Introductions

[Andrew Stemple]

Hello!

I'm totally new to this online message-board-world so I hope that I'm doing this correctly.

My name is Andrew Stemple and I've been in the Phoenix Valley (Mesa, Gold Canyon & now Tempe) areas since late 2007. I have been actively pursuing my passion in photography since 2010 after having some, let's say "disagreements" with the corporate banking world that was my life of 13 years. I was lucky to get a few shots published on ESPN's Page 2 Blog thanks to a few freelance writer friends of mine doing stories on wild and wacky sporting events and I've won a few local (Hamilton Publishing Co. - now dissolved) cover contests within "The View". I also volunteer at the Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona at KFFZ and I'm a life member of the 91st Bomber Group which holds a personal connection with me since my great uncle was KIA as a ball turret gunner aboard a B-17G, "Sleepy Time Gal" #42-102527.

I shoot with Canon equipment though admittedly, I could use some new gear and post image processing is generally performed in CS6 & Camera Raw.

I'm honored to be a part of the group and look forward to meeting you all during events or in the field!

Now, let me see if I can figure out how to post a few photos 

[Jeff D. Welker]

Welcome Andrew. I look forward to seeing your images posted on AzAP and shooting with you someday.

[Scott Youmans]

Welcome aboard Andrew!

[azspyder]

Welcome aboard Andrew! I am looking forward to meeting you!

[Joe Copalman]

Welcome aboard, Andrew!

[Chris V]

Welcome!

[Bubak]

Welcome Andrew!

[Tower Guy]

Welcome Andrew, I think you'll find everyone to be friendly and helpful and we have some very good people in this group.

[Jay Beckman]

Welcome to AzAP Andrew... 

[Mike Margolis]

Hi everybody!

~ Forgive me if the following intro is too long. I sort of got in an over-sharing mood. Please feel free to skim it super fast. I wouldn't want to put anyone to sleep. ~

I accidentally stumbled upon this group while trying to find the dates for the next WTI here in Yuma. Let me just say that it feels like I found not only a home, but a whole bunch of long lost siblings!!

I do not profess to know anything about anything, but I have had an amazing life to date, mostly draped in aviation with a good touch of photography and travel thrown in for good measure.

I've always lived within a couple miles of a major airport or on or very near a military base. My dad flew numerous variants of the A-4 out of El Toro for 17 years and retired from the Marine Corps in '79. He also flew numerous different types of airliners for three different airlines and retired in '01. So, I pretty much grew up around aviation and have attended numerous airshows all over the country.

Having known since I was 13 that I wanted to fly, I got my private ticket in '84 in Santa Barbara the same week I graduated from UCSB. I had worked very hard to secure a pilot slot in the Marine Corps and was well on my way to make that happen. However, those plans were interrupted after nearly dying with less than a week left of training at USMC Officer Candidate School. After recovering fully a year later, I switched over to the "kinder and gentler" USAF. I attended UPT at Willie in the mid 80's and then stayed on as a T-38 IP in the 97th and 99th FTS. I wrapped up my AF flying after a tour as a T-38 PIT IP in the 560th FTS at Randolph AFB and got out at the end of '91 - pretty much the worst time in a decade or two to find airline, Air Guard or AF Reserve work. In order to keep my hand in aviation I picked up my CFI, CFII, MEI, ATP, SE ATP, ground instructor ratings, Comm Seaplane, Masters in Aeronautical Science degree, and a B-737 type rating as well. To pay the steep SoCal bills (2 kids and a wife to support) I did some recruiting for the AF, sold cars and airplanes, did some aerial photography, put together an air taxi operation, built and sold an aviation ground training business, wrote and got published a dozen aviation related articles, worked as a flight and ground instructor teaching everything from day one private, to CFI, to advanced aerobatics and ATP and FE - at five different schools from San Diego to Orange County all at once. When that started getting way too busy and not much fun, I left it all and worked for a few years doing what I loved - teaching AF and international UPT student pilots at Laughlin AFB as a contract T-38 simulator and academic instructor.

When the airlines started to hire again in the mid 90's, I took a job flying ATR-42's and -72's out of Newark and Houston just to get back in the cockpit and get current for the majors. Then in '97 I landed my dream job at Delta! My first choice of airline - just delayed a few years. Things were going great there for quite a while - even with the large cuts in pay and benefits. I got to fly as a flight engineer on the 727 - something that's pretty tough to find anymore. And I've flown as a first officer on the B-737-200, B-727-200, B-757-200 and -300, B-767-200, -300 and -300ER with numerous other variants in there as well.

I've been very lucky to have achieved many of my goals, one of those was to set foot (or touch down) in all 50 states. I've had the very good fortune of having flown all over Europe, Canada, numerous destinations in Central and South America and most recently all over the Pacific and Asia.

My flying however came to a screeching halt in the summer of '09 when the cardiologist informed me that the debilitating chest pain that brought me to the ER via an ambulance, was not the "minor thing" that I was trying to convince them it was, but actually, it was as serious as a heart attack. Ok, bad play on words. After my quintuple bypass (prior to that I did not know they even made them that big) I had a few months of pretty tough recovery. Little things like walking across the room without stopping to rest was a major accomplishment and exhausting. I eventually got back to normal activities and was able to run 5k's in pretty good time on the treadmill.

The required hoops to jump through in order to return to commercial flying after open heart surgery are pretty extensive. Of course that was better than the rules not so long ago when a pilot was grounded forever after any serious cardiac issue. Skipping the long story and initial denial of my medical, I got back to the cockpit and back to international flying. However, that only lasted about six months. Several other medical issues popped up all at once that I have been dealing with for a couple years now. I'm hoping to get back to work again soon. Most of these issues would be minor if I were a banker or in sales, but the FAA is kinda strict about class I medicals, as they should be. That covers the aviation angle.

I've been "taking pictures" since the early 70's. I took a few photography classes in high school and college and have spent a good deal of time in darkrooms. I started shooting airshows and airplanes in '79 when my folks bought me a Pentax Me with a very cheap 135mm lens. I got a few decent shots back in the day of F-14's, an SR-71 in full burner, the Blues, and numerous other now parked airframes with a borrowed 500mm lens. But sadly, the prints and negatives have not withstood the test of time very well. I recently found a box of my old slides and I hope they have held up better. Over the years, hundreds of point-and-shoot pictures were snapped of the kids growing up, vacations, family reunions and the dog, but nothing really good in any sort of an aesthetic sense.

Four years ago, my then girlfriend/now wife handed me her Canon 50d along with some gear and said "I'm done, you take the pictures now." And I was once again hooked. We have had the good fortune to travel quite a bit and I have captured many thousands of images with my new arsenal of cameras and lenses. Until last year, my longest lens was a fairly slow 300mm that was pretty good for airplanes if the light was right and they were not moving very much. When last year's El Centro airshow got close, I discovered that I could rent a 50-500mm for not much money - so I did. I was hooked even more! I rented the same lens for the Chino airshow and realized that I "needed" a Canon 100-400mm and it has been wonderful attached to my Canon 6d.

In addition to all types of airplanes, I enjoy shooting the Milky Way, light painting, time lapse, meteor showers, the Sun and the Moon, nebulae soon - now that I got a tracker, auroras, landscapes, and wildlife - with a focus on birds because they're a challenge. I'm very much looking forward to focusing on aviation, the up coming airshows and exercises and sharing and learning with you folks in the future!

BTW, I have a small shop, much like a remote garage right across the street (just south of the tower) from the YUM airport. It's sort of like cheating to have a location like that, a scanner or two running, and the ability to drop everything and wander to the fence to shoot something interesting like a 787 test airframe, a Hind, F-16's from Europe, tankers from RIV or PHX, C-17's and of course all the random USMC, Customs, transient, GA, NASA, Boeing, commercial and other activities.

If there are AzAP folks who are Yuma local, passing through town on I-8, or are visiting for something like WTI, please let me know. If I'm available, I will offer up some shade, a restroom and a cold beverage or two. If it's hot out, I'll even fire up the air conditioning. It's basically a wood, rock and auto shop/garage and not a man cave - but it works very well to escape the desert elements for a bit. For the Yuma airshow the cops like to kick us out since we're right in the box. I managed to stay (with permission) one year and it was pretty awesome.

A little aside... The last (last because I learned my lesson) afternoon that I did not have a real camera with me at "the shop" was on 1 April 2011. Southwest 812, with the large hole in their roof, landed right there in front of me as I shot through the fence with my early iPhone... I heard them coming in on the scanner, reached for my DSLR and cringed when I realized it was at home. I would have had the only (public) image and/or video of that landing.

Anyway, the shots here in this group are amazing! Thanks for letting me join!! I hope to meet many of you in the future as we get out and shoot something wicked cool!

[azspyder]

Welcome Mike! I look forward to meeting you!

[Jeff D. Welker]

Welcome Mike. I also look forward to meeting and photographing with you.

[Jay Beckman]

Welcome to the group Mike.  Sounds like you definitely qualify for the "Been There .. Done That" club!

[Dave S.]

Mike,

Echoing the sentiments expressed by the others, welcome aboard!

[Barry Griffiths]

Great to have another Yuma shooter on board, Mike.