Sunday, September 23, 2012

Endeavour

Well.  Some of you may have noticed that I've been quiet these past few weeks (months).  I always try and keep things upbeat and positive on this blog, but I'm afraid that I haven't had upbeat or positive inside of me for a while.  My family and I have been struggling with some serious issues lately and I've felt neither creative or energetic.  If you want to know more about the specifics of what we've been going through, you can read the beautiful post that my wife just made. CLICK HERE to read it.

Ok, on to pictures.  I had the great fortune of being off work this past Friday (Sept. 21).  Fortunate because the Space Shuttle Endeavour was completing the last leg of it's trip from Florida to L.A. that day.  I had been keeping up with it's trip off and on, but when I realized it would be arriving on Friday I lept into "where can I go, what should I shoot with mode".  The where ended up being The Getty Center.  Realizing that many in L.A. would be excited about seeing this flight, The Getty Center opened their doors an hour earlier that day to allow people to get a good view point.  The Shuttle was going to make a looping trip around the city, and one of the places it was supposed to pass close to was The Getty.  I got there when they opened and despite having to wait until after 11:30 for the Shuttle to pass, it was totally worth it.  I had a view that spanned from the ocean to downtown.  Here's a panorama courtesy of my iPhone and the fancy new panorama feature.  CLICK HERE to see a larger version.

Getty-pano-small


I brought two cameras with me;  my 5dMk2 and my 7D.  On the 5D I had my trusty 24-105 lens and on the 7D I had the 70-200 2.8.  I wasn't sure how close it would come, so I wanted to cover my bases.  It turned out that I only needed the 70-200 because it didn't come face-smacking close.  It was a bit hazy and there were a lot of heat waves rising up, but I managed to get some clear pictures when it was close.  It was a privilege to witness it, made all the better by being able to capture a few images of this once in a lifetime event.

Endeavor 1

Endeavor 2

Endeavor 3

Endeavor 4

Endeavor 5