2012 MCAS Miramar Air Show

Action from the 2012 edition of the MCAS Miramar air show, featuring, among other things, Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Demo, a Raptor and some "Blues". This show is, by far, the top show in the western United States, and one of the best the entire country, and always makes for a fun shoot. Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

James :-)

Tragedy in Conneticut

Please take the time to say a prayer for the families involved in the tragedy that took place on 14 December 2012 in Newtown, CT. My heartfelt condolences go out to everybody involved.

James

2012 Thunder Over the Valley, Santa Maria, CA

The annual Thunder Over the Valley show at Santa Maria, CA brought out everything from Ospreys to Hornets, from Eddie Andreini and his Stearman and Mustang to John Collver and War Dog, and a lot of stuff in between. Here's three days worth of photos from the event.

A special shout-out to the guys from Strike Fighter Squadron One Three Seven (VFA-137), the "Kestrels", from NAS Lemoore, CA. Had a blast hanging with those guys and chatting with them throughout the weekend.

Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

James :-)

LAX Spotting

My main purpose for this trip was shooting the Endeavour flyover (see earlier album), but I also ended up shooting some arrivals and departures from LAX in the late afternoon light. Thoroughly enjoyed this experience and hope to do it again soon. I was able to cross off two of the four "must shoots" off my airliner lists...the 777 and the 747. All that's left for me to do now is bag an A380 and a 787. All in good time, I suppose.

Anyway, click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

James :-)

Major update coming soon

Hey everybody, Just wanted to let everybody know where I stand as far as editing goes. Well, all I can say is prepare for a massive blitz of albums in the coming days and weeks. I have some more action from Santa Barbara Airport, the 2012 Thunder Over the Valley show in Santa Maria, California, and some non-aviation stuff as well. I also have shots from the 2012 MCAS Miramar show coming down the pipe as well, but it'll be a while for those...Rome wasn't built in a day, and over 6,000 photos weren't edited in a day either...LOL. Anyway, stay tuned, bear with me, and get ready for what I hope everybody will consider some pretty decent work.

James :-)

OV-105 Endeavour's Arrival to Los Angeles

On 21 September 2012, I had the opportunity to be at Griffith Observatory to witness Endeavour's final flight. She touched down at LAX and was delivered one step closer to her retirement home at the California Science Center. I waited my whole life to see a space shuttle in person, and this was almost a surreal experience for me. As I watched her make her final pass overhead and lumber off down south to buzz Long Beach, Seal Beach, and Disneyland, I admittedly got a little choked up and had to hold back a tear or two, as the fact that I was witnessing the end of an era that meant so much to me finally began to set in.

I had the good fortune to share this experience with a wonderful friend who is as avid a space program fan as I am, and in the little over 6 hours I sat and waited for the "show", I met some new, amazing friends as well. This honestly will be an experience that I will hold close to my heart forever.

Click on the thumbnail above to enjoy the full album, or click HERE to go to an album only featuring shots of Endeavour's majestic passes over the observatory and the famous Hollywood sign.

James :-)

Atlas V 401 NROL-36

A rare daytime launch of an Atlas V rocket at 1439 hrs. on 13 Sept. 2012 successfully thundered the National Reconaissance Office's classified NROL-36 payload along with some student-built hitchhiking cubesats into orbit.

Click on the thumbnail and check out the launch pics!

James :-)

Wings Over Camarillo 2012

The warbirds were out in full force for the 2012 Wings Over Camarillo air show. An amazing show in the air, and some amazing displays on the ground as well.

Sit back, relax, click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos.

James :-)

Boeing Photo Contest

Hey all...Boeing is having a photo contest, and I have decided that I'm going to try my luck. Problem is that I can only enter one photo. So if you have a Facebook account, you can help me decide which one it's going to be. I'm leaving it up to you guys to tell me what photo will make the cut. So, head on over to the Facebook page and check out the album. The one with the most "LIKES" gets in (leave a comment or two, if you so choose as well).

Photo must be submitted by 2359 hrs. (Eastern Time) on 31 August 2012 (2059 hrs. here in the Pacific Time Zone), so I will tally likes around midday on that day.

Here's a direct link to the album on the Tomcat Photography Facebook page:

CLICK HERE

Here's linkage to the photo contest website in case you're interested in entering one of your own:

CLICK HERE

Anyway, check out the photos, pick your favorite(s) and help me decide. Thanks a bunch!

James :-)

And one year has passed...

Wow. A year. And it's gone by like lightning. Yes, Tomcat Photography is now a year old, and I've gotta say...I have enjoyed every single second of it. Through the many air shows and rocket launches I've shot, a media tour or two, and just hanging out spotting at the airport, I've passed out many business cards, talked to and met a bunch of wonderful new people, and most importantly, I think I've come a long way from the first time I put my hands on that Canon 7D last year up until today, due to many fellow photographers that have been there to help me and show me the way. But as much as I've learned in my first year or so doing this, I've still got a hundred times that much more to learn in the future. That's the cool thing about this...you never stop learning. As I said, I've had so much fun with this over the past year or so. So much fun, in fact, that I want more. I've got some pretty cool things in mind as far as being a little bit more active in some more social media outlets, trying to get my work visible in more and more places, so stay tuned...should be awesome! Thanks to everybody who has checked out my work and who has supported Tomcat Photography over the first year. It's only gonna get better!

James :-)

2012 Piper Cub Fly-in, Lompoc Airport.

Every July, hundreds of yellow airplanes invading the skies over Lompoc can mean only one thing: the annual Piper Cub Fly-In. Always a fun shoot to do, great people to chat with, lots of action in the air, including the "flour bombing" competition, where Cub pilots (or their passengers) "bomb" bags of flour out the open window of their aircraft, in hopes of nailing a target hundreds of feet below them.

There's also other aircraft included in this album as well (especially the Stearman...I LOVE me some Stearman biplane action!), but the stars of the show are the Cubs. Click on the thumbnail and enjoy!

James :-)

La Purisima Mission, 2nd shoot.

I recently had the opportunity to shoot at La Purisima Mission once again when I took a very good friend of mine there for a visit :-) Can't begin to describe how beautiful, quiet, calm and serene this place is. I honestly never get tired of it.

As always, click on the ol' thumbnail and check out the photos!

James :-)

Tour of Vandenberg Air Force Base

Some of the landmarks and a visit to the Heritage Museum gives you a glimpse into what Vandenberg Air Force Base is all about.

This album also features the base's Minuteman III ICBM "gate guard" and the Korean War memorial with it's M-47 Patton tank. Enjoy!

James :-)

4th of July Fireworks - 2012

Shots of the fireworks display lighting up the skies over Lompoc, CA for the 4th of July celebration. Click on the thumbnail and enjoy!

James :-)

Sentimental Journey

A visit to Santa Maria Airport by the Commemorative Air Force's B-17G, "Sentimental Journey". Enjoyed spending some time on the ramp doing some static display shots. Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

James :-)

Santa Barbara Airport, 14-15 May 2012

Some General Aviation action I captured while shooting the Collings Foundation birds during their visit to SBA.

Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

James :-)

Passing Down 2012 "Best of the West" Tournament

My first foray into shooting sports (which is suprising, because I am a huge sports fanatic) at the Passing Down 7 on 7 "Best of the West" state finals held at Righetti High School in Santa Maria, California. This tournament featured many elite high school and future college football stars from across the state of California. A huge thanks to Lorenzo J. Reyna, sports writer at the Reedly Exponent and college scout, and Elbert Lee III of Passing Down for allowing me unrestricted acess with my camera at this event.

Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

James :-)

Mini-album up on Facebook

Hey everybody...on my Facebook page, I've put a mini-album of a CA ANG HH-60G Pave Hawk that I caught coming to Santa Barbara a few weeks back...go HERE and hit up the photos section to check it out. Oh, and since we're talking about the Black Hawk family of helos...IRENE!

James :-)

Passing Down 7 on 7 "Best of the West" Tournament

Had a great day shooting the Passing Down 7 on 7 "Best of the West" football tournament today. Couldn't have had better access for shooting, met some wonderful folks, and just had a great time. For a sports fan like myself, it was heaven. Photos coming very soon.

James :-)

Collings Foundation Visit - Santa Barbara Airport

The Collings Foundation brought a trio of their World War II vintage aircraft to Santa Barbara Airport. "Witchcraft", a B-24J, "Nine-O-Nine", a B-17G, and "Betty Jane", a TP-51C Mustang provided nice photo ops during their visit.

The Collings Foundation is an amazing organization that prides itself on keeping aviation history alive. If they visit an airport near you, I strongly encourage you to attend and check out what they have to offer.

Until then, click on the thumbnail and enjoy the pics!

James :-)

Sky Harbor International Airport

Here's one for the airliner fans. Shots from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. Boeings, Airbuses, and Canadairs, oh my!

Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the pics!

James :-)

Thank you to the Collings Foundation.

Today capped off an incredible two-day shoot with the Collings Foundation trio visiting Santa Barbara Airport. B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft", B-17 Flying Fortress "Nine-O-Nine" and TP-51C Mustang "Betty Jane" made appearances as part of the Collings Foundation's "Wings of Freedom 2012" Tour. Shot arrivals and spent the day poking around the birds on Monday, and Tuesday I did some more poking around and shot "Betty Jane" as a few lucky folks went for rides. Also met some new friends and talked to some awesome WWII veterans and folks who had family members that served during WWII...those are moments that will stick with me forever...I could sit for hours and listen to these amazing people tell their stories. I have a mini-album up on the Tomcat Photography Facebook page, which you can check out by clicking HERE. I will have the full album up here on the website soon, I have to put the final touches on the Arizona shoot first, then I will jump headlong into editing on this shoot. Work = neverending. Yeah, I like it that way!

James :-)

2012 Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona

Photos from the 2012 "Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona" air show held at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ. The show featured a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) demonstration, a demonstration of the Marine Corps newest tiltrotor aircraft, the MV-22 Osprey, a Heritage Flight with the modern A-10 "Warthog" and the WWII vintage P-51D Mustang, and the USAF Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, with their F-16 Fighting Falcons.

There's a ton of photos in the album, so grab a snack and perhaps your favorite beverage, click on the thumbnail, and browse away!

James :-)

Pima Air and Space Museum

This album covers my trip to the Pima Air and Space Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona. Such an awe-inspiring place with many historical military and civilan aircraft, for an aviation buff such as myself, it's fairly close to heaven.

Click on the thumbnail to be taken back in time. Enjoy!

James :-)

Arizona photo shoot completed

I have officially returned from a highly successful photo shoot in Arizona, consisting of a trip to the Pima Air and Space Museum, and the "Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona 2012" air show at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, which featured the USAF Thunderbirds. I also have some stuff for you airliner fans out there as well, as a stop at Sky Harbor in Phoenix was also in order.  Stay tuned over the next few weeks for photos...I promise you won't be disappointed! And if you just can't wait? Well, there's a mini-album of shots of the Saturday and Sunday action at Davis-Monthan up on the Tomcat Photography page on Facebook, which can be reached by simply clicking HERE. And while you're over there, if you haven't "LIKED" Tomcat Photography on Facebook, please do so.

James :-)

Delta IV Medium (5,2) NROL-25 launch, Vandenberg AFB

On 3 April, at 1612 hrs., a Delta IV Medium, flying in the (5,2) configuration, meaning a five meter payload fairing and two solid rocket motors, launched from SLC-6 at Vandenberg AFB, carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. This was the first time the Delta IV rocket has flown in this configuration.

Interesting (and tiring) shoot, as I did it from two different locations. Started out at Surf Beach, but the fog began to roll in, so I went to my backup spot at the peak of Harris Grade Rd.

Click on the thumbnail and enjoy!

James :-)

More spotting at KSBA

Even more spotting at KSBA. Among the catches this time, a Boeing 737 with a very striking paint scheme, and another one from the Frontier Airlines fleet with another cute little critter on the tail. Click on the thumbnail and enjoy!

James :-)

Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, Part 2

Spent another beautiful afternoon with the camera at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport. Everything from the ever-present Cirrus SR series aircraft to a somewhat rare find at Santa Barbara, a Marine Corps UC-12F. Click on the the thumbnail and enjoy!

James :-)

Santa Barbara Municipal Airport

Recently, I spent an afternoon spotting at the arrival end of the primary active runway at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (KSBA), Runway 25. This is one of my first forays into photographing general aviation/airline activity, and it was a very enjoyable experience. I'm pleased with the results, and I hope everybody else will be too. Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos!

Oh, and I also used a lull in the action to add to my "Lunar Photography" album, so check it out as well:

Lunar Photography

Thanks for looking!

James :-)

More lunar Photography

Added a couple more shots to the Lunar Photography album, one featuring the Moon and planet Venus, and one featuring a "smiling" Moon. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image, and enjoy.

James :-)

Union Pacific Railroad freight action

I am almost as big a railfan as I am a fan of jets and rockets, so I decided to do a little train stalking and see if I could get some nice shots of Union Pacific's "Lompoc Local" that makes a run from it's home base in Guadalupe, CA to the Celite diatomaceous earth quarry in Lompoc twice a week. Weather was absolutely perfect, and it made for a fun morning chasing this train from the Celite mine out to the main line along the coast that takes it back to Guadalupe.

Click on the thumbnail and enjoy the photos.

James :-)

Snoopy Two

Shortly after Christmas, I was treated to an unexpected visit from MetLife's Snoopy Two blimp, so I did what any good aviation photographer would do...grabbed the camera. For a good two to three hours, Snoopy Two hung out over my house before it continued on Santa Maria Airport, a temporary stopover on it's way to whatever place it was going.

Click on the thumbnail, and enjoy the pics!

James :-)