Joe McNally: One Light, Two Light Tour

Joe McNally is a photographer and instructor that I greatly admire. I read his blog weekly and watch his videos on YouTube. Before I left on vacation, I was told by a friend that Joe would be coming to Ottawa with his “One Light, Two Light” tour. However, I would still be on vacation, but I could make the class offered in Montreal which was the day after I returned. At the last moment before we left for Europe, I bought a ticket, reserved a hotel and booked off one more day of vacation.

I drove in last night, after only a single night at home. I stayed at Hôtel Le Dauphin, which was next to the Convention Centre. The hotel was very nice; it was the only hotel I’ve been in that provided a computer in the room to use. The next morning I walked to the Centre and found my way up stairs to the classroom.

The class had about 100 attendees, a mix of pros and amateurs.

Joe came on stage at 9:00, and did not have a specific agenda or even any prepared activities. It was just him, walking on to the stage and creating some great photos from scratch. He choose folks from the audience to be the models. He was able to create some fantastic portraits of very diverse people. He has a knack for it of course. It was awesome to see him pick someone and pull out such character from them. He has a real talent for this. It is one of the keys to his success in photography is the way he can interact with the subjects.

Joe finding the inner character of his subject
Joe finding the inner character of his subject

By the end of the event, I was so inspired. I want to try everything I saw. The hardest part to improving in any activity is finding the time!

Upper Canada Village

Today Rosa, my mother-in-law Lemin and I visited Upper Canada Village to see the Medieval Festival. I visited Upper Canada Village once before when I was a child. The name Upper Canada refers to the political division (like a province) of British North America before Confederation. It covered southern Ontario and Quebec.

The Medieval Festival was held on the grounds of Upper Canada Village in two open fields.

When we arrived, there was a birds of prey demonstration by Dale Gienow. Some of the birds have previously appeared on TV and movies. He had a vulture, some smaller hawks and a huge owl.

Jousting competition
Jousting competition

After that, we watched the jousting competition. It was impressive. Thundering hooves shaking the earth and then – Clang! – the instant of contact. The forces must be tremendous. Twice, a knight was knocked off his horse. It must have hurt to fall from the height of the horse while wearing a metal suit with no padding!

After the competition ended, we walked around to see the other exhibits, such as crafts tents, a puppet show, belly dancing, village idiots, and a food booth with medieval fare.

Upper Canada Village replicates what life was like in Canada (British North America) in the 1860’s. The village buildings represents individual homes, a tinshop, a hotel (now a restaurant), a school, a chapel and a church, printing office, general store, a sawmill, flour mill, blacksmith’s, and a woollen factory. There was even a Masonic Lodge.

I was not expecting to see so much, and I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of the village reproduction, including actors in period costumes.

We were famished so we walked to Willard’s Hotel, which is now a restaurant. I had some local cheeses served with fresh bread.

Blacksmith working the anvil
Blacksmith working the anvil

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around, seeing the homes and businesses. The woolen factory was neat, full of very complex machinery that took the raw wool, spun it into a thick braid and then refined it into a single thread. A separate room was for dying the wool thread.

Watching the blacksmith working metal was also fascinating, as he was also explaining what he was doing as he worked.

We spent about 4 hours at Upper Canada Village before heading for home.

2012 Venus Transit

Today was my last day in Kansas City.

Today was also the extremely rare Venus transit of the Sun. I had been planning to find someplace in Kansas City to buy welders glass #14 so that I could take pictures, but it was hard to find a retail store. Instead, I found out that the local Johnson County Community College was hosting a viewing party.

JCCC Venus transit party
JCCC Venus transit party

I invited everyone at the lab to come, but no one took me up on the offer. I left a little early hoping to beat the line-up. When I arrived and found my way into the building, I found that the line-up extended over 2 floors and was over an hour waiting time.

I spoke with one of the JCCC hosts, and they had only expected maybe 150 people. Instead, we calculated they might have about 2000 during the 5-hour transit.

I wish I had had something eat and read while I was waiting. I spoke a little with the others in the line.

When I finally reached the roof, there were two ways to view Venus. There was a hand-made viewing barrel with a solar filter that you hold up to your face. It was fascinating. I used it and hand-held my camera to get the shot below. The odd colour is from the reflections inside the barrel. You can even see some of the sunspots.

There were also three big telescopes set up with special solar filters. Two were sensitive to a particular hydrogen spectrum and one was sensitive to another spectrum. You could see different features using each telescope. It was so amazing to see such details on the disc of the Sun.

Venus (upper right) transit of the Sun
Venus (upper right) transit of the Sun

Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics

Today, my last Sunday in Kansas, I went with my co-workers to see a Major League Baseball (MLB) game. The Kansas City Royals were hosting the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.

Kauffman Stadium
Kauffman Stadium

We arrived around noon. The tickets, way up in the nosebleed section, were really inexpensive – only $9 each! Once inside, we grabbed a quick lunch and then made our way up to our seats.

As this was my first MLB game, I was expecting it would drag out. But the game moved along quickly.

During the 7th inning, I got up and walked around the stadium, seeing the different views and taking pictures. Down on the lowest level, the views were very good and I got some nice shots.

I am quite proud of two shots. The first one is Eric Hosmer of the Royals being hit by a pitch. The photo shows the ball just touching his shoulder. The other photo, possibly also of Eric Hosmer, looks like an out at first base by only a few inches – very close to call for an umpire.

We went for dinner after the game and finished off the day with dessert at The Cheesecake Factory.

Memorial Day in Kansas City

Celebration at the Station
Celebration at the Station

Today was Memorial Day in the US. Along with three co-workers, I went to downtown Kansas City to listen to the free concert (“Celebration at the Station“) and watch the fireworks. The concert was at Union Station and was presented by the Kansas City Symphony.

We arrived in the afternoon. After walking around a little, we grabbed some supper. I had a really amazingly delicious frozen custard at Sheridan’s.

We walked around the concert site as the sun began to set. We found a place to sit on the lawn to listen before it got too dark. The lawn was part of the Liberty Memorial and National World War I Museum, which overlooks Union Station.

Conclusion of the 1812 Overture
Conclusion of the 1812 Overture

The concluding piece was, of course, the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. The Kansas Army National Guard were there with three M116 75mm howitzers. During the epic finale celebrating the defeat of Napoleons troops in Russia, they fired blanks. It was AWESOME.

After the concert was a wonderful fireworks presentation. After the fireworks, we drove back to our hotel in Overland Park.

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center

I’m in Kansas City (actually, Overland Park / Lenexa) for a 16-day business trip. We are doing field trials of a new solution for one of our most important customers.

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center
Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center

Today, my first Saturday in Kansas, I visited the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The facility houses the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow, and the second largest collection of space artifacts in the world, second only to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.. It is one of only three museums to display flown spacecraft from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

I had to leave the hotel at 7:45AM to get to Hutchinson, which is about 3.5 hours from Overland Park. As I did not get a GPS with the rental car, I printed the directions.

I arrived after 11:00AM. I spent some time outside looking at the Mercury-Redstone and Titan-II rockets and an example of the mighty F-1 engine. The F-1 engine did not have the nozzle extension, so the vents for the turbopump were visible. Counter-intuitively, the exhaust from the massive turbopump was pumped along the inside of the exhaust bell for cooling; the turbopump exhaust was much cooler than the 3,200°C hot gas exiting the engine combustion chamber.

Hanging inside the entrance was the incredible SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 spy plane first flew in 1964 and even at its retirement in 1998 was an unparalleled technological achievement. It was capable of Mach 3.3 (3,529 km/h) and flew at 85,069 feet (25,929 m) using two very innovative Pratt & Whitney J58 engines, which were a combination turbojet and a fan-assisted ramjet. Only 32 of these fascinating planes were built.

Next to the SR-71 was a full-size mock-up of the left (port) side of the Endeavour Space Shuttle. Behind the SR-71 was a T-38 Talon Trainer, which has been the training aircraft for NASA.

I bought tickets to see everything at the Cosmosphere: ‘Dr. Goddard’s Lab’, the planetarium, IMAX, and of course the museum itself.

Dr. Goddard's Lab
Dr. Goddard’s Lab

I rushed to the ‘Dr. Goddard’s Lab’ first, as the next demonstration started soon after I arrived. The host of ‘Dr. Goddard’s Lab’ demonstrated principles of rocketry.  The demos involved liquid oxygen, hydrogen and explosions. It was more for kids, but hey, who doesn’t like explosions?

After the Lab, I grabbed a slice of pizza in the café and then plunged back into the museum. There was so much to see.

After wondering around for a while, I went to see the IMAX film Born to be Wild. Seeing the orphan elephants in IMAX brought back the wonderful memories of my Tanzanian safari in December.

After the IMAX, I went back to continue my museum visit. There were restored German V-1 and V-2 rockets, flight-ready Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, a Vanguard satellite, a inert Redstone nuclear warhead, and a mock-up of the Bell X-1 (first plane to break the sound barrier) from the movie The Right Stuff. There were full-size mock-ups of the Viking landers and two Mars rovers (Sojourner (1997) and Spirit (2003)). One exhibit had a row of the original Mission Control computers from Johnson Space Center. The actual systems on display were used by the flight surgeon for Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle missions.

I took a quick break to see the final presentation, the Justice Planetarium. I wish I could remember the constellations better. I only know three: the Big Dipper, Orion and Cassiopeia.

Standing next to the Apollo Lunar Module
Standing next to the Apollo Lunar Module

After the Planetarium, I continued through the rest of the museum. In one corner was a full-size engineering test structure of an Apollo Lunar Module (LM) and a lunar rover. The LM was built by Grumman for testing during the Apollo program, and contains many flight-ready components. When I saw the LM hanging from the ceiling at Kennedy Space Center, it was mounted too far up to allow me to really connect with the vehicle. Being able to stand next to the LM footpad, you get a much more intimate relationship with the towering Lunar Module (17.9 ft (5.5 m) tall).

There were both a flown (but unmanned) Soviet Vostok capsule and a mock-up of the Voskhod 2 capsule, complete with an inflatable airlock for the first spacewalk. At the end of the Apollo Gallery was an Apollo Command Service Module and a Soyuz from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Smaller items included Soviet space suits and equipment, cameras (Hasselblads), unused Apollo food items, the Apollo 12 DSKY, tools, the Sonic Wind II rocket sled, parts of satellites, a set of Soviet RD-170 rocket engines, and other memorabilia.

For the American space program, the two jewels of the collection were the notorious Liberty Bell 7 capsule and the Apollo 13 Command Module.

Liberty Bell 7
Liberty Bell 7

The Liberty Bell 7 (Project Mercury) was the second American manned space flight, launching Gus Grissom on a sub-orbital flight in July 1961. After landing in the Atlantic Ocean, the explosive hatch blew open. The capsule filled with water and was lost. Gus Grissom almost died too, as he had removed his helmet upon landing and his suit also filled with water. Research after the flight indicates that it would have been nearly impossible for him to blow the hatch without sustaining an injury to his hand. But at the time, some had blamed Grissom for the incident.

Sadly, the Liberty Bell 7 incident led to a design change that removed the explosive hatches in future American spacecraft. When Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were testing the Apollo 1 capsule on January 17, 1967, a fire started in the high pressure pure-oxygen environment. The three astronauts perished partly as a result of the non-explosive hatch which could not be opened quickly.

The Liberty Bell 7 was located on the bottom of the Atlantic and was lifted back to the surface in 1999. It was partially restored by the Cosmosphere and put on display.

Everyone is familiar with the story of Apollo 13. It was a thrill to see the actual Command Module. The three Apollo 13 astronauts had one of the most amazing rescues in history in that tiny vessel (well, they stayed in the LM during the lunar slingshot phase). Jim Lovell’s space suit was also on display. It was the one he would have worn had the mission accomplished the lunar landing.

Interior of the Lunar Module
Interior of the Lunar Module

One of the two Apollo white rooms is also at the Cosmosphere; the other one is at Kennedy Space Center. There is also a mock-up of the LM ascent stage, with plexiglass sides for people to look in. I spent a few minutes staring at the interior of the small craft, imagining what it would have been like to live in the LM for 1 to 3 days while on the surface of the moon. The interior is only the size of a closet. That little space was used by the two astronauts for preparing for the EVAs, eating meals, sleeping and using the washroom :().

The collection also includes the Gemini X module, which was flown by John Young and Michael Collins, both of whom later flew Apollo missions. The larger Gemini spacecraft had two-person crews (Mercury supported one person, and Apollo supported three). The Gemini program explored longer duration missions and docking procedures that were needed for the Apollo lunar orbit rendezvous.

Last were the Space Shuttle artefacts. A mock-up of the washroom, a tire, tiles, tools, food and many other items were on display. The tire was neat – I was surprised by the thickness of the sidewall. Another neat item was a set of the frangible nuts that were used to hold down the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters before they fire. There are four on each booster, and they are all that is holding the entire 4.46 million pound (2,027 tonne) vehicle to the mobile launcher platform. The nuts are explosively cut at T=0 (lift-off).

American Flags at dusk
American Flags at dusk

After more than 6 hours at the Cosmosphere, it was time to leave. On my long drive back to Overland Park, I stopped to take pictures of the Kansas countryside. I stumbled upon a cemetery surrounded by American flags. It was Memorial Day weekend. It was a nice, quiet spot to watch the sunset.

I arrived back at the hotel around 10:30pm, exhausted. But I was so happy to see such an amazing collection at the Cosmosphere.

Maygan

I had the pleasure of working with Maygan Wellman, a young model in Gatineau. The evening model shoot was arranged by Denis Duchesne. I attended his natural light model workshop in Gatineau Park last year.

Maygan has a great smile and a ready selection of different outfits. We started outside in the lovely evening sun before moving indoors to the studio. There was one other photographer, plus Denis and Maygan. So we all had ample time to work with Maygan and playing with the studio lighting setups. For me, it was a pleasure to work with an experienced model in a small group. In the larger groups at the RA Photo Club studio events, I used to get very anxious.

Maygan Wellman
Maygan Wellman

2012 Tulip Festival

2012 Tulip Festival
2012 Tulip Festival

Today, Rosa, Lemin, and I went to see the tulips at the Tulip Festival. The weather was great. We wondered around the Byward Market, taking photos in front of the flower displays. At one location, Lemin wanted to take a photo of Rosa and I so I handed her my camera. This turned out to be a bad idea. First, somehow she managed to hit the lens release button and rotate the lens trying to turn the zoom ring. I had a heart-stopping moment as I watched the expensive EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 come off the front of the camera. Luckily Lemin caught it before it fell.

I put the lens back on and she wanted to try again. She seemed to struggle with holding the camera in portrait mode. She said later that the camera is too heavy for her. Instead of zooming the lens out, she took a step backwards without looking and fell off the step behind her. She landed on her back and badly scratched her elbow and knee. We picked her up, dusted her off, and then slowly walked to the nearest Shoppers Drug Mart to get some bandages. It was another heart-stopping moment as she is 71 and could have broken something. We were very lucky that she was not hurt badly.

Star Wars Identities

Han Solo encased in carbonite
Han Solo encased in carbonite

Today, Rosa, Lemin and I went to Montreal to see the Star Wars Identities exhibit at the Montréal Science Centre. I had seen a posting about the exhibit a few months ago and was interested in going. I was pleasantly surprised when Rosa suggested we should go.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, as the posters were not clear on what the exhibit was really about. I thought it was an Star Wars-related art show. Instead, it was an exhibit about the factors that contribute to making each of us unique – genetics, upbringing, culture, religion, schooling, friends, work, and so forth. The used the Star Wars universe to show how these different contributions shapes each of us. That was a little hokey, but I still was excited by the exhibit because of the displays.

The exhibit had dozens of original costumes, equipment, art work, models, story drafts and even full vehicles. The exhibit had the original C-3P0, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Maul, and Darth Vader costumes. Darth Vader was my favorite because of his iconic status.

The exhibit also had Akankin’s pod racer, a few other vehicles and some of the smaller creatures and remote controlled robots. There was one of the
Yoda puppets, and the eyes of the Jabba the Hutt puppet – all that remained of the original.

Darth Vader
Darth Vader

I was glad to go. I really enjoyed the first three movies: Star Wars:A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and (less so) The Return of the Jedi. As with so many, I liked the characters and the simple but meaningful story. The simple special effects, costumes, models and matte painting compositing created a believable and interesting universe. It was run-down, not shiny and perfect like the Star Trek utopian future (and I’m a Star Trek fan too!).

But I have some real issues with the direction of the Star Wars franchise starting with the first prequel, The Phantom Menace. I think that many of the new plot lines broke the believability of the universe, at once introducing unnecessary supernatural elements (the virgin birth of Anakin Skywalker) and breaking the supernatural elements that existed before (explaining The Force in biological terms with midiclorians). The stories were muddled, the dialog was awful, and while I don’t hate Jar Jar Binks, I think the animation for the character was terrible.

For a really great breakdown on everything I found wrong with the three prequels, I would suggest the Plinkett video reviews from RedLetterMedia. They are long, and have some disturbing parts, but really get to the points I raise above, with supporting videos showing the issues with the movies.

PS: Han shot first!