Rose of the Valley

I was up the Salinas Valley to the Hahn Vineyard and winery. Their vineyard is bordered by some lovely roses like this one.

September 11, 2001

September 11, 2001 - Where were you when you heard the news and what did you think and feel? I was at work in St Louis, Mo. I was stunned, then afraid and then filled with a sadness and a rage and I had not experienced before in my lifetime with the possible exception of November 22, 1963. I will never forget. (Photo from Wikipedia)

Carmel Art and Film Festival - My Entries in the Judged Photography Competition

These photographs are copyrighted. Please do not copy or otherwise utilize these images without the express permission of John A. Wilson

Something to Brighten the Midweek - Lord of the Dance

I love these folks!

Monterey Bay on Late Summer Afternoon

Trying out the new video cam in preparation for a wedding shoot next week. This is a JVC camera, and their proprietary file format is NOT user friendly, but I think I have it now. In any event, it was a lovely day, as most here are.

Blue Angels and Lightroom2

I love playing with Lightroom. I did a couple of things here. First i went in with an "adjustment brush" and brought up the yellow lettering and trim. Then I put in a slight vignette to focus the eye on the center aircraft. Lightroom is a wonderful tool. It has many applications which can only improve the quality of the images we produce for our clients.

Gloria Fire at Soledad, Salinas Valley, CA

Yet another fire has erupted here on The Central Coast, this time in the Gabilan Mountains near Soledad in the Salinas Valley.

In the Vineyards of the Salinas Valley

I never tire of the splendor of The Salinas Valley. There is no doubt as to why the author John Steinbeck had a lifelong love affair with this place and came back here to his final rest. It is magnificent.

The Singer - West End Celebration, Sand City, CA

Saturday was The West End Celebration at Sand City, CA. It is an arts festival in the growing arts center in Sand City. There was great entertainment, including this really great local singer, marvelous displays of local artists, including moi and a good time had by all.

Pinnacles National Monument in The Salinas Valley

This is an interesting place. What you see at the top of the mountain on the far side of the Salinas Valley is The Pinnacles National Monument. It is 1/2 of an ancient volcano. The other half is in the Los Angeles area 350 miles away on the other side of the San Andreas fault. That gives you an idea of the movement of the fault.

I shot this from the other side of the valley in a vineyard in the Santa Lucia (Coastal Range). It is about 12 miles to the Pinnacles from where I shot. The lens gave an interesting "flattening" effect making the mountains seem much closer.

This image in it's 11x17 print is quite dramatic and will be on sale at the West End Celebration arts festival in Sand City on Monterey Bay Saturday August 22nd along with many more of my images.

Salinas California International Airshow - 5 Blue Angels

Did I mention that I love airshows and especially The Blue Angels? :)

I'm rather tickled how the Canon 70-300 IS behaved this day. Pretty good clarity. I manually focused, set the ISO at 200, set the shutter at 1/500th and just shot away. Worked out OK.

Why manually focus? Sky confuses the heck out of Canon system for some reason. I learned that lesson a long time ago. Judging by the sharpness, this was the right decision.

LR2 was used to make the planes pop a bit.

Salinas California International Airshow - Blue Angels and More

Another great show by The Blue Angels. They never disappoint.

I had a wonderful opportunity to see them take off from the end of the runway. It is a totally different experience from watching them from the grandstands. For anyone who does this in the future, bring good ear plugs and be prepared to be blown away as they take off in afterburner.

Here are a few images I captured:

Salinas California International Airshow - Blue Angels - A Slideshow

Too many images to post all, so here is a slideshow to provide viewers with a bit of the flavor of this great show by the Blue Angels.

http://montereyjohnphotography.com/Galleries/Blue_Angels/index.html

Farewell Darrell "Shifty" Powers - Co E Band of Brothers

My brother sent this to me yesterday, and it touched me. I have no idea who wrote these words, but it really doesn't matter. This is about Shifty.

We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.

I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 .. . . " at which point my heart skipped.
At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?"

At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day..

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.

He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer. There was no parade. No big event in Staples Center. No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage. No weeping fans on television. And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

"A nation without heroes is nothing."
Roberto Clemente