable. I had a small argument with a security guard that would not let me take my tripod.  He said I needed a “blue card”.  I asked how to get that and he said the only person that could possibly give it to me was probably at home.  There were a number of bureaucracies where I could have filed a series of complaints, but only if such complaints were filled out in a way as pre-approved by other bureaucracies.  I did send out a self-serving Tweet to @Smithsonian asking them for special dispensation — I hoped to sway them since, after all, one of my photos did hang in the Smithsonian.  They did indeed respond, but one day late. So, I’ll still keep @Smithsonian on one of my Five Twitter Lists.So, I was forced to take my HDR shots with a hand-held pose.  How barbaric and depressing.  I would try to wedge myself up against a beam or a foreigner when possible, but that rarely works out as good as a tripod.  Those things are never placed in the right compositional spots, sadly.But, I did have the Nikon D3S as a backup, and I fired this one off.  It was a 4-exposure HDR from -2 to +1.  ISO 400, 23mm, f/6.7 and 1/6 second shutter speed. The +2 exposure was too blurry, and I got most of the light I needed out of the +1 anyway.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Landing in the Air & Space Museum I love this place!  This was about the only place I was allowed to use my tripod (on the outside), so I spent a bit of time hunting about for best ways to capture the amazing building. - Trey Ratcliff Read the rest of this entry (and some tips for taking handheld shots) here.
Aerophilia Is aerophilia a word?  Probably not.  People that are really into planes probably have a very specific word for this, and the "wrong" word probably really irritates them... so I apologize in advance.This wondrous place is the new Air and Space Museum in DC.  I thought I knew a lot about planes until I got here.  I would recognize this and that, but the whole gestalt of the place was completely overwhelming.  Overwhelming in an awesome way, of course.I only took the Nikon D3S in here (see my Nikon D3S Review) because they would not allow tripods.  The D3S is so much better at quick shots with low noise.  All of my HDRs in here were handheld, so I had to be sure that I took the photos quickly and with very little noise.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Univac I'm such a nerd and I love this computer.My background is computer science and math, so I've always been into computers.  This UNIVAC was just hitting its stride around the time I was born, and Moore's Law was kind enough to keep the doublings at a manageable rate so it wasn't a whole lot faster when I got my own first computer!  I think I started with the Timex Sinclair 99 before getting into the C-64, then a whole host of Amigas before getting into the world of PCs (see these old vintage ads of computer stuff I tweeted about yesterday).  Anyway, I'll try not to geek out too much here!This photo was taken at the new Air and Space Museum in DC.  There is an area in the back with all the rockets that also had the computers that were used alongside them at mission control.  So, if you have any geek in you at all, I really recommend it.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A New Photo of Rockefeller center So, a few days ago I received a letter from the Smithsonian saying that I have another one in the running for the 6th Annual Photo Contest!  Cool!  Two years ago, I had 2 winners in the 4th Annual Photo Contest , and one of those ended up hanging in the Smithsonian castle in DC.  I know a few of you out there got to see it on road trips – maybe we can make another pilgrimage this year!.  I didn’t win anything last year in the 5th annual contest…  It was a bad year for me, what can I say?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Underwing


Here's another handheld job from the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. I sent out a tweet a few weeks ago and got in touch with the gal that works in the public affairs office... I twitter-charmed her into giving me the thumbs up to use a tripod next time! It took 140 delicate characters to make that happen... there are still more steps, but I am well on the way to getting proper permission. It's too hard to sneak a tripod into this place... just forget it... armed guards and that sort of thing...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs Blog.
here at the Stuck in Customs Blog." href="javascript:openLB(1316463951,'',XLarge,'',1024,687);">Underwing
Here's another handheld job from the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC.  I sent out a tweet a few weeks ago and got in touch with the gal that works in the public affairs office...  I twitter-charmed her into giving me the thumbs up to use a tripod next time!  It took 140 delicate characters to make that happen...  there are still more steps, but I am well on the way to getting proper permission.  It's too hard to sneak a tripod into this place... just forget it... armed guards and that sort of thing...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs Blog.

Underwing


Here's another handheld job from the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. I sent out a tweet a few weeks ago and got in touch with the gal that works in the public affairs office... I twitter-charmed her into giving me the thumbs up to use a tripod next time! It took 140 delicate characters to make that happen... there are still more steps, but I am well on the way to getting proper permission. It's too hard to sneak a tripod into this place... just forget it... armed guards and that sort of thing...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs Blog.
See photo in original gallery.