Introductions

[Joe Copalman]

FlyingPhotog suggested an intro thread where we can say hello to other members and introduce ourselves.  I think it's an awesome idea, so here it is.

[Jay Beckman]

Allow me to introduce myself!

Jay Beckman
aka FlyingPhotog (My POTN and FenceCheck handles as well)
Chandler Resident
Private Pilot (I've been inactive for a couple of years but at 730am tomorrow at Chandler Air Service, I'll begin correcting that little issue!)
Canon Shooter
ISAP Member recruited off PBase by Larry Grace

For over 20 years, I've been a freelance sports broadcasting technician working for all the major players: FOX, ESPN, NBC, CBS, etc...  You can get a sense of my working world here.  Many years of NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, NCAA, NHL experience with seven Emmy Awards to my credit.  FWIW, they make excellent paper weights and door stops.  

Aviation and Photography have always been secondary passions because my "day job" had me traveling 35 to 45 weekends a year but that's going to change in the very near future.  I'm hoping to increase my flying time as well as my photography efforts with an eye toward trying to find a way to meld the two.  Exactly how that will pan out is still a little hazy but it is a dream I have!  

I have galleries on both PBase and Zenfolio.  PBase is more or less my catch all while Zen is where I present what I consider to be my very best work.

I invite everyone to stop by and have a look at my efforts.  I hope to meet as many of you face to face as possible in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Glad to Be Here!

[jslugman]

Hi folks!

My name's James and I've just re-located to Arizona after spending 3 years in England courtesy of my wife's employer the USAF. Before that we were in a spotter's paradise for 2 years at Lajes Field, Azores. Once we get settled into our new home I look forward to enjoying the many aviation offerings the area has to offer. You can peruse some of my images on my Flickr page.

Hope to meet some of you soon, drop me an e-mail if you're down in the Tucson area!


Cheers,

James O'Rear  aka   JSlugman
Sahuarita, AZ

[Matt Ottosen]

While most of you know me, there are some that don't.

I am born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and have loved aviation my entire life.  As a kid I would spend many afternoons on the roof of the Left Seat Cafe at Sky Harbor watching airplanes come and go (I watched the Concorde arrive from here back in the '80s).  I have also loved watching the Arizona Wing of the CAF fly their B-17G "Sentimental Journey" at airshows, and as a kid I loved climbing in and walking through her.  I have always loved the B-17, and I would have to say that "Sentimental Journey" is probably my most favorite airplane out there!

I learned to fly with Arizona State University and Mesa Airlines Pilot Development out at Williams Gateway Airport (Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport), and most of my flight time has been in their Piper Warriors.  I am an active member of the Arizona Wing of the CAF, and love spending time out at Falcon Field, or on tour, working mainly as a photographer.  I am a member of their B-17G Flight Crew and perform the duties of Loadmaster.  I have had the opportunity to fly the B-17G, and flying "Sentimental Journey" from the left seat is one of my greatest aviation accomplishments!

I have always had a passion for photography, and now combine my love for aviation and photography into one hobby.

[coyote41]

Greetings,  Like others here, I am also a native of AZ.  I recieved my BFA (Photography) from ASU in 1994.  In 1987 I photographed a house fire in San Diego that was published in the San Diego Union.  The next day I was offered a job by the Encinitas Fire Dept.  I spent a few years working for the department and flying in any helo that I could get on.  I used my press pass to jump rides with the Air National Guard, Coast Guard, media, law and many air ambo companies.  I was at the right place at the right time with many of my images relating to aviation and the fire/ems service.  I have been lucky enough to have been published in Life (2), Time, Aviation Week, Emergency, Sports Illustrated and many major papers.  Those were the good old days.  In 1999 I changed careers and put my trusty Nikon F3 in the closet.  Now I am dusting of my portfolio and looking to get back into photography as a hobby.  I will take any advice, and need to make the jump from an old media called film, remember film? I prefer to work on the ground, and my "specialty" is long exposure images of helos on the ground at night.  I love to barbeque, drink beer and NASCAR!

[jslugman]

I will take any advice, and need to make the jump from an old media called film, remember film?

Did Colin just use the "F" word?? 

What a great career, hope to meet up with you someday soon!

[Joe Copalman]

Figured I should probably put something up here.

I spent the first 8 years of my life in a neighborhood at the north end of the runway at Palwaukee Municipal Airport in Wheeling, Illinois and woke up every morning to the sound of Learjets and Cessnas buzzing by outside my window.  A few miles away was NAS Glenview, where the USMCR KC-130s and USNR P-3s were my first exposure to military aviation.  What fascinated me the most as a kid was the F-104 that used to be suspended from the ceiling of the Museum of Science and Industry.  (It's now hanging from the ceiling of an aviation museum in Kansas). 

While I've been a lifelong aviation enthusiast, I am new to aviation photography, picking it up in May of 2008.  I've learned A LOT since then and am looking forward to learning more.  Prior to photography, I did quite a bit of work as a historian, lecturing on the history of OV-10 Bronco backseat personnel at the OV-10 Bronco Museum in Fort Worth, contributing an aircraft history on OV-10D BuNo 155494 to the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, donating some flight test footage I had in my personal archive to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, working on a continuing audio history project in which I digitize and restore cockpit audio recordings submitted to me by veteran combat pilots, and having a case study I wrote on the acquisition of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet published as an appendix to Col. Walt Boyne's Operation Iraqi Freedom: What Went Right, What Went Wrong, and Why back in late 2003.  While photography has taken the front seat in terms of my passion, I look forward to continued projects in aerospace history when and where time allows. 

As far as photography goes, I'll shoot anything that flies.  My preference, however, is for military aircraft under their own power, whether they are starting up, taxiing, taking off, landing, or just flying by.  I feel blessed to live in a state that offers such a diverse richness of opportunities to photograph aircraft in these various states and I look forward to taking advantage of it as much as I can. 

[Chris V]

Chris Voyles

aka Phantomf4 (Fencecheck), Photozz (Dgrin), Nukegm (POTN)

My wife & I moved to AZ 2 years ago from Rolling Meadows IL. Been into photography since my early teens. Loving being in AZ with the amount of things to shoot out here. I shoot everything from landscapes to macro but my absolute fav is aviation especially military aviation.

I have met a few of you out at Gateway over the time I have been here. I shoot Canon gear. Some of my stuff can be seen here. 

http://cv-photozz.smugmug.com/

[jslugman]

Welcome Chris, good to have you on board!

[JWright]

Hi,

Another new member here...  Even though I am a resident of San Diego, I was invited to join by Jay Beckman (FlyingPhotog).  My wife's parents just moved to the Florence area and we have long-time friends that live in Glendale.  We are in the area several times a year and I try to get over to shoot the shows at Luke and Davis-Monthan.  I'm also a big fan of the Pima Museum.

I've been a photographer for over 40 years, but it's only in the last couple of years I have been concentrating on aviation.  That started when attended the 2007 Luke show and was asked to shoot by a reporter for the Airport Journals newspaper.  I've been shooting for them for a couple of years now.  My interest in aviation has been present since I was a youngster, but really came to the fore when I was hired by Ryan Aeronautical in San Diego in 1984.  I worked for them building Apache fuselages and UAVs until 1998 when Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas merged and Boeing took the Apache work from Ryan and moved it to Vertol in Philadelphia.

I'm retired now, so I have the opportunity to shoot more than when I was working.  You can my work (and some of my wife Heather's stuff too) at http://johnwright.smugmug.com

John

[Jay Beckman]

Hiya John!  Welcome!!

[jslugman]

Welcome John!

[David Loera]

What part of San Diego?

[JWright]

What part of San Diego?

North Park...  Two miles east of Balboa Park.

[David Loera]

awesome, I lived in northpark for about a year, lived most of my life in La Mesa-Springvalley Area