Military
Silent Survivor
February 19, 2012 - 08:14
Life’s events have a way of interrupting the steady flow that we create for ourselves. It’s been quite some time since I have had an opportunity to simply grab a camera and run a roll of film through it, although I should at least to relieve stress. During this dry spell, I regularly look through my library and remember where I was and why I tripped the shutter. My work sends me from Hawaii to Washington DC, although I haven’t travelled as of late. This morning, I was looking through my military shots and found a few in particular that I remember well. No flashy colors. No airbrushed highlights or other photoshop effects. Just light striking the sensor.
‘Silent Survivor’ is a fragment of an airplane that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was on Ford Island and spotted it laying in wait for restoration near the Pacific Aviation Museum. Most people photograph hibiscus flowers. the pounding surf, or the lush green mountains on the windward side of Oahu. I prefer to photograph history.
‘Silent Survivor’ is a fragment of an airplane that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was on Ford Island and spotted it laying in wait for restoration near the Pacific Aviation Museum. Most people photograph hibiscus flowers. the pounding surf, or the lush green mountains on the windward side of Oahu. I prefer to photograph history.
The Imperial Japanese Navy could have delivered a crushing blow and taken Oahu to stage further attacks on the United States mainland if it were not for four critical mistakes. The aircraft carriers were at sea at the time, so they were safe the morning of December 7, 1941. The Japanese fighters and bombers ignored the enormous fuel bunkers that were the lifeblood of the American fleet and they left the nearby dry dock untouched. The Japanese attacked early on a Sunday morning so most of the shipyard workers and sailors were not on station that day.
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Peace Dividend
November 11, 2011 - 22:10
Fortunately, the attack on Pearl Harbor was not as devastating as it could have been. To begin with, the aircraft carriers were not in port that day. Secondly, the Japanese Navy was so fixated on sinking American battleships and cruisers that they completely overlooked the dry dock on the other side of the harbor. The sunken ships needed only be righted and towed across the harbor for repair instead of the mainland 2,400 miles away. The Japanese bombers never touched the massive fuel supplies stored farther inland, thus preserving a valuable resource that would be used against them later. Had they succeeded, we would have likely lost Hawaii while providing the Imperial Japanese army and navy a staging area for invading the west coast of the United States. The attack served only to ‘awaken a sleeping giant’ as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto noted afterwards.
While I was wandering around the museum built out of the battleship USS Missouri, I came upon a rack of unused five inch shells slowly corroding on the dock. I could’t help but think just how many lives were saved because they were never used in combat. They were ready if the Navy needed them, but unused nonetheless.
Today, more than ever, deterrence has its purpose. I am thankful that America still holds the advantage rather than a power that does not value personal liberty as much as we do. Thank you veterans for being there when America and her allies needed you. The freedom that you bought with your blood is the real peace dividend.
Photographed on Fujichrome Provia 100 color slide film with a Konica Hexar Silver camera.
Raw Power
August 08, 2011 - 05:23
The Daimler-Benz DB 605 inverted V-12 engine. At 1,475 horsepower, it was the powerplant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters. I can almost hear the engine as it roars to life more than 60 years ago.
I captured it in monochrome in very low light. Anyone who had seen a classic aircraft engine would instantly recognize it. The highlights and the shadows in the engine body and drive shaft with the detail in the ignition wiring and duct work suggest its hidden power, now just an exhibit in a museum.
Shot with a Nikkormat FTn and a 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/5.6 at 1/60 second on Arista EDU 400 film. Developed in Acufine at par ISO.
I captured it in monochrome in very low light. Anyone who had seen a classic aircraft engine would instantly recognize it. The highlights and the shadows in the engine body and drive shaft with the detail in the ignition wiring and duct work suggest its hidden power, now just an exhibit in a museum.
Shot with a Nikkormat FTn and a 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/5.6 at 1/60 second on Arista EDU 400 film. Developed in Acufine at par ISO.
Technology Preserved
Government Issue
June 12, 2010 - 06:50
The Puget Sound was once vulnerable to invasion by sea. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the timber industry was burgeoning and the Navy had a shipyard established in the deep water seaway protected by mountains and rugged rainforest on all sides. It was a tempting prize for an ambitious conquering nation to blockade the Sound and keep the Navy bottlenecked within. The United States understood this vulnerability, so in 1896 Congress authorized the Secretary of War to fortify and build a complex of artillery emplacements to repel potential attacks of the Puget Sound from the Pacific Ocean.
Fort Flagler, Fort Casey, and Fort Worden were built in a triangle formation to protect Admiralty Inlet. Armed with 10 and 12 inch guns mounted on “disappearing” carriages, these bastions of freedom stood watch over the Straits of San Juan ready for an invasion that would never come. Made obsolete prior to World War II by improved military technologies, these bases were closed in the 1950’s and the land was returned to the State of Washington. They later became state parks that preserve an important part of our nation’s history. They are wonderful to photograph.
I recently visited Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula, located just south of Port Townsend. The concrete bunkers that protected the gun batteries and the military hardware that remain at the site have form and texture that photograph well in monochrome. Ammunition storage bunkers and munitions elevators also remain, hidden deep inside underground chambers protected by these concrete structures.
Random cracks in the thick concrete sections show the power of the Pacific Northwest climate working against man’s best engineering efforts. Monochrome images communicate the form and texture of the iron guns and concrete structures without the distraction of color. The gun mounts that remain are quiet, yet their presence is a powerful reminder of our desire to remain a free nation.
The images of Fort Flagler in the Military and Ancient Industry galleries were shot with a Nikon FM2n camera and 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lenses. I used TMax 400 film exposed at ISO 200 and developed in Microdol-X developer, stock dilution, for 10-1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.
Fort Flagler, Fort Casey, and Fort Worden were built in a triangle formation to protect Admiralty Inlet. Armed with 10 and 12 inch guns mounted on “disappearing” carriages, these bastions of freedom stood watch over the Straits of San Juan ready for an invasion that would never come. Made obsolete prior to World War II by improved military technologies, these bases were closed in the 1950’s and the land was returned to the State of Washington. They later became state parks that preserve an important part of our nation’s history. They are wonderful to photograph.
I recently visited Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula, located just south of Port Townsend. The concrete bunkers that protected the gun batteries and the military hardware that remain at the site have form and texture that photograph well in monochrome. Ammunition storage bunkers and munitions elevators also remain, hidden deep inside underground chambers protected by these concrete structures.
Random cracks in the thick concrete sections show the power of the Pacific Northwest climate working against man’s best engineering efforts. Monochrome images communicate the form and texture of the iron guns and concrete structures without the distraction of color. The gun mounts that remain are quiet, yet their presence is a powerful reminder of our desire to remain a free nation.
The images of Fort Flagler in the Military and Ancient Industry galleries were shot with a Nikon FM2n camera and 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lenses. I used TMax 400 film exposed at ISO 200 and developed in Microdol-X developer, stock dilution, for 10-1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.
Submarines
April 11, 2010 - 17:22
The hardest part about shooting submarines is finding them. The Navy likes it that way, but it is frustrating for a photographer with a penchant for photographing military subjects, especially those located in his own back yard.
I live just a few miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the submarine base at Bangor, Washington. My day job has a bit to do with supporting their mission but I still can’t get near a sub with a camera without running afoul of Navy security officers. The best I can do is use my imagination while lingering around naval museums and, of course, the mothball fleet.
When I took my Minolta SRT-200 for a walk around the Bremerton waterfront, I came across the salvage remains of the decommissioned Sturgeon-class submarine USS Parche (SSN-683) erected as a monument in front of the shipyard gate. “Secret Savior” places the leading edge of this ship’s sail against the mid day sun. I could feel the majesty of this leviathan breaching the surface of the ocean as I framed the image in the viewfinder. “Service Record” is my favorite of the two. It displays the service history of the Parche using symbology well known to submariners. I rather like the highlights of the dive planes and raised access plates against the dark structure. The grain of Plus-X film processed in Rodinal developer provides a cold and industrial nuance to the image. Also in this gallery are photographs of the World War II veteran USS Bowfin, which is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I gave these photographs the look of color prints from the 1950s. It was the only way I could salvage them from a lousy exposure.
You can see these images in my ‘Military’ gallery. Until I can get access to the submarine mothball docks or stumble onto a ‘boomer’ passing under the Hood Canal bridge, I have to rely on what I can find within public view at the shipyard, the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, or whatever else I can find locally.
I live just a few miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the submarine base at Bangor, Washington. My day job has a bit to do with supporting their mission but I still can’t get near a sub with a camera without running afoul of Navy security officers. The best I can do is use my imagination while lingering around naval museums and, of course, the mothball fleet.
When I took my Minolta SRT-200 for a walk around the Bremerton waterfront, I came across the salvage remains of the decommissioned Sturgeon-class submarine USS Parche (SSN-683) erected as a monument in front of the shipyard gate. “Secret Savior” places the leading edge of this ship’s sail against the mid day sun. I could feel the majesty of this leviathan breaching the surface of the ocean as I framed the image in the viewfinder. “Service Record” is my favorite of the two. It displays the service history of the Parche using symbology well known to submariners. I rather like the highlights of the dive planes and raised access plates against the dark structure. The grain of Plus-X film processed in Rodinal developer provides a cold and industrial nuance to the image. Also in this gallery are photographs of the World War II veteran USS Bowfin, which is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I gave these photographs the look of color prints from the 1950s. It was the only way I could salvage them from a lousy exposure.
You can see these images in my ‘Military’ gallery. Until I can get access to the submarine mothball docks or stumble onto a ‘boomer’ passing under the Hood Canal bridge, I have to rely on what I can find within public view at the shipyard, the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, or whatever else I can find locally.
Aircraft Carrier
February 08, 2010 - 10:37
You may notice several photographs of ships and aircraft carriers in the ‘Military’ gallery. Bremerton hosts part of the Navy’s ‘mothball fleet’, also known as the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It is home to the aircraft carriers USS Ranger (CV 61), USS Independence (CV 62), USS Constellation (CV 64) and, most recently, USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). These ships have been decommissioned until they are needed again, dismantled for parts, or scrapped. Some ships are fortunate enough be at least aesthetically restored to become floating museums, like the USS Turner Joy in Bremerton or the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.
Over the years I have served on three of these majestic warships, the exception being the Hawk, which are moored only a few miles from my home. The light changes often in the Pacific Northwest. It can be raining one moment and sunny the next. The color and quality of this light striking the hulls of these magnificent vessels keeps bringing me back. Each time I visit, I imagine myself back on the 04 level as a ‘shooter watching aircraft streak away as they are catapulted into the dark night sky. I also remember a tragic early morning fire in November 1983 as one of Ranger’s main machinery rooms exploded into violent chaos. That morning was the first time that I had ever seen the interior of a ship’s main space, or what I could see of it. Filled with thick black smoke and backlit by the dull orange glow of burning fuel, the canvas jacket of a two and a half inch fire hose was my hand rail. I followed it down into the belly of a ship in agony to swing a brass fire nozzle at a raging fiery beast.
Color slides bring out the hues of grey and blue reflected on the water against the lights on the pier or the colors of the sun settling over Sinclair Inlet. In ‘Modern Maidenhead’, rain wears paint into long blue-grey streaks down the faded grey hull of Indy. ‘Connie’ contrasts a faded grey anchor with rusty highlights nestled into the contour of her bow against the equally worn hull of the Ranger. The red hues of the rusty anchor would have been lost in a monochrome image. Likewise, the red band of an oil boom stretched against Indy’s bow in ‘Tip of The Spear’ would have been nearly invisible in black and white.
Monochrome prints bring out the curvaceous lines that come together at the bow of a ship or the menacing rows of hooks in the concertina wire that deter unwelcome entry to the pier. The curve of an oil boom pushing against the bow of Indy gives angular contrast to the curve of the bow reflected against the water. Grey tones provide structure to an image that is less obvious in a color image. The radar domes, the square and angular protrusions that transition the Hawk’s wide flight deck to the slender curve of its hull at the water line, and the chains and power lines that traverse the ships and pier give ‘Islands’ an obvious industrial feel.
Over the years I have served on three of these majestic warships, the exception being the Hawk, which are moored only a few miles from my home. The light changes often in the Pacific Northwest. It can be raining one moment and sunny the next. The color and quality of this light striking the hulls of these magnificent vessels keeps bringing me back. Each time I visit, I imagine myself back on the 04 level as a ‘shooter watching aircraft streak away as they are catapulted into the dark night sky. I also remember a tragic early morning fire in November 1983 as one of Ranger’s main machinery rooms exploded into violent chaos. That morning was the first time that I had ever seen the interior of a ship’s main space, or what I could see of it. Filled with thick black smoke and backlit by the dull orange glow of burning fuel, the canvas jacket of a two and a half inch fire hose was my hand rail. I followed it down into the belly of a ship in agony to swing a brass fire nozzle at a raging fiery beast.
Color slides bring out the hues of grey and blue reflected on the water against the lights on the pier or the colors of the sun settling over Sinclair Inlet. In ‘Modern Maidenhead’, rain wears paint into long blue-grey streaks down the faded grey hull of Indy. ‘Connie’ contrasts a faded grey anchor with rusty highlights nestled into the contour of her bow against the equally worn hull of the Ranger. The red hues of the rusty anchor would have been lost in a monochrome image. Likewise, the red band of an oil boom stretched against Indy’s bow in ‘Tip of The Spear’ would have been nearly invisible in black and white.
Monochrome prints bring out the curvaceous lines that come together at the bow of a ship or the menacing rows of hooks in the concertina wire that deter unwelcome entry to the pier. The curve of an oil boom pushing against the bow of Indy gives angular contrast to the curve of the bow reflected against the water. Grey tones provide structure to an image that is less obvious in a color image. The radar domes, the square and angular protrusions that transition the Hawk’s wide flight deck to the slender curve of its hull at the water line, and the chains and power lines that traverse the ships and pier give ‘Islands’ an obvious industrial feel.
Aberdeen Proving Ground
January 10, 2010 - 15:49
I spent five months on the east coast of the United States last year, and I have finally started to process the film that I have had to keep in the freezer. I am pleased with a few frames that I took at the Army Ordnance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. You can find “Grim Messenger”,” Leopard Skin”, and ”Study In Grey” in the military gallery. More to come as time permits.
