I’m a Private Pilot, but I still get giddy when I have a chance to go flying. Yesterday was no exception.

After visiting some friends in Hermosa Beach, I dropped by Torrance, California’s airport, Zamperini Field. This is a normal activity for me – to check out the local airfield.

I admired a new Piper Matrix that taxied up to transient parking – a truly beautiful airplane. The Matrix pilot walked over to where I was standing and asked if there was an ATM. I told him there wasn’t but I could drive him to one a few blocks away. He accepted, and we chatted about flying, naturally. Turns out this Matrix pilot is a Piper dealer and he was getting ready to take the Editor of PilotMag up for a demo flight. They were going to Catalina Island for lunch. When he asked me to join them I just about fainted!

Being an Eagle Scout I like to think I roll somewhat prepared, so I keep my pilot headset in the trunk of my car… just in case. You never know when you’ll have to jump in an airplane and fly. It’s considered a pilot’s best practice to us one’s own headset. When they’re not flying, pilots tote their headsets in protective cases. By the way, every time I use my David Clark headset I’m reminded of how generous my old roommate was. He gave the headset to me as a Christmas gift when we were flying together during the mid 90s.

You can click on the following thumbnails and view a slightly larger version of each:

If you are keeping up with General Aviation you’ll know that there have been some exciting advances, not only with airplanes, but with the avionics that pilots use to navigate. The 6 leather-seated, air-conditioned Piper Matrix that we were flying was fully loaded, including the Garmin G1000. It was an all “glass cockpit” with all of the bells and whistles over which any pilot would drool.

We pulled out of Zamperini Field’s pattern, climbed to 7,500 feet and zipped over to Catalina. The water below was so beautiful. The island was crawling with buffalo… and people.

Catalina’s “Airport in the Sky” is perched on top of a small mountain. It can be a tricky landing, but the editor of Pilot Magazine was in the left seat (pilot in command) and made a sweet landing. He said the airplane was a pleasure to fly.

The flight back to Torrance was quick. We sped back at 4,500, then used the air brakes to slow down as we approached Zamperini Field runway 29. As we taxied back to transient parking I looked out the window and saw about 6 pilots standing on the ramp admiring the plane.

What a fun trip. Thanks, Piper. Thanks to Mike Borden from High Performance Aircraft. And thanks to Jeff Berlin, the editor at PilotMag. I’m holding my breath, but a couple of my pictures may be used for the magazine’s write-up.

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Also… Check it out on my Flickr photostream.

This is what I saw!

Early one morning I heard a rustling noise and some panting outside of my tent. This is what I saw—a fierce male lion. The king of the jungle. You can imagine how I felt. I’m glad to be alive.

Okay… not really. I didn’t really go to Africa. Only in my dreams.

But I did go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park!

The Real Story

Thanks to the knowledgeable guide at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, I found out that lions make this snarling face, not because they’re angry, but because they’re sniffing. That’s right, they’re sniffing. Have you ever made a funny, crinkly nose face when you’re smelling something in the air and you’re trying to identify the smell? That’s what the lions are supposedly doing. They’re opening up an even better pathway to their keen sense of smell.

I’ve also posted this photo on Flickr.

See more photos in my Nice N’ Close set on Flickr.

This portrait is part of the $2 Portrait series on Flickr.

While they’re usually unpleasant to look at, awkward to talk to, and uncomfortable to think about, these people are part of the urban community. 66% of the homeless have unchecked mental health disorders and/or are substance abusers… and they’re stuck in a rut. You see, they’re a lot like you and me. For an estimated 3.5 million people in the U.S. they are you and me. Milton’s no exception.

More about Milton

Milton is 56 years old and was born in Memphis. Just a tad too young to get drafted for Vietnam he picked up early in life and moved to Colorado, then finally landed in California. His southern roots and time in Colorado make for a pleasing drawl.

He spent 14 years as a janitor, then moved up to becoming a security guard, which he did for 11 years.

In 2004 he severely broke his ankle after falling off a city park roof while fetching a boy’s Frisbee.

The accident set him way back and he wasn’t able to continue his job as a security officer. While he was in the hospital he lost his apartment, was unable to claim disability, and found himself homeless inside of 6 weeks. That’s the way it is for a lot of people. They’re just a paycheck, or so, from homelessness.

He started sleeping under a freeway overpass, and met a bunch of other homeless people who quickly took him under their wing and introduced him to the “art” of panhandling. Quickly, Milton was able to scrape enough money together to rent his own place. He knew he was going to make it.

Now he’s fallen into a rut. He knows he can earn enough panhandling to keep his place, he’s able to draw social security since he worked for 25 years, and he knows a lot of people in the neighborhood. He’s got a routine.

I spent 5 minutes talking with Milton and got this whole lowdown. He didn’t seem like he was delusional, or on drugs, but I could smell that he’d been throwing a few back.

While we were talking, the police walked up and started harassing Milton, asking him to quit panhandling in front of Walgreens and to move on. They used strong language, threatened him with arrest, and discouraged him from being on the street. Milton shrugged it off and said it was a daily occurrence.

Milton pushed his walker two blocks up, set his plastic Taco Bell drink cup on the ground and started over again. He said he normally works until 3:00 when he’s usually done, earning enough to get some food and pay for another week’s rent.

If something is “in your own backyard” you get to experience more the fleeting moments that seem to escape the casual passerby.

The story behind the picture

It was late in the afternoon in December of 2009 and the sun was low in the sky, making for some sweet backlight through the wave. I caught this moment from the Oceanside Pier in Southern California. The conditions were ideal: Winter, offshore breeze.

See more of my Ocean Set on Flickr.

This is a great opportunity to spend some quality time with some accomplished photographers. I plan on being there!

Marc Silber is is the Director of the Marc Silber Show, a show about how to advance your photography. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend it. Marc, himself an accomplished commercial photographer, interviews world-famous photographers and gets the type of insight and tips that help photographers at all levels.

Thomas Hawk is photographer with the impressive goal of publishing 1,000,000 pictures before he dies. Wow. You can read more about Thomas Hawk and see his images on his website.

For more information, check out this post on Upcoming.

Critical necessities:  “It’s the small things that matter.”

I love this simple quote.  In photography, as in life, you learn that sometimes it’s the smallest little things which make all the difference in whether your day was amazing or filled with frustration.  Following are a few small necessities that I think everyone should have with them before they set out.

Lens cap leash.  For less than $2, this is the best investment you can make to help protect your lens… namely, by not losing your lens cap on the road!  On my recent trip to Egypt, I lost my lens cap to my Nikon 24-200mm walk-around lens because I didn’t have a lease on it.  In the sandy, dusty environments of Egypt, it was nearly impossible to keep the lens clean with a cap. After the trip, I bought a 4-pack and now have all my lens caps on-leash around my lenses.

Portable hard-drive, card reader, and small laptop/netbook. Some people may not consider these items, especially a small laptop/netbook, as small or necessities, but you will be thankful when you can back up all your files.  Plus, you’ll have the ability to view and edit what you have taken while you’re still on the road.  Many hotels and hostels around the world now have free/cheap WiFi which makes keeping in touch and sharing your pictures much more immediate for your family and friends back home.  For my recent trip to Spain, I took my Macbook Pro 15 and a Western Digital 750G Passport portable drive.

Tripod. Whether you have a small point and shoot or a big fancy DSLR with a professional zoom, a tripod should always be part of your travel package.  Find the tripod that’s right for the camera–from a simple pocket tripod for a point-and-shoot to something more substantial.  Why is a tripod essential?  Some of my favorite shots are either from indoors or during the best hours of the day (early morning or dusk) and in those conditions, you can’t get the crispest possible pictures without a tripod, even with camera or lens image stabilization.  I currently use a Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber tripod with a Manfrotto 322RC2 Joystick Head.

Backpack with rain-cover. Weather is unpredictable.  Even if a place is known to be arid, it is best to bring a rain-cover just in case. A few camera backpacks now have built in covers. This really should be a standard feature for all packs. Think about it… if you have already invested hundreds and possibly thousands, in your setup, why not make sure that equipment is safe from the rain?  If your current pack doesn’t include a rain cover, many outdoors stores will sell one to fit your pack for anywhere form $20-$40. Trust me, it’s worth having the extra protection, just in case.  Years ago, I was traveling along the far western parts of the Silk Road and although the area is known to be hot, dry, and desert-like most of the year, a flash storm hit while I was there.  At the time, I didn’t have a rain cover with me so I was nervous each time I ventured out, not knowing if and when another flash storm may hit.  I currently use a Kata D466.4

I hope some of these tips are helpful and you can put them to use during your next trip!

About the Author

Shing Wong is a San Francisco-based photographer. His work has been published in the New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, and more. Visit his website to see his photography and learn more about him.

House

USA Today published an exciting article about how the director of Fox TV show, House, chose to shoot an entire episode of the TV program using a Canon 5D Mark II. The Canon 5D Mark II is one of the relatively new DSLRs that has the capability to shoot HD video.

Among other things, House director of photography Gale Tattersall liked the HDDSLR’s ability to shoot in low light at high ISO, and achieve shallow depth of field with a wide array of lenses.

He initially latched onto the 5D as an experiment in a recent episode that had a short scene with newborn babies. Tattersall figured it would be less obtrusive to shoot them with two small 5Ds rather than the huge film cameras. —USA Today article

What This Means

HDDSLRs are now being used by professional filmmakers as a complement to their film cameras. The USA Today article points out that Tattersall thinks the HDDSLR will become part of his arsenal, and not yet a replacement. The quality of HDDSLRs is ready for primetime but isn’t quite ready displace the film cameras.

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