Of course, Dad told us many stories about his early life. One of his stories took place during their advanced training at Camp Crowder, Missouri. Tired of eating the army-supplied mess, he and a few of the soldiers went into the nearby town to buy fresh poultry and groceries to prepare their own meals. Some of the townspeople were taken aback by these Chinese soldiers marching into town – they thought they were being invaded by the Japanese!

Soon they traveled by train to the West Coast for deployment to the Asia. Dad said that the military was experimenting with a new transportation method. Instead of sending groups of ships in convoys, they were using unescorted liberty ships to stealthily avoid the Japanese navy. Their battalion was placed on one of three liberty ships which would leave Wilmington, CA bound for Calcutta, India a few days apart. Dad was on the second ship, the SS David Gaillard. As it turned out, the first and third ship were torpedoed by Japanese submarines and never made it to India.

As part of the 987th Special Signal Operations Company, they were to travel from Calcutta to Kunming, China to support General Clair Chennault and his Fourteenth Air Force “Flying Tigers”. To reach Kunming they would travel on roads though the Himalayas. On several occasions Dad would mention the Burma Road on which the soldiers traveled to cross the mountains. He described the roads as being so steep, treacherous and narrow that if one of the vehicles became disabled they would have to push it over the cliffs so that the other vehicles could pass. Dad’s description has remained in my mind for many decades. Last week I unexpectedly received an email from a friend from my high school days. I remembered that Ann’s father was the the noted photographer Arthur Rothstein who had a long and distinguished career as a photojournalist, editor and director of photography, teacher and mentor. His iconic images of the rural America are well-known. Annie’s email had me browsing through her dad’s collection where I stumbled across a group of photos in which he documented the war effort in the China, Burma, India theater. His photo perfectly captures the image that Dad had verbally drawn in my mind for so many years. Seeing the stark road snaking its way up the mountain was enough of an impetus for me to write this story. Thanks to Annie and many thanks to her father.

Like most other World War II military units, the Fourteenth Air Force has held many reunions for their members. The 55th Anniversary Reunion was held in 1997 and included the veterans that served in the China, Burma, India theater during World War II. In the reunion program guide, I found this family photo. These four standing men are my father and his three brothers-in-law whom I referred to earlier. They are my uncles having married three of my mother’s sisters. And all four of served as part of the CBI theater.

This short story illustrates the reason that photographs matter to me. These two photos are valued keepsakes.

There’s a wonderful story behind many photographs. It’s not just the image, it’s the memories and emotions that accompany the image that matter.

To see Arthur Rothstein’s work, please visit his archives.

Written by Arnie Lee

… 42 years and counting

Tomorrow marks the 42nd anniversary of the first Earth Day. (Note: I’ve redated this article so that it corresponds to an April 22 date.) This is a personal recollection of some of the memories that have followed me since this global movement was in its infancy. I also take a short look at both conventional film and digital photography to describe their effect on the environment.

Usually my daily thoughts are centered around publishing, software, grandkids or one of many other diverse topics. But as April arrives each year, a newspaper article here or a radio broadcast there reminds me of Earth Day.

Stick with me for a few paragraphs as my mind drifts back a bit.

From the time I first started reading his black humor, novelist Kurt Vonnegut has been one on my favorite authors. He died in April 2007 shortly before the original version of this article was published.

The news coverage of his life and death took me back to the late 60′s when I was a student at the University of Michigan (U of M) in the city of Ann Arbor. Vonnegut was asked to be “Writer in Residence” at the University. As one of the most widely read authors of the 1960′s generation, he was sure to have a large, welcoming audience among would-be writers studying at the U of M.

He sometimes frequented a small, local campus restaurant called “The Brown Jug” where he’d have breakfast and smoke lots of cigarettes. Back then, it was popular lore that Vonnegut declared smoking to be the slowest form of suicide.

My wife Kris, then a student and part-time waitress, was also a Vonnegut reader. On occasion, she would wait on him in the restaurant. She admitted, that owing to her hearing difficulty, she was not a very good waitress and therefore frustrated the celebrated writer with her (lack of) service. More to the point, his purpose on campus as writer in residence ended abruptly when he left prematurely declaring something to the effect: “I’m leaving Ann Arbor since I have nothing much to teach you about writing.” So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut in 2004 photo courtesy of Colleen Taber	The author and his dog living “back to nature”, circa 1970
Four Tops of Motown fame circa 1967	James Taylor in 2006	Gordon Lightfoot in 2005

To put things in the proper perspective, 1970 was a very vibrant, exciting and yet conflicted era. I’m reminded of Charles Dicken’s quotation in my high school year book which aptly describes the period: “it was the best of times and it was the worst of times….we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way”. This was the period of Viet Nam and Kent State, living off the earth and making peace, hippies and long hair. We were contemporaries of heavy metal, Motown, James Taylor, Woodstock and The Beatles music. With this as a backdrop, we happen upon the Earth Day 1970 teach-in at the U of M.

Not long after Vonnegut’s departure from the campus, we were treated to a free music concert. The well-known folk song artist Gordon Lightfoot came to town to perform for more than 12,000 screaming students in one of the large stadiums at the University. Gord had had been drawing large audiences around the US, Canada and Europe with his classic Canadian Railroad Trilogy (click for lyrics), a poetic ballad describing the building of the railroads across Canada and the difficult tradeoffs between developing the economy and keeping the land pristine for the future. His music was great back then and to this day, I remain a Lightfoot fan. I was so much the fan that a few years ago I traveled to Las Vegas (by myself since no family member wanted to accompany me) to hear him in concert. And I ended up staying for two of his performances. Would you believe that I even have a life size poster of Gord which was gifted to me by the advertising manager at the Orleans Casino?

Anyway, traveling back to 1970, we understood that Lightfoot’s appearance was part of what was to be part of the first Earth Day teach-in, a gathering of some 50,000 in Ann Arbor to discuss, educate and find solutions to environmental problems created by the earth’s inhabitants. From all of the excitement and the energy which went into the production of the first Earth Day teach-ins, many of us believed that we were on the verge of saving the environment.

As an economics student, I was counting on a future career that would revolve around conservation, ecology and recycling. I was deeply serious about this course of study and studied writings from the likes of educators and humanists Kenneth Boulding, Buckminster Fuller and E.F. Schumacher and took courses such as remote sensing of the environment and cost-benefit analysis.

My great enthusiasm for all things environmental waned some time after graduating with a degree in Natural Resource Economics. It was fully a year later that I was still trying to find a job in this nascient field. Instead, I ended up in the computer and publishing business. So it goes.

As I usually stay away from public discussions about politics, I won’t comment on how well or how poorly the earth’s inhabitants have done to improve the environment over the past 42 years. However, like others, I have observed a very large and urgent movement in recent years to resurrect many of the same or similar ideas from these earlier decades that call for a change in our lifestyles.

In fact, last week we took a few of our grandkids to see Lorax, a new movie based on Dr Seuss’ book. It describes a planet where all of the trees have been clear cut – no trees left. Now everyone depends on manufactured air to provide oxygen for their survival. Is this story a little far fetched? Maybe. But at least the issue is being presented to a new generation.

So what does all of this rambling have to do photography?

Well, to continue in the same vein, I thought it might be interesting to look at photography then and now to compare their individual environmental impacts.

At first, I thought this was going to be a “no brainer” – that digital photography yields huge environmental savings compared to conventional photography. But as I began to dig deeper, I see that there are two sides to this argument.

Conventional Photography

Having worked in several commercial photo labs long before the advent of digital, I’m familiar with the processes that are used in conventional (film-based) photography.

Most conventional cameras use a cartridge or cannister filled with film for 12, 20 or 36 exposures. Each “roll” of film is individually packaged for sale in hundreds of thousands of retail locations. Besides the resources needed to manufacture the film, a considerable amount more are used to market and distribute the products.

Film derives its light sensitivity from a chemical mixture of silver halide that’s coated onto its surface. After being exposed to light by the camera, the film is first “developed” – the silver halide image is converted into a metallic silver and then “fixed” – the unused silver halide is dissolved. This makes the negative image permament. Color film requires additional chemicals to form the dyes used to reproduce the various colors. And still other chemicals are used to enhance the drying of the photographic materials. In addition to these chemicals, a large amount of water is used to rinse and clean the chemicals from the surface of the film.

Conventional photographic prints are processed similarly using a silver halide sensitive paper and chemicals to develop and fix and wash the positive images. Most commercial photo labs make prints from each exposure on a roll of film.

The environmental impact of conventional photography is significant. A large amount materials is consumed to make film and photographic paper. A large amount of nasty and toxic chemicals are used to process both the film and prints. And an awfully large amount of fresh water is used in the process as well.

Digital Photography

At first glance, the coming of age of digital photography appears to have a beneficial impact on the environmental.

With digital, no longer is there a need for roll after roll of film. Instead a single chip (SD-card or CF-card) can capture hundreds, maybe thousands of images.

Now, these digital images no longer require chemical development. Rather, the images are immediately available to review while still in the camera. For permanance, the images can be copied to your computer hard drive for safekeeping, further enhancement and presentation.

Unlike conventional processing where each exposure is mindlessly printed by the photo lab, you can be more selective. Instead you can choose to print only the best of the best images. And it’s your choice to print them using a conventional photo process at your favorite photo lab or print them at home on your color ink-jet printer.

Regardless of which camera you’ve purchased, digital photography seems like a winner from an environmental standpoint.

The Rest of the Story

As with many things in life, digital photography has a few “gottcha’s” that cloud its environmental friendly moniker.

The upside is that digital provides big savings in resources by eliminating film, packaging, paper and chemical processing. However, digital shifts the resource burden to the manufacturing and maintaining of the personal computer. Yes, there are some who make do without a personal computer. These picturetakers bring their digital film to a photo lab to make their selected prints. But most picturetakers collect, organize, retouch, process and present their photographs using a personal computer.

While it’s slightly dated, according to a United Nation report from 2004, “the average 24 kg desktop computer with monitor requires at least 10 times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals to manufacture, much more materials intensive than an automobile or refrigerator, which only require 1-2 times their weight in fossil fuels. Researchers found that manufacturing one desktop computer and 17-inch CRT monitor uses at least 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals and 1,500 kg of water – a total of 1.8 tonnes of materials.”

Of course a personal computer is used for other tasks as well, so it’s not fair to put the full blame for digital photography’s negative impact on the environment.

And to power all of these cameras, computers and accessories the need for electricity either from the wall outlet or batteries is climbing. Does this contribute to our CO₂ footprint?

Not surprisingly, manufacturers are working feverishly to add new and amazing whiz-bang features to their cameras. Now instead of buying a conventional camera every ten years or so, the buying cycle for digital cameras is a lot more frequent. Read: more resources consumed.

Wrapping it Up

We can credit the overwhelming adoption of digital cameras for saving the environment from millions of rolls of film and the required chemicals to develop the the film and prints. In addition to the great quality of digital technology, we benefit from a huge reduction of harmful photographic chemicals.

Unfortunately, after we add the personal computer to complete the processing, digital photography is a mixed bagged from an environmental standpoint.

In his novel Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut might comment on this no-win situation with the phrase so it goes.

As for me, after all of these years as an avid photographer I’m still a proponent of carefully using our precious natural resources. Aside from photographing family, my favorite pastime is nature and landscape photography. To the best of my ability I continue to practice “leave no trace photography” – disturb neither our wildlife nor our environment. Photography, whether conventional or digital, is a gift that lets me enjoy the wonders of our amazing world visually. I think many others agree.

 
More Information
Here’s a few articles that touch on the conventional vs digital photography debate.

The Environmental Impact of Digital Photography
Environmental impact of digital cameras compared to film
How Photographers Are Reducing Their Environmental Impact
How to Be an Environmentally Friendly Photographer

For those of you who are interested in the movement, here are few links to Earth Day sites.

************************************************************************

Author: Arnie Lee, former flower child and President of Abacus / Stay Focused

Please address any comments about this article, to Arnie via email

Canadian Railroad Trilogy By Gordon Lightfoot

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun Long before the white man and long before the wheel When the green dark forest was too silent to be real But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds As to this verdant country they came from all around They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall And they built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all And when the young man’s fancy was turning to the spring The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day And many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay For they looked in the future and what did they see They saw an iron road running from sea to the sea Bringing the goods to a young growing land All up through the seaports and into their hands Look away said they across this mighty land From the eastern shore to the western strand Bring in the workers and bring up the rails We gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails Open your heart let the life blood flow Gotta get on our way cause were moving too slow Bring in the workers and bring up the rails Were gonna lay down the tracks and tear up the trails Open your heart let the life blood flow Gotta get on our way cause were moving too slow Get on our way cause were moving too slow Behind the blue rockies the sun is declining The stars, they come stealing at the close of the day Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping Beyond the dark oceans in a place far away We are the navvies who work upon the railway Swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun Living on stew and drinking bad whiskey Bending our old backs til the long days are done We are the navvies who work upon the railway Swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun Laying down track and building the bridges Bending our old backs til the railroad is done So over the mountains and over the plains Into the muskeg and into the rain Up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspe Swinging our hammers and drawing our pay Driving them in and tying them down Away to the bunkhouse and into the town A dollar a day and a place for my head A drink to the living and a toast to the dead Oh the song of the future has been sung All the battles have been won Oer the mountain tops we stand All the world at our command We have opened up the soil With our teardrops and our toil For there was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun Long before the white man and long before the wheel When the green dark forest was too silent to be real When the green dark forest was too silent to be real And many are the dead men too silent to be real

On a recent holiday out West, I snapped a lucky group photo of our some of our grandkids. It was a lucky shot in which all of the kids were posed nicely, facing the camera.

When we returned home, my wife remembered that she had stashed away a couple of do-it-yourself photo jigsaw puzzles that would make a nice souvenir of our vacation.

Here’s the do-it-yourself jigsaw puzzle. This one is called “Make-Your_own Jigsaw Puzzle” from Messisa & Doug, Item # 376. My wife bought the kit at a large craft store for about $7.
This kit is to be used with a 5″ x 7″ photograph. I printed a borderless photograph, cropped exactly as I wanted it to appear on the puzzle. The kit includes an adhesive sheet onto which you place to photograph face up. Turn the adhesive sheet over and you’ll see the outline of the twelve jigsaw pieces. Using scissors, you cut along the lines which mirror the shape of the wooden jigsaw pieces.
Finally, you remove the second paper backing from the adhesive sheet to reveal more adhesive. Each photo piece is then pressed onto the corresponding wooden puzzle piece. This all takes about ten minutes and then your photo jig saw puzzle is ready!

My wife ended up making two of these puzzles to send to the grandkids in the photograph. We’re hoping that it will help them remember our visit.

Written by Arnie Lee

The census bureau says that children born between 1946 and 1964 are considered baby boomers. Since I was born in 1949, I suppose that I’m at the leading edge of the baby boom generation. Last week as I was returning from a trip to the West Coast, I picked up a copy of the Sunday Los Angeles Times. I was literally stunned to read Tom Petruno’s article in the business section who presents this amazing fact: “every 24 hours for the next 19 years an average of 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65″*.

a baby boomer with daughter and grandchildren

Wow. Think about that number: 10,000 individuals every day for 19 consecutive years. Grab your calculator and do the math and you’ll see that 69 million of us will reach retirement age between now and 2030. Are any of you surprised by this fact?

Mr. Petruno’s article centered around the havoc that might ensue as retirees unload their stock market holdings. He wonders what would happen to the share prices if there aren’t enough buyers to purchase their shares. While the article is an interesting read, I’m thinking of other implications that such a large cohort will place on our nation.

My preference is to shy away from public discussions of politics and social welfare. So please excuse me while I skip over any serious political and social issues confronting our aging population and move on.

So how does this discussion fit into Stay Focused?

I’ll start with a local camera club to which I belong. It’s a rather large club with about 100 members. I’d have to guess that half of the members are baby boomers or older. This is quite a large proportion. These folks have the time to spend on their photography hobby (or profession). The time is well spent judging by the impressive results. You might think that the group is more “classic” – shooting landscapes and portraits. But the artistic side is just as evident as we regularly see in the creative competitions. And from all indications, the older generation has had no trouble making the transition from film to digital.

As a frequent visitor of many of our national parks, I’ve noticed that other older people are following me to some of these great sites. Rather than the greening of the national parks, there’s a trend to the “greying.” And of course every vistior comes into a park with a camera ready to record their memories.

Anyway, there’s a lot of us older people with seemingly more and more time on our hands. Maybe it’s time to start that business that I’ve dreamed of for so very long: “Photo Tour Guide to Yellowstone”.

Happy Shooting.

*****

Written by Arnie Lee

* from the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2012.

There’s nothing pretentious about this book’s title. We’ve packed this inexpensive eBook with a large set of easy-to-follow tips and hints that are guaranteed to improve your picture-taking.

What’s more is that these simple techniques produce great results whether you use a modern DLSR, a point-and-shoot or a cell phone camera. Those amazing photos posted by others on Facebook or Yahoo for example, are well within your reach. It takes just a short while to master these tips which can transform yours into amazing captures too. For each tips, we show you “before” and “after” photos so you can immediately see the result of each technique.

28 Tips for Better Photographs is available as an eBook for iPad, iPhone, Kindle reader, B&N Nook reader and universal PDF format. For more information, please click here.

* Stay Focused is part of Abacus. Abacus has been publishing books and software since 1978 making it one of the pioneers in the industry.

This article is a followup to Part 1 in which I describe a few of the photographic items that attracted my attention as I was scouring the venues of the Consumer Electronics Show. In this Part 2 article, I’ll show you some of the other items that I found interesting at this year’s record breaking CES.
I’m a geek at heart. And since I like touching, feeling and learning about devices and gadgets that perform some kind of magic, the miles of aisles taking up some 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space -are a playground for me. Apparently there are a few others that feel the same way; attendance at the show was north of 150,000.
My reporting covers both technology and photography. This year the Photographic Marketing Association chose to co-locate their annual convention at the Consumer Electronics Show. Since most of the major photo equipment manufacturers already exhibit at CES, it makes sense for the PMA to join forces. Having CES and PMA exhibitors at a single event makes it very convenient for reporters such as myself. The CES management makes it easy for its exhibitors to get global press coverage by inviting hundreds of media reps to the show. As you can see here, the Press Room was teeming with throngs of reporters filing their articles.
OK, here goes Part 2 of the time spent at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Intel, the premier maker of microprocessors, is revving up the market for its ultrabook push. Intel supplies the chips that many computer manufacturers use to build their hardware. When asked to define an ultrabook, one of the Intel reps described one as a thin and lightweight notebook with a long battery life which starts up (boots) very quickly. To save weight and conserve battery life, most of the ultrabooks have smaller screens (13″ to 15″) and use solid state had drives but without an optical (CD, DVD or BlueRay) drive. All of the new ultrabooks use Intel 2nd generation “Sandy Bridge” core processors.
a new Samsung ultrabook	a Toshiba ultrabook
To those of you familiar with Apple’s offering, the ultrabook most likely took its cue from the MacBook Air. In all, there were eight different manufacturers showing their own variations of the ultrabook at CES. Go here to find more information about Intel-based ultrabooks. Another feature that will soon start appearing is dubbed WiDi – for wireless display. This new technology couples a computer to a monitor through a high speed wireless connection. At the Intel stand, a notebook computer was sending its display to a huge 52″ Samsung HD television with builit-in WiDi with no apparent delay. I found this to be pretty slick.
I was really intrigued by the Replicator. It sounds like it might be a creature from a monster movie, but it is in fact a 3D printer. A what? What’s a 3D printer?
The Replicator is a printer that spits out a plastic substance according to a pattern to create 3D objects.	Here’s a model car made by the Replicator. Note the intricate detail.
Michael Curry is holding one of the spools of plastic which are fed into the Replicator.	Here’s another very sophisticated model that was manufactured by the Replicator.
MakerBot Industries makes the Replicator. They have hundreds of free templates for making all sorts of models. Price is about $1800. O’Reilly Media features the MakerBot in a recent issue of Make Magazine in which it shows you how to make your own MakerBot. For more information contact MakerBot Industries.
The AR.Drone 2.0 is another neat gizmo. Designed in France by Parrot, it’s a high tech hovering aircraft.
AR.Drone 2.0 is a slick remote controlled, battery powered helicopter-like aircraft. You control the AR.Drone with an iPhone. What’s unique about this craft is that it can take 720 HD, gyroscopically-damped videos. BTW, it’s fully repairable – parts are available online.	Here, representtive Vanessa Loury is showing me a video taken above Paris with the AR.Drone 2.0. The price about $300.
To see some of the sample videos and more information, go to ardrone.com.
One of our companies has been involved with flight simulation for many years, so I made it over to Microsoft to see a demo of their soon to be released Flight product.
Flight starts you on the Big Island of Hawaii flying the Stearman biplane and ICON 5 sportplane. Here’s a virtual pilot approaching the airport for a landing.	The starter set will be free. Shortly, thereafter Microsoft will release reasonably priced aircraft, scenery and adventures to make Flight even more challenging.
Microsoft Flight will be available February 29 at Microsoft Games.
Another phrase that we’ve been hearing a lot about is “the cloud“. Basically, the cloud is a generic name for a secure, remote storage and data backup facility that gives you access to any of the data using various devices (e.g. computer, cell phone, tablet, etc.).
	Microsoft’s entry for the cloud is called SkyDrive. Sign up for SkyDrive and you’ll receive FREE, a generous 25GB of storage. You can backup or store files, documents and photos on SkyDrive. You can choose to share these items with others or keep them private.
Microsoft Office users can work collaboratively with SkyDrive. OneNote users can access files remotely with various mobile and desktop devices. One limitation is that any file must be less than 100MB in size which rules out many videos. To sign up for a free SkyDrive account from Microsoft, please go to SkyDrive.
As you can tell from both Part 1 and Part 2 of my walk around CES, I enjoyed peeking at a bunch of the new electronic gadgets that are lining up to meet the marketplace. As far as the CES in concerned these many years, I’ve adhered to the James Taylor song “Never grow old and never die young”. I hope to report on it again in 2013.

Written by Arnie Lee

A few short years ago, the Airbus A380 was the object of an extraordinary amount of excitement. During its years of development the A380 was the talk of the industry.  I recall my first sighting of the whale-like A380. It appeared to float in the sky as it made its first landing at Chicago O’Hare. A few short months afterwards, I watched as the A380 landed in Sydney, Australia after completing the first commercial flight from Singapore. In both cases, I was a lucky camper to be able to capture these moments on digital film.

Fast forward a few years and the object of excitement is changed. On Monday December 14th (2009) I arrive at the office in Grand Rapids about 7AM and open an email message telling me that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is about to make its first flight the next day from Paine Field near Seattle, Washington. During preceding months I had been planning to witness this event, but its date was postponed several times. To put it mildly, I am totally unprepared for Tuesday’s event and start to panic.

Using the computer, I check for flights from Grand Rapids to Seattle for later in the day. I spot a $520 fare on United Airlines. However, without additional verbal confirmation of the first 787 flight I decide to wait to book the United flight. Owing to the three hour time zone difference between GRR and SEA, I have to wait until noon to confirm that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is indeed scheduled to fly on Tuesday at 10AM, weather permitting.

Back to airline reservations. Wouldn’t you know that the earlier $520 fare is long gone leaving me with a much more expensive $950 flight. Oh well, that’s the cost of procrastination. Next I make hotel and car reservations and a call to my wife to let her know of my sudden excursion to Seattle. By 1PM I head home to pack my bags and photo equipment to arrive at the airport by 3PM.

Travel from Grand Rapids to Seattle by way of Denver is uneventful and I arrive about 8PM. The one hour drive from Seatac Airport in Seattle to the hotel near Paine Field is in heavy rain. Owing to my late arrival, I have to settle for some elegant fast food for dinner. Back at the hotel as I set my alarm for 7AM, I am wondering if the rain will interfere with tomorrow’s flight.

Bzzzzzzzz! Time to awaken. I draw back the window shades and see that it’s dark, cloudy and drizzly ourdoors. I quickly dress, prepare my cameras and drive to the nearby Future of Flight Museum that sits at the north end of Paine Field. There Mary Brueggeman hurriedly prepares me a parking pass and entry ticket to rooftop viewing area that overlooks the airport. Inside of the museum things are setup for this special “787 First Flight Event“, complete with champagne, continental breakfast and informative Boeing 787 Dreamliner displays.

I take a quick trip up to the rooftop to determine the best spot from which to photograph the takeoff. Once outdoors, I can feel the cold drizzle and strong breeze. I’m still wondering if the flight will take place. Although it’s still quite dark, the 787 is sitting next to a lighted building across the field about a half mile away. At 7:45 there are only a handful of others outdoors, mostly from local television stations doing their broadcasts of the event. Satisfied that I’ll have a good shooting location on the roof, I head back inside to grab some hot coffee and breakfast pastry.

By 8:30, the museum is a beehive of activity with about two hundred guests. You can hear the excitement in their voices. I bundle my coat and head outside again, this time to stake out my shooting position. By now three dozen others have already done the same. Across the field, we can see hundreds of Boeing employees streaming along the tarmac parallel the the taxiway. They too are here to see their new “baby” make its first flight.

After standing outside where it’s a damp 40-degrees for almost an hour, my feet and hands are cold. As the clock draws closer to 10AM, the rooftop viewing area is now jammed with about 400 onlookers with cameras staring at the motionless Dreamliner across the field. The strobe lights atop the aircraft have been flashing, but the aircraft shows no movement at all. Although it’s a half-mile away, I can hear its engines spool up. The 787 is finally moving and the crowd lets out a collective cheer. The sleek blue and silver aircraft follows a pilot card to runway 14R and then slowly parades 6000 feet along the taxiway as if it strutting its stuff for the Boeing employees and executives. Next it taxis to the far end of the airport just off of runway 34L. It sits there for a few minutes and then taxis into position on the runway. Everyone is now anxiously anticipating the takeoff.

Approaching from the south I see two small, low flying jet aircraft heading directly for runway 34L. These are the chase planes. Everyone knows that it’s now show time. Like a perfectly co-ordinated dance, the 787 engines spool up and the aircraft is finally rushing down the runway with the chase planes appearing to hang just overhead. The timing of the chase planes is exacting. The guests are now cheering loudly as the 787 races forward. At about the 5000 foot marker, the nose wheel comes off the ground. A few seconds go by and finally it’s airborne. The cheers are even louder now with lots of applause.

As it flies passes us, the Dreamliner is only a two hundred feet off the ground. The myriad of camera shutters are still snapping away and heads are turning to follow its path. As it slowly departs to the north, you can clearly see the distinctive bow of its wings as if they’re flexing. What a great looking aircraft.

Congratulations to all of the Boeing employees and subcontractors who have made it happen.

Click on any of the photos to enlarge
Boeing workers lined up on the tarmac	following the pilot car
a head on shot of the 787	crossing over runway 16R
first the nose wheel is off the runway	now all three wheels are off ground – it’s flying
the 787 is now airborne	ready for the climb
The Dreamliner passes by at 200ft	You can see wings bow on the Dreamliner

Written by Arnie Lee

My first Consumer Electronics Show was in 1982 when the numbers were a lot smaller than the record breaking 150,000+ that made their way to this year’s event. This crowd was at CES to see more than 3,000 exhibitors displaying their new products.
You’d think I might be weary of CES after 30 years, but I still find excitement in talking to these exhibitors who are making cool stuff that will be on retailers’ shelves in coming months.
CES is huge. This year’s show took up some 1.8 million square feet of space in the Las Vegas Convention Center and several other nearby venues. That’s a lot of walking and so I was sure to wear some comfortable shoes.
This year’s attendance may have been boosted by members of the Photographic Marketing Association. The PMA chose to co-locate their yearly gathering at CES for 2012. Since most of the major photo equipment manufacturers already exhibit at CES, it makes sense for the PMA to join forces. For the first time that I recall, the show was held from Tuesday thru Friday instead of over a weekend. I’m told that the casinos pushed to “clear” the weekend for other guests because CES folks are not known to be big gamblers.
Before beginning my walk, I stopped at the press room to review some of the hundreds of exhibitor press releases. As you can see in this photo to the right, the Press Room was a busy place filled with 150 or so reporters at any one time. Many were already sitting at workstations with their laptops and wireless connections filing articles and stories. CES management goes to great lengths to help deliver the marketing message of these exhibitors to the consumer. The flurry of activity in the press room is what eventually fills the airwaves, printed newspapers and magazines with buzz about these new electronic gizmos.
In Part 1 of my report, I’ll mention the photographic items that caught my eye. Excuse me, if I resort to “technicalese” while describing some of the higher end products. After reading this article, go to A Walk around CES – Part 2 where I cover a few of the other cool gadgets.   What follows is a quick rundown of some of the new or upcoming photographic products that I found interesting.
Wireless products were all over the show. Here’s a pair of products from Kodak that take advantage of wireless.
Joel White is holding their new M750 camera. After taking a picture, the image can be streamed directly to the printer. It’s instant photography all over again!	Kodak’s Hero printer conveniently connects to your router wirelessly. And by assigning it an email address, you can also send send images to it remotely.
The M750 camera can also talk to a mobile device such as a smartphone. Then you can use the free app on your mobile device to forward your images to a backup computer or other online apps such as Kodak Gallery, Picassa, Facebook or Flickr. Here’s where you can find out about the Kodak M750 camera.
Next stop was to see a few sport cameras. This is the new EGO, a small, waterproof model that captures HD video with wifi connection. It’s packaged in a bright, rugged case for $149	Skiers can wear their Apex HD model which embeds wifi and GPS into the goggles and also shoots 1080p HD video. Inside the goggles is a small LCD that is visible to skier, $395.
Liquid Image has other models specifically fore underwater, bicycling and other outdoor sports. For more information, go to Liquid Image.
DiCAPac makes underwater protection for electronic devices. This WP-S10 waterproof case is made for most DSLR cameras for shooting in inclement weather or in water to 15 feet. The clear plastic container is solid and the front window is optically corrected and scratch resistant. Price is about $149.	This is WP-MS10 case is for smartphones and can withstand water to depths up to 30 feet. If you can talk under water, I guess it’s useful for emergency phone calls Price about $25.
DiCAPac makes other waterproof cases for the iPad, compact cameras and other electronic devices as well. For more information, go to DoCAPac.
GoPro has been on a roll lately as many sports enthusiasts have recorded their accomplishments with their Hero camera. Here are displays of their outdoor, motorsport and surf models.	This is their Hero 2 model which can be accessorized to mount many different ways: wristband, helmet, bicycle, surfboard, airplane wing, you get the idea. Price is $295.
If you would like to see an action video captured with the Hero camera, click here (courtesy of Eastern Sierra Guiding. GoPro has many accessories for adapting the Hero 2 to a multitude of uses. For more information, go to GoPro.
In the advanced compact camera category, Canon introduced the G1 X with a 1.5″ sensor – about 6 times larger than the the one in the predecessor G12. This tells me that the G1 X will appeal to photographers who value high image quality with greater low-light sensitivity.	The G1X has a 4X optical zoom f/2.8 lens that couples to the optical viewfinder, captures RAW images at 4.5 frames per second, offers full manual control, features a swiveling 3″ LCD screen and records 1080p HD video with stereo sound.
The G1 X will be available in February for $795. For more detailed information, visit Canon G1 X.
For quite a few months Nikon has been dropping rumors of their Nikon D4. I finally had a chance to try it out. Priced at $6000, it’s for those photographers that require its robust set of high end features and a full-frame sensor.	The D4 has an integrated “battery grip”, ISO sensitivity to 12,800, captures 10-11 frames per second for up to 20 seconds, uses a new 51-point continuous autofocus mechanism and records 1080p HD video with stereo sound.
I’m told that this new model will be available sometime in first quarter 2012. For more detailed information, visit Nikon D4.
On the other side of the aisle (figuratively speaking), I took a look at the Canon 1D X. This 18MP full-frame camera with ISO up to 51,200 can pump out 12 frames per second.	The 1D X has a new 61 point autofocus system and extensive HD video controls for professional recording. Like the Nikon D4, it has an integrated “battery pack” which make it quite a bundle to hold.
The 1D X will be available in April for a wopping $6800. For more detailed information, visit Canon 1D X.
I stopped at Fuji to look at the X-Pro 1. While they’ve already delivered two other high end compacts (X10 and X100), this is the first with interchangeable lenses.	The features of the X-Pro 1 that I like are its compact, lightweight body, 16MP APS-C size sensor dual optical/electronic viewfinder. The body style is retro rangefinder, similar to a sleek Leica M-series with easy to operate shutter speed dial and aperture settings on the lenses. The sensor has ISO settings to 25,600. As I used the X-Pro 1, I thought it was larger and heavier than the other ILCs from other companies. I was surprised to learn that it lacks image stabilization, neither in the camera body nor the lenses. Fuji will be delivering three high speed lenses for the X-Pro 1: 18mm f/2, 35mm f/1.4 and 60mm f2.4. However, with only these three lenses available, many photographers may feel this to be too limiting to choose the X-Pro 1 for some of their sessions.
The Fuji representative told me that the X-Pro 1 will be available late first quarter 2012, price $1700 for the body. For more detailed information, visit Fuji X-Pro 1.
The NEX-7 is the company’s newest interchangeable lens camera (ILC). Since it does not have a mirror like a DSLR, the NEX-7 is very compact. As a side note, based on my overwhelming positive experience with the Sony Alpha A55 over the past year, I preordered the company’s NEX-7 last October. Unfortunately, its release was delayed. At the show, a Sony representative told me that shipments have started so I hope to take delivery of one soon.
Although the NEX-7 has a much smaller footprint than the Alpha A55, it packs most of the same innovative features that attracted me to the A55: real-time electronic viewfinder; large swiveling LCD; automatic in-camera HDR; automatic sweep panorama (in-camera stitching) in both 2D and 3D; rapid capture at 10 frame per second; 6-rapid-shot low-noise mode; 1080p HD video with full-time autofocus.	While the NEX-7 has a large LCD as seen here, most of the time I prefer to use the viewfinder. In addition to the newer E-mount lenses, an accessory that looks promising is the LA-EA2 lens adapter for attaching any of their standard A-mount lenses. This adapter has the same translucent mirror in the Alpha A55 and provides full-time, high-performance phase-detection autofocus (translation: fast and accurate).
The NEX-7 is available in limited quantities now with a 18-55mm E-lens for $1395. For more detailed information, visit Sony NEX-7.
Do you want to read more about CES? Go to Part 2 in which I describe a few of the non-photographic products that I found interesting.

Written by Arnie Lee

What’s in store for 2012?

The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off again in less than a week.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the CES, it’s a huge technology trade show at which the electronic and associated manufacturers showcase their new products. In recent years, CES has attracted more than 120,000 attendees to the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding venues.

 
There are literally miles of aisles lined with home theaters, thundering auto audio systems, pulsating illuminated LED signs, massive large-screen televisions, deafening stereo systems and wacky computer game displays. It’s a crowded, noisy affair.

Despite the negatives, CES has been a “must” show for me. In fact, I find it an exciting place to be. So much so that I’ve been to attending this annual event (for a while it was held twice a year) for more than 30 years to learn and write about the new products that are applicable to our businesses. For the first time, the Photographic Marketing Association trade show is being folded into this year’s CES. I suppose this tells us that photographic equipment is now considered part of the consumer electronics realm. Merging of these trade shows into one makes it even more convenient for me to learn about new photo equipment as well.

On the photography side, I expect these will be the trend this year:

• There will be more offerings of high end interchangeable lens cameras (ILC). This relatively new breed are imirrorless and use real-time electronic viewfinders and are significantly smaller than DSLRs. The Nikon V1 and Sony NEX5 are current examples that have compelling and innovative features
• It looks like we’ll see big improvements in the video capability of both DLSRs and ILCs. The norm will be 1080p HD video, full-time autofocus amd complete manual control of exposure. These devices are reinventing the way in which video is recorded.
• Watch for even better images from cellphones. Some models already have large 8MP sensors with builtin flash. There is a striking difference in quality from last year’s models.
• Slowing sales of compact cameras hasn’t deterred manufacturers from improving image quality. In particular, the trend is towards better low-light performance by using more responsive image sensors and wider aperture lenses. This will most likely continue but at a higher price.
• Again with compacts the major brands are also competing aggressively on a feature basis. For example the Samsung SH100 has builtin wireless transfer and several company’s have cameras with builtin GPS. I expect that features such as these will become very popular.
• Last fall in China, I met with several manufacturers who were pushing easy to use, all-weather still and video cameras. This may become a popular category as the younger generation continues the YouTube tradition of recording and producing movies of their varied outdoor activities.

On the technology side I will be looking at these items:

• I just read that Microsoft will be showing their upcoming Microsoft Flight at the show This is of special interest to me as one of our other businesses sell software for their older Flight Simulator.
• There are likely to be a slew of new and improved tablet from a variety of manufacturers. Since the launch of the iPad, these devices have made a dramatic shift in mobile computing behavior. With the recent addition of reading devices such as Amazon’s Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet, the market is heating up quickly.
• Cellphones have made the most impact on consumer behavior in the last few years and I’ll be interested in seeing the new features that are upcoming.
• For several years, robotic devices have been randomly appearing at CES. For the most part, this promising technology has been confined to a few areas such as floor cleaning devices and children’s toys. I’m hoping to see new and innovative consumer-level robots at the show.

I’ll report back to you about the show soon.

Yes, I’m looking forward to another CES. By the way, I’m also looking forward to a few days away from the cold and snowy weather here in Michigan.

 
Written by Arnie Lee

Photography isn’t always about planning and capturing images during a photo shoot.

Life “happens” whether you plan for it or not.

If you don’t want to miss the chance to record life as it happens, keep a camera handy. Whether you use a small compact camera or your cellphone camera, it’s fun when you can capture memorable events on “film”.

Life is sometimes about the important and emotional moments. And at other times, it’s about the humorous, the “cute” or the interesting. You may discover that the spontaneous moments are among the most memorable.

Below are a few of the memorable moments that I was able to record by having a camera near at hand.

Food that I adore Sometimes food overtakes my senses. When this happens, I may snap a photo to remember just how good or different a dish looks and tastes. Later, I can just look at the picture and recall exactly how it tasted. Maybe I’m a little obsessed with my taste buds.
Interesting Faces Several years ago, my son and I were on a cross-country flight that we shared with Mohammed Ali. When he noticed a camera in my hand, he graciously stood up so that we could take this photo. By having a camera handy, I’ve been able to take dozens more interesting personalities and faces.
Humor While driving, I spotted these juxtaposed signs that made me smile. I stopped the car and walked to the corner with my compact camera to take this photo. No matter how serious you are about photography, not all of your subjects have to be serious.
Scenics For the most part, traveling from one side of the ocean to the other is visually boring. Every once in a while the flight path includes subjects like this one. This is Greenland as seen from about 40,000 feet. Since I had a small camera with me at the time, I snapped. Now this beautiful scenery serves as a reminder of a place that I’d like to visit sometime.
Children Here is where cute comes in. Keep a camera ready when the kids are close by and you’ll have ample opportunity to catch them in a variety of poses. Most of the time we are waiting for them to smile. But sometimes other looks such as a pouting face are worth remembering too.

There’s no need to make a New Year resolution to record your kids, family, friends and memorable events. By having a small compact or cellphone camera close by, you’ll be prepared when the moment is right.

 
Written by: Arnie Lee