Houston, Texas: July, 2016

Lately I've been catching up on some personal work leftover from last Summer.  Today I'm bringing you pictures from my short trip to Houston to be a part of Imran and Hina's wedding.  Since I was there for several days, of course, the wedding was only a portion of everything I did while on my first trip to Texas.

Arrival

This was only my second time flying out of DCA even though I am there often enough for photoshoots.  It was a pretty day, although it had a low, hazy ceiling, so I captured some pretty pictures of the airport while taxiing, but began battling haze with a little altitude.  I did still manage to catch some great shots of the new MGM Casino (it was still under construction at this point) , and National Harbor... and the DC Water and Sewer Authority; water treatment plants look pretty cool from the air too.

Arriving in Houston, the terrain is noticeably very flat, with long stretches of interstates and service roads, cookie-cutter neighborhoods, and snaking rivers.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) reminded me a lot of Dulles, however their facilities seem to be more spread out and reliant on shuttle busses.

Reaching downtown Houston was a shocker; not only was downtown very small at only a few blocks of city space, but on a Saturday, at noon, there were *literally* no people to be found.  There was no traffic downtown; never once did I have to stop and wait for traffic when crossing streets.  There were no people walking around.  Half of the businesses weren't even open.  I was the only customer in a coffee shop which, inexplicably, had three employees working.  There was an international grocery store with an amazing wine selection upstairs that had a few customers inside, but that was about it - Houston, at lunchtime on a Saturday... completely dead and devoid of life.

Arriving at the hotel at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), I found that directly next door was an... establishment... called "The Landing Strip."  I just found it ironic that Imran's wedding was being held at an airport Marriott with a titty bar a stones throw away.  It actually became a running joke of the trip, culminating in me sitting down in Imran's lap before his wedding, straight out of the shower, wrapping my legs around him and sensually saying, "Hey baby, is this your first time at The Landing Strip?" just to get a reaction out of him; it was pretty funny!  You can't make this stuff up!  That actually happened the next day, while everyone was getting ready for the wedding, but I shot these pictures as the sun set on my first night in Houston.

Johnson Space Center • Imran and Hina's Wedding

Imran's wedding was at night, so that left all day to go explore.  I'd already seen downtown, which was disappointing, to put it politely.  I decided to see something guaranteed to make me smile; I head over to Johnson Space Center, just 20min from the hotel.

Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition

Little did I know until walking inside, the Mythbusters (who had just a few months prior aired their last episode) had a full exhibit visiting the Space Center.  Not only did I get to meet the real Buster, but I got to see artifacts from all my favorite myths; Jamie's steel sphere from "Painting with Explosives," Adam's Flatus Ignition Seat from "Franklin's Kite," Adam's Tornado Shield from "Storm Chasing Myths," and a destroyed hot water heater from "Exploding Water Heater."

By the way, if you haven't seen it already, go check out White Rabbit Project on Netflix; that's where Kari, Grant, and Tori ended up after being cut from Mythbusters.  It's a very Mythbusters influenced show, but with a modernized program format that fixes a lot of the staleness Mytbusters struggled with toward the end, and the extremely high production quality we've become familiar with from Netflix.  I cannot recommend the show enough.

Johnson Space Center

The rest of Johnson Space Center (or Space Center Houston, as the museum portion is called) contains all the space geekery you expect; I love it.  Most of the exhibits here focus on historic space missions, such as the Gemini and Apollo programs.

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Outside the Space Center is of course one of Johnson's most noticeable, newest additions, and the most relevant to me; NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft I photographed and followed for a week in April, 2012, which led to some amazing opportunities for me, and which I consider to be the launchpad for much of my career today.

It was a surreal experience boarding the retired 747 for the second time in my life, knowing that everyone else seeing the aircraft with me that day are enjoying a museum piece, but I was on board while the aircraft was still in service and even met the flight and ground crews, and they autographed copies of my photos on a table that's now blocked off as part of an exhibit.  Knowing that I've been on the upper deck and sat in the pilot's seat of this aircraft, whereas now it's not even open to the public to view... it was a surreal feeling, and it's still truly an honor to have been invited to be part of such a journey in 2012.

For fun below, I'm including some side-by-side comparisons of what the SCA looked like in 2012, and what it looks like now after its decommission and subsequent transformation into an exhibit.  You'll notice that in addition to some hardware being moved and a lot of plexiglass being added, they've also had to add fireproofing and sprinklers for fire code, and they've added carpeting, HVAC, standard glass entry doors, and of course lighting.  Crew-members and mission critical employees have also signed all over the fuselage, as is tradition.

Since it's closed to the public, here is what the upper deck looked like in 2012.

And finally, a few more photos of the SCA in it's final resting place as it is today.  This table is where the crew autographed my photos.

Astronaut Training Facility

Later in the day, after some inclement weather had passed through the area, campus tours finally resumed, however unfortunately there was only time for one tour before having to leave, and I didn't get to go on the tour of Mission Control like I'd wanted.  Seeing the Astronaut Training Facility was still interesting, and I was able to snag some awesome swag at the gift shop before heading out.  I still don't have my SCA 747 & Space Shuttle Discovery scale model though :-(

Imran and Hina's Wedding

Finally was the main event; Imran and Hina's wedding.  I was just a guest, which is an odd feeling for me since usually I'm behind the camera.  I didn't even bring my camera to the wedding; these are a few photos off my iPhone.

Departure

The next morning immediate family (which I'm considered in Imran's family) was invited for brunch.  After that, there were still a few hours to kill before catching the flight home.  Checking out the Texas' Gulf beach and getting some photos of the EcoBoost Mustang rental seemed like the best thing to do.

Mustang on the Beach

I was extremely disappointed with the beach in Texas; it seemed *very* dirty.  The Mustang, however, was very satisfying.  The EcoBoost Mustang, even with two fewer cylinders, makes only 20HP less than my G37, though since it uses a turbo to achieve this, the power came on with a delay.  Still a very peppy, very capable car.  Would I buy one?  No; this rental had less than 3,000 miles on the clock and already had multiple rattles, probably since day one from the factory.  But it was still a fun, very hoonable ride; I may have gotten a few donuts in this thing... which is convenient, because Houston seemed to be a never-ending sprawl of donut shops, fast-food joints, rug stores, and titty bars; between all that and the beach, it was time to skip town.

Departure

Flying home, I got a little work done, but eventually got distracted by the band of thunderstorms we were passing over about halfway home; this was my first time seeing lightning from the sky, and it is a beautiful sight.

With a steady hand, and a bit of luck, I was able to capture this photo of the storm over Charlotte, North Carolina.  I even managed to get some video footage too!

Finally, we landed at DCA (also only my second time flying into Reagan), and the lights of Alexandria was a welcome sight just before touchdown.

NASA SCA and Space Shuttles at Dulles 1 Year Anniversary

Happy Anniversary! Can you believe it? Just one very short year ago today, I was present for modern history where I shot this photo of Space Shuttle Discovery arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport, where it now calls the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center home, less than 3 miles from my home.

In a year's time I've met a lot of great people and done a lot of great things. I especially want to thank my friend Jim, who was on board this flight, for everything he's done; and a big thank you to the crew who also has been very friendly and welcoming to me. Huge thank you to Dennis for getting me involved in last year's historic events in a big way, and Erik for supporting me in pursuing my photography.

And to all those I have met and connected with in the last year, thank you all for making the last year a very special one - one for the history books!

Also, due to renewed popular demand, I've made my highlight photos of last year's NASA SCA and Space Shuttle Transport Missions available for order on my client site, for those of you who were not part of the NASA Crew or Fifty for 50th Event. Enjoy!

Here's a recap of what my week looked like just 1 short year ago:

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Best of 2012

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As 2012 draws to a close, enjoy 50 of my most notable photos from the past 12 months.  I've been very lucky to have participated in some historic moments, witnessed remarkable events, and met many interesting people along the way.  2012 was almost undoubtably my most successful year in photography.  Thank you to my friends at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the FAA, NASA, and everyone I've met along the way this past year; you've made 2012 a truly unforgettable year!  Here's to 2013 being just as amazing!

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Lufthansa 747-8i at Dulles

Lufthansa recently became the first carrier to add Boeing's new 747-8i, the newest and largest variant of the legendary 747 jumbo jet, to their air fleet.  Washington Dulles International Airport and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority invited fifty lucky guests to welcome the historic, first commercial flight to the North American continent from a vantage point aside the runway.  Guests were thrilled to see airport operations from the closest safe threshold on the active runway. The entire set of photos can be seen on my Flickr, here.

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NASA SCA & Space Shuttles Discovery and Enterprise

Working at Washington Dulles International Airport and getting to know the people there for seven years has its benefits... especially when something big and historic flies in.  Not only was I lucky enough to be present for all of NASA's operations at Dulles involving Space Shuttles Discovery and Enterprise along with the 747 SCA (Shuttle Carrier Aircraft), but I was specifically chosen by airport management to be the official event photographer. Dulles held its first "Fifty for 50th" drawing, which brought 50 lucky civilians onto the threshold of the runway during the SCA and Discovery's flyovers and touchdown.  Some of the people pictured are these participants.

Furthermore, during my coverage of the events, my photography caught the eyes of NASA's SCA Pilots and Flight Engineers as well as some NASA Staff Photographers, all of whom have become fans of my work.  This resulted not only in continued correspondence and meeting in person with NASA crew-members (along with receiving some awesome, rare transport mission memorabilia), but also the invitation to visit NASA's operations in New York at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where I met with more of the SCA crew-members onboard the SCA itself, and was invited to also stay for Enterprise's demating.  Due to other photography obligations the next day in Washington, DC, I unfortunately couldn't stay in New York to see the demating, which they were preparing for during my visit.

All of this took place in a whirlwind of a month's time, and here, finally, is a sampler of the resulting photos.

The entire set of photography of my NASA coverage (485 photos), from start to finish, can be seen on my Flickr by clicking here.

Some images are available for print purchase on my website here.

UPDATE (January, 2013):

This is one of my autographed prints of NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft departing Dulles for JFK with Space Shuttle Enterprise. I shot this photograph on April 27th, 2012. The Space Shuttle Ground Crew signed 9 prints (17x22) of my photograph aboard the SCA at JFK in New York on May 12th, 2012.

Upon returning to Washington, I gave away several copies to some close friends, and individuals who helped make my involvement with the Space Shuttle transport possible. I'll be grateful my entire life for being able to partake in this historical event.

This is my framed copy; I gave my Dad an identical one this past Christmas. During the events, I met most of the crewmembers - they were nice enough to also give me an areal photo of the SCA with Space Shuttle Discovery flying above the Washington Monument, signed by the Discovery transport Flight Crew, as well as a Mission Patch that flew on that mission - I have not had these framed yet.

My print seen here is a 17x22, in a 30x24 frame. It reads:

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
with
Space Shuttle Enterprise

SCA Ground Crew
LeRoy Marsh     Eugene Smith     David Lanmon

Arvid Knutson     Robert Hackaday     Rick Brewer