14. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

My visit to the Castle Air-force Museum brought back memories from my visit to the Rocket  Museum in Penenmuende, Germany in January of 2008.  I photographed this V1 (buzzbomb) outside the museum. TheV1 and V2 were largely produced through concentration camp workers. In one of exhibition halls were suitcases of those slave laborers who were literally worked to death. Photographing those suitcases showed me the reality of the Nazi regime. A horrible statistic of the V2 rocket: More people were killed making it than though the actual usage. It made me also aware how precious peace is.

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11. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

This image reminded me somehow that the early pioneers of aviation tried to imitate the birds. Here a bird was sitting on the top of the airplane. The old dream of human kind has been made into reality. Thanks to creativity, imagination and countless experiments we are able to fly higher, faster and over distances that were impossible a hundred years ago. What a triumph of the human spirit!

Have a great week-end and enjoy!

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10. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

I used a super wide angle lens to photograph this fighter plane. Super wide angle lenses let the center of the image appear larger that it actually is. This can create some very dramatic effects. The is even more supported through the background. The skies at sunset are also dramatic. This airplane can look very scary and through my choice of lens and background I was able to express this feeling. Camera setting: f18, 1/13sec., ISO 100, tripod mounted.

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9. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

The size of the B52 is pretty much overwhelming. As far as I know it is the largest bomber that was ever built. I remember when I was a child we had cards of war planes and the B52 was always my favorite.The second image shows the wheel and hydraulic system. Enjoy and take the time to visit the museum and maybe you will find a veteran pilot or air crew man that served on one of them.

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8. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

This tanker was probably the “life-line” for many other airplanes. What a great idea to refuel airplanes in midair. Visiting Castle Airforce Museum is challenging and fascinating at the same time. Seeing the ingenuity and be astonished about the inventions is definitely part of the visit.

Camera setting:  f11, 1/13sec., ISO 100.

Enjoy!

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7. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

I visited the Castle Air Museum and photographed these magnificent airplanes. The museum is located in Atwater, CA a few miles north of Merced. If you would like to get more information on the museum go to /www.castleairmuseum.org.

I photographed as soon the museum opened at 10:00 Am to get as much soft light as possible and I went back in the afternoon before the closed for the same reason. Each time I limited myself purposely in my choice of lenses. In the morning I photographed mostly with a 35mm lens and in the afternoon with a 15mm super wide angle lens to create some “dog nose” effects. Camera setting: 35mm lens, f16, 1/30sec., ISO 100.

Enjoy

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