National Astronaut Day just passed, a day that recognizes the daring few who have, in fact, gone to infinity and beyond.
I spent more than 16 weeks with Senator John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, as he prepared to return to space many years later. A lot of astrology training is done in classrooms, in simulations, and other tightly controlled environments. The time they occasionally get to board high-speed jets and take yaya out is very limited. Like, I was able to connect to a flight, and that was the photo I needed for the news, which sucks.
I had good luck with the lighting and with my subject.
Attaching anything extraneous to a tactical aircraft like the T-38 is a matter of running back and forth up the bureaucratic and technical flagpole three or more times. It makes sense to do so, as the last thing you want flying at the speeds these planes can achieve is to have something loose and rattling around, which can make a day of It’s bad in the wild blue sea yonder.
Therefore, the imaging aspect of a photo like this is quite simple. It’s more about perseverance and establishing good relationships from the admins all the way down to the technical team on the runway who will be doing the camera installation. It doesn’t happen overnight. Especially when the camera is facing America’s most famous astronaut, John Glenn.
The Senator and I shared a photo credit for this on Nat Geo. I propped up the camera, threaded the remote trigger onto his finger and told him to look at the sun and click the camera. I dialed in one shot because I was limited to 36 frames. Fuji RVP. it’s pretty saturated, catchy stuff. I would rate it an ASA 40, as opposed to the official number of 50, because I always felt it needed to be publicized, even at Nat Geo.
National Astronaut Day, a respectful tribute to those who fly into the unknown, risking it all for our benefit.
More please…..
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