Wing, Wing, Wing....

Whodat? Dat you? Yes, it is yours truly on the wing of a KC-135 Stratotanker used by the Alabama Air National Guard for air re-fueling. My brother-in-law was gracious enough to give us a tour of this air craft, which has a crew of three. He's the boom operator and handles all the in air re-fueling. He actually lies on his belly in the rear of the plane and looks through a window to do his job and communicates with the pilot up front, the pilot waiting for fuel, while making sure the boom doesn't damage any of the jets. It is remarkable what he does. You can find more info here.

Below is a close up shot of the back of one of four engines used on this bird. Each engine creates 22,000 lbs. of thrust and it is feasible that the aircraft can fly on one engine. I wouldn't want to find out if this is true.

Thanks, Pip, for your time and for giving my 7 yr. old nephew the experience of a liftime! Ring the bell, and the next round is on me!

Unfairness is reality

in an ice cold world

where your voice is

seldom heard.

People spite you.

People strike you.

Is this really

the good life?

Or is it the hell

before heaven?

Lightning-

The calm before

the atomic war.

Thunder-

The screams of the

innocent that die,

because world leaders

can't reason why

there's a need to destroy.

A Difference In Lighting For Macro Shooting

Thanks to David for his comment on my previous macro shot and for suggesting I write up something to let others know what kind of method I'm using to get better lighting on my macro shots. A BIG thank you to George who shared his expertise to help me get up to speed. If it wasn't for him bringing in his laptop to the pool hall one day and showing me this amazing shot of a wolf spider's eight eyes I would've never bought the Canon Powershot S3 IS. I would post his shot of it here but I cannot get in touch with him as of the writing of this post.

For macro shooting the biggest challenge is getting enough light to your subject. For both of the shots above the distance from the subject to the lens is about 1/2 inch, I'd say. In super macro mode the S3 can focus at a distance of 0-3.9 inches. It is one of the best point and shoot cameras on the market for shooting macros and is relatively inexpensive, about $300. Some people spend more on a single lens and don't get the same results.

The flash for the S3 is mounted directly over the lens barell and creates the shadow you see in the top left photo. Notice the difference in the shot on the bottom right? Here's how I did it.

Simply cut a hole in the styrofoam bowl so that it fits on the end of your lens barell. I should've taken a picture of mine but I'm at work and it's at home. I cut the hole in the center of the bowl because of where the flash is located. I use the smaller sized bowl, about 8 inches in diameter. You can use larger bowls for larger subject as well. Be sure the bowl is not too snug though because you may damage the camera's motor if you forget to remove it while you turn it off. The bowl catches the light from the flash and basically re-distributes it to bring more light to your subject at these close up ranges. It's really that simple. This dirt cheap method can be used with other cameras also. If your camera's falsh is mounted on the side you just need to cut your hole differently to adjust but you should get great results. Let me know how it works out for you.

Also, click on the thumbnails for a larger image and a bit more detail.

And sorry to my other readers who are looking for poker things. I haven't posted a lot lately but will in the future.