On one hand traveling anywhere on a plane today is such an incredible pain, and seems to take forever, but in the view of history, two thousand miles in a few hours isn’t so bad I guess. We went from a remote-ish cabin in Estes Park Colorado at 8,000 feet to our house, at sea level in Auburn, in about 12 hours. I have always loved airports, at least at long as I can remember anyway. Today the airlines pack as many people into every single aircraft as they possibly can, which makes for extremely crowded airports, and cabins. My perspective of airline travel has changed tremendously over the last twenty years, but airports, especially the major airports like Atlanta Hartsfield or DIA, are still a great place to just relax, people watch, read, do some photography, and generally take a break from the normal routine of things. I do love visiting different parts of the country, and the world for that matter, but as the cliche goes, there’s no place like home. I have visited every state in the country, lived in a dozen or so, and I can say without a doubt that the south really is a great place to live.
For all the craziness that is involved with traveling today I only have to look at the photo below to remember the reason why all that was worth it. To be there for the birth of our second grandson was an experience we will be able to remember as he grows up, and to be able to photograph his arrival into the world makes those memories even more vivid. I always feel very privileged to photograph specific events. They are all little pieces of history, frozen in time, never to happen exactly that same way again.
The photos in this post are sort of a hodge-podge of images from our trip home. I never did get a chance to do my 50mm airport shoot at Denver International Airport because by the time we got through security we only had about 30 minutes left before we got on our sold out flight, and we arrived hours before our departure time. I have several more photos of baby Luke than just the one below but I will save those for another post sometime.
This season, to me, seems so crazy right now that I find myself looking desperately for some margin (or balance). Fall is always a very busy time of year, but between football season, our multi-site movement at Cornerstone, a grandson being born trip, a niece to be born sometime this week, seminary classes, and a trip to Africa in two weeks, I’m feel a little frazzled (that a very scientific technical term) at times, just like everyone does.
I look at baby Luke in this photo below and it amazes me. God spent nine months to create the perfect little boy who right now knows nothing of the hustle and bustle of this world, and by the time he is my age, around the year 2050, he will no doubt feel the same pressures and anxieties that come with living in this extremely modern world. Maybe he will some day pull out this photo on his whatever electronic fangled device he has and remember that one day he too had no cares in the world other than to be warm and sleep in the sunlight.
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This is the second part of a three part series on three airports I photographed in 50mm. The first was Atlanta (ATL), Atlanta Airport and a 50mm Lens // Part 1, this one being Denver (DEN), and the last will be Miami Airport (MIA).
All images in each part were shot with a Nikon D700 (in full frame FX mode), hand held, with a 50mm Nikkor f/1.4 lens. Comments, suggestions, critique, or criticism are all welcome. These are shown in the order they were taken. To see the larger sizes all at once just click on the first image to open the light box gallery and you can scroll through the larger sizes that way.
Some of you may know I use to work in the airline industry, once had my pilot’s license, and traveled quite a bit, so I was trying to do something a little different this time. Many times you go to a place you have been many many times and you see nothing worthing of photography, but that is rarely the case.
I forced myself to look around and see what made my current environment special, and many times you have to get creative. The fountains are the center point of the lower floor of the common area, but completely surrounded by terrible backgrounds. In Denver, a newer airport, one thing stood out, the roof. I have flown in and out of Denver many times and never really paid attention to the architecture of the roof. It is obvious driving to DEN from anywhere in Denver. A large white tent like structure that towers over the flat landscape.
The last one is simple but that’s what I like about it. There is a certain amount of peace at 35,000 feet when you have no control over anything. The sky turns from haze on the ground to an almost black of space above.
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This weekend was a blast. We flew from Denver to Atlanta to visit the farm and take in a fantastic Auburn/Alabama football game. Once on the plane, I spent several glorious hours knitting and reading. Getting to Denver, however, was a bit of a challenge because of the snow through the passes, but it was also very beautiful.
Game day began with the traditional Tiger Walk in which the players walk through the sea of orange and blue clad fans on their way to the stadium. Can you see them?
Once the crowd dispersed we made our way into the stadium where Scott and the boys were able to go down and catch practice field goal kicks as they came through the goal post upright. This is one of Scott’s favorite things to do at the games.
Here is a partial group of the brave souls that enjoyed/endured the game. Every seat was occupied throughout the entire game.
The game was fantastic, especially if you are an AUBURN fan. We are already looking forward to next year!
Front Row Children
Martha, Issac, Abby, Gabriel, and Jacob
Front Row Adults
Sarah and Chris Marchio (parents of all the small children pictured)
Back Row
Levi, Dale and Larry Fillmer(Elders), Deborah and Scott Fillmer (brother of Sarah and his wife)
WAR EAGLE
