Spokane Night Scenes at the Fernwell building

Spokane Night Scenes at the Fernwell building

In 2011 I began shooting for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, as well as the Spokane Preservation Advocates. This series of shoots began early in 2011, and started with a scheduled shoot from the rooftop of the Fernwell building.

The Fernwell building is easily one of my favorite locations in downtown Spokane, and it is also one of the rehabilitated old buildings downtown that is at the least, very attractive, and restored exceptionally well.

When I approached the management team at the Fernwell about shooting from their building to capture surrounding targets for NTHP, I had the fortunate opportunity to meet the manager of the Fernwell, Michael Lee. Although I met some very nice property managers in 2011, Michael Lee stands out among all of them. Maybe it was his attitude, maybe it was his friendly demeanor, but Michael Lee provided me with multiple opportunities to shoot from his rooftop throughout 2011. Simply getting chances to hang out at the Fernwell, was a total blast with the help of Michael Lee. After my spending a career in police work, I had more than my fair share of chances to evaluate character, and Michael Lee has all of that, and then some.

The Fernwell building isn’t the tallest building downtown, and it isn’t the shortest that I have been on top of over the year in 2011. Yet the views from the rooftop of the Fernwell building are second to none. The views to the west, the south, and to the north are extraordinary during daylight. Later in 2011 I found that although the images captured in daylight from the Fernwell were good, just weeks ago I visited the Fernwell again, after dark. Simply put there were no bad views at all from the Fernwell.

My favorite views from the Fernwell are views of the Old National Bank building (US Bank) on Riverside. The character of that old building during daylight is easy to see, but when Mother Nature turns out the lights after dark, the ONB building is simply awesome from the roof of the Fernwell. With the assistance of Michael Lee at the Fernwell, I hope I have been able to capture images of downtown that visitors and residents can view, as shot from the roof of the Fernwell building.

Here are a couple of links to a few favorites of mine, taken in, and on top of the Fernwell building.

Daylight:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/nthp37.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/nthp47.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/nthp48.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/atriumtopaz1200.jpg

Evening/dark

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/onb1024.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/onbfernwell.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/wellsfapco.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/boawide.htm

Another thing about Michael Lee at the Fernwell building. Although my primary goal this year has been to capture images of historic targets or locations specified by NTHP, I spent one evening on top of the Fernwell with 15 photographers that I invited to shoot from the rooftop. Rooftop shoots are few and far between, but none more difficult to work out than to do it at night. Not so for Michael Lee, as he and I discussed that possibility in April of this year, so he was far in front of the curve. So, 15 photogs got a once in a lifetime opportunity for a rooftop night shoot, courtesy of Michael.

This is an example of somebody going above and beyond to help a small group of my team of photogs visiting the Fernwell on multiple occasions for NTHP, and also for an invitation I was able to extend to 15 photogs that would have never gotten an opportunity if it had not been presented by Michael.

John D. Moore, CPP

Spokane Night Scenes

photos@spokanenightscenes.com

(O) 509 327 5627

National Trust for Historic Preservation (Spokane)

In the short term, I added just over 100 images to the web which were taken on behalf of NTHP. The 10 professional photographers who contributed their images to this project as well as mine, will beprovided to NTHP at some point, depending on their request being made.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/nthp.htm

John

Spokane photography, while being high…

This was one of the most interesting photographic summers I have ever spent, since much of my work had to be done during daylight. Although my preference is to shoot Spokane Night Scenes, I began a project that literally took me to some heights.

My project was to support the National Trust for Historic Preservation, by coordinating highly skilled photographers to capture images of streetscapes, and historic buildings (and locations). I recruited 15 good technical shooters for the project, although at the end, only 10 of those photogs contributed to the effort.

Just a couple of things that have stood out in my years of shooting landscapes and buildings in downtown Spokane, at street level. First, there are vehicle issues. There are vehicles in motion on virtually all streets in dwtn Spokane. Vehicles of all sizes can block shots or cause distractions if you are shooting a building or a scene. Then, there are vehicles parked along the sides of streets. Those vehicles can block shots, and also cause distractions from the target you seek to shoot.

Secondly, a photographer at ground level has to deal with deciduous growth along the streets, directly in front of almost all of the targets you seek to shoot. Spokane streets are full of deciduous trees, which make it nice for a streetscape, but it can also lead to a complete disaster if you want to try and shoot a historic building surrounded by deciduous growth.

So, I wanted to get above ground level. Gaining access to properties, and their rooftops, is not as easy as it may seem. In fact, it took a lot of coordination. Two things were going for me in the effort, first was the photography agreement with the NTHP, as well as the agreement spelling out exactly what the NTHP photographers would be doing. As I began to make contact with property owners and management teams, I was able to furnish them with supporting data on the NTHP project. As a result, I was able to get permission to visit many, many properties in downtown Spokane. Getting on the rooftops was another story, but the effort to gain access to rooftops throughout dwtn Spokane was important in shooting historical locations from above ground level.

One of the rooftop issues came after I was able to get permission to access rooftop areas. Staying out of the way of building employees and management teams was important, and as such NTHP photographers needed to reduce “their footprint.” The other issue was that in gaining access to an individual property meant we would be shooting “other buildings,” and not the building that gave us permission. Fortunately I ran into management people and property owners that were VERY understanding about this very simple fact. They also knew that I would then have to go talk with a different property owner, so that I could attempt to get images above ground of their property. This was a constant and evolving effort, yet it yielded an opportunity to meet some of the nicest people I could have ever hoped for. Further, I fully expect to revisit many of these rooftop areas again this fall and winter to do night shoots of the Spokane downtown area. To gain access to these secure areas on rooftops all over downtown, has led to making friends, and to getting photographic opportunities to photograph buildings like I have never seen before. Before I forget (I won’t), this was fun. Although it may have taken days and days to coordinate individual shoots, when they got to happen, it was a totally fun effort.

Before I got on top of my first rooftop, I made sure I invited NTHP photographers who had volunteered to shoot different buildings downtown. If a rooftop yielded views of their assigned targets, they got an invite to join me on the rooftop. Unfortunately most photographers that I invited to join me were unable to do so based on shoot times, day selections by property owners, and day jobs that they also had.

Fortunately, I was able to recruit some very good technical shooters to join me on downtown rooftops. We became known downtown as the “roof rats,” although I wonder if it was one of our property managers that came up with the phrase, or if one of us did. In any case, the “roof rats” began the visits to every individual rooftop that granted us access permissions. My “roof rats,” were Josh Burdick, Chris Thompson, and Paddy Hoy. With few exceptions, these photogs joined me on most of the rooftops I got permission to shoot from. I think the values of having multiple photogs on each rooftop led to shots that one of us saw, and others did not. As a result the NTHP will be getting views of Spokane that none of them will ever have seen before. What will be incredible to me is to get back to these locations this fall, after dark. Stunning is the word we used on most of the rooftops, and I think that I will have to come up with other descriptors this fall and winter when I am able to shoot downtown scenes, after dark from the heights of the downtown bldgs.

The following Buildings were visited thusfar by the “roof rats.”

Fernwell Bldg
Sherwood Bldg
Hutton Bldg
Peyton Bldg
Montvale Hotel
Spokane Club
Riverpark Square Mall
INB Performing Arts Center
Paulsen Bldg
Knitting Factory
Symons Bldg
Holley Mason Bldg

There are at least 6 additional rooftops that are to be scheduled.

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
spokanenightscenes.com
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP)

Fairly recently, I recruited a number of very good local photographers to participate in an ongoing shoot for the NTHP. NTHP is hosting the annual convention in 2012 here in Spokane, and quite frankly, there are a lot of historic locations in this area. So, I approached them about shooting these locations (the ones they identify), and then allowing them to use the images for a slideshow, brochures, posters, etc for their promotion of Spokane regarding this 2012 event. This event was described to me as being the largest of its kind, and having good photographers taking shots of historic locations would be more than helpful to these local organizers.

I got about 16 photographers at the outset, and lost about three somewhere during the process of shooting the locations identified by NTHP. Many of the photogs in the group of shooters, dealt with some very large sites, and others with some architectural gems of smaller size. As these shoots continue, the target for this group is to get all the images done by 1 August, so the producers of a video, using these images, will have time to work through hundreds of local images.

A handful of local photographers have been called, “the roof rats.” I have accompanied them on top of quite a number of downtown rooftops to shoot streetscapes, and to get above traffic and deciduous growth. Working with all of these property owners has been somewhat of a scheduling nightmare, but doing so gave us a look at Spokane, not quite seen before for any of us. The sites and views have been nothing short of AMAZING. I have at least 8 more rooftops to schedule and shoot, and the NTHP roof rats are likely to see some additional great views with their cameras.

This project, has helped fill the void btwn seasonal night shoots for Spokane Night Scenes, which will start again in the fall and early winter. Working with all of these property owners downtown, will help provide me opportunities for night shoots I had never gotten before. So, doing this massive scheduling will allow me opportunities for some really great night photo shoots of dwtn Spokane locations.

This is going to be a great opportunity to shoot some very beautiful views of dwtn Spokane.

JDM

Traveling with Honor Flight

I began working with Inland Northwest Honor Flight, in March of 2010. The goal was to provide photography services to WWII Veterans and their families as each WWII Veteran made the Honor Flight to the war memorials in Washington DC. What I wanted to do was to insure that each day of the three day marathon was captured digitally and then made into a video which was presented to each Veteran and their family members.

This month I made the three day trip with 52 Veterans and their Guardians, capturing hundreds of digital images of the complete experience. This was not exactly a typical Spokane Night Scenes photo shoot, but it was one of the best Honor Flight experiences I have had since I began shooting each HF.

Probably my favorite experience on the Honor Flight this month was the changing of the guard at Arlington Memorial, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A ceremony I stood and watched when I was a young child, with my brothers and parents. The 2011 version of this ceremony is exactly the same as I remembered it in my youth, but it is certainly much more meaningful now.

Some of the images of the June Honor Flight from GEG to BWI are included in an archive located at Smug Mug, which archives each Honor Flight’s imagery over the past year and a half.

http://inwhonorflight.smugmug.com/

Displaying at the IMAX Theater in Spokane’s Riverfront Park

Well, we got it all done in the IMAX.

Actually I got 31 prints installed in the lobby of the IMAX, and either going into the IMAX or coming out of the IMAX you can walk by the after-dark images of Spokane.

Hanging those prints was really an all day affair, with two Parks employees measuring and installing one right after the other. So, for the time being, all work down there is done. The largest prints are 24 X 36, and the smallest are enlarged prints at 13 X 19.

We live in a beautiful place, and sharing some of the views with visitors and locals should be fun for a year or so.

One view of the display.

John
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

Displaying at Riverfront Parks IMAX Theater

So, here is the challenge. Pick out the images/prints to be displayed in an ongoing display at the IMAX Theater in Spokane’s Riverfront Park. My preference is to use poster sized images/prints, with the largest at a size of 24 X 36. A number of them will be at 20 X 30, and the smallest prints will be enlargements at a standard range of 12 X 18 (smallest prints).

A week or so ago, my wife and I met with the management team at Riverfront Park, and we inspected the walls which are to hold all of these prints, and it is a large area. So, how many, and of what? I’m thinking that I will go with at least 20, spaced along the walls. All images featuring Spokane and all images shot at night (no surprise there).

After the installation of the framed prints, I will be in a position to rotate prints into and out of the IMAX framed locations every month or two. Getting new work down there will become fairly easy after the actual install is completed. As I see it now, the installation will be the most difficult part of the process. The City will provide help with the installation, so I think 6-8 hours might get it done.

Some of you have heard me utter the words, “We live in a beautiful place,” and perhaps I can offer visitors to our city an after dark look at our community. I will be continually shooting additional locations, so providing new material to this venue will offer many varied views of locations, landscapes, and local/regional art. After dark, of course.

I’ve had the frames ready to go, since many were used in shorter gallery displays over the past 5 years. Since this display will be an ongoing presence in the IMAX, affixing these frames will be much more permanent since they can get quite heavy.

I feel fortunate to get this opportunity, and even as this project evolves, I am getting more opportunities to shoot additional night photos in Spokane Parks. In 2010 I had the opportunity to visit the top of the Clocktower with David Randolph, perhaps the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to this Spokane Landmark. As David and I discussed the framed art project at the IMAX, he agreed to get me back up on top of the Clocktower for another visit, after dark. Maybe I’ll get to scheduling that later on, but for the time being there are too many other things to do. What I can say, with certainty, is that the Riverfront Park management team is in full agreement with me when I say, “We live in a beautiful place.”

I’ve asked on this forum before, about choosing photographs for display, so I’ll do it again. If you have any fav’s of the hundreds of Spokane Night Scenes online right now, let me know your personal choice for display at the IMAX. Although some of these prints will be quite large, I would prefer to use sizes of varying sizes, although the majority will be poster sized prints.

I’ll let all of my photog friends and night shooters know when this ongoing event/display opens at the IMAX, but in the meantime there is at least two weeks of work reviewing old prints and a ton of RAW (CR2 and NEF) files.

Stay tuned!

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

The never ending quest

The never ending quest

This week’s quest was an effort to answer the question, “why do you always go back to the same places? True, I do hear that from time to time. “Haven’t you already taken photos down there?” “Didn’t you already do that location?” Over the years, these kinds of issues are routine. Yet, in my view, each visit to any location is different than the one before it. Nothing stays the same, even if a visit is made multiple nights in a row.

INB Performing Arts Center

This evening was a shoot in Spokane’s Riverfront Park. As noted previously, there is actually water in the north river channel, a far cry from years past. Over on the south river channel in Riverfront Park, there was considerable activity in the INB Performing Arts Center (formerly the Opera House).” This was an area I have shot before, perhaps 3 ½ years ago. Yet, it is a striking location in my view, with a lot of reflective possibilities in the slow moving south river channel of the Spokane River. To have the interior of the INB PAC illuminated made a big difference to this shot since the interior colors made reflections on the river something to behold.


A look at downtown Spokane

How many times have I shot images of dwtn Spokane? I have no idea, but hundreds, if not thousands of images. Yet, the colors of the south view from Riverfront Park into downtown Spokane can look really good after dark.


Closing out the evenings shoot

To close out the evening shoot in Riverfont Park, I toured Main Street all the way to North Division Street and headed north across Trent/Spokane Falls Blvd. To the east of Division I saw the entry sign to Riverpoint Campus, which dramatically stood out against a very dark background. I decided to shoot the entry to Riverpoint Campus, as my last official camera activity of this evening.

JDM

Back into Spokane’s Riverfront Park

Many of the targets for 2011, will include a number of trips back into Riverfront Park (RFP). I actually started shooting night photos of RFP in 1987 during a full blown security survey of the 100 acre centerpiece of Spokane. At the time I used a 35mm SLR (Canon AE1). It was obvious at that time that this was a beautiful environment.

In 2002, for the first time I began using digital equipment to capture the locations I had visited years before. Yet, in 2011, the equipment of today is vastly superior in almost every way. Software is also improved, so that earlier shots can be looked at through a completely different “lens.”

Inspiration Point

This week, I targeted one location for a reshoot. Years ago, there was very little water flowing through the north river channel. Not so this evening, there was plenty of water. Lighting had changed on the south side of the north river channel, and the color renditions of those lights were plain to see from Inspiration Point. Although it is really dark at Inspiration Point, timed exposures open up the south river bank, and almost all the lighting effect on the moving river can be seen clearly in live view and even the camera view finder.

The 2011 view of the south bank area from Riverfront Park’s Inspiration Point is located at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/uspavspokaneriver.htm

Spokane Falls area

Just listen to the roar when you are on the western portion of Riverfront Park. You can’t miss it, and as you approach the roar, it just gets louder and louder. I got the same feeling when I was shooting some images at the Niagara Falls. No argument here, this is no Niagara Falls. Yet, as the very impressive amounts of snow runoff converts the Spokane Falls into a MUST SEE.

Here are a couple of links immediately adjacent to Spokane Falls.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/branchesatspokanefalls.htm
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/loudfalls.htm

Spokane County Courthouse

My wife Cheryl came along for this evening’s shoot, and one of the locations she pointed out a view of the top portion of the Spokane County Courthouse. One of the most beautiful structures in this area

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

Visiting the Spokane Skeleton Man

Market Street Station

This evening shoot began, over in the Hillyard area. The target for the evening was the new building location on the Northwest corner of Queen and Market. It appeared to not be occupied other than some lower level office windows. The architecture of this building did have some unique quality, so I cropped out the majority of the building (which was dark), and centered on the main front entrance. This first series of shots was at a building called, Market Street Station.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/allstate.htm

The next stop for photos on this evening was a little unusual for the “typical shots,” that I normally look for. Photographer Josh Burdick was with me for the evening shoot, and he mentioned a sculpture at the base of the Monroe Street Hill. It was a metal sculpture in front of an antique store, so we headed out of the Hillyard area to visit this sculpture.

The Skeleton

We found this sculpture, which was basically a skeleton riding a dinosaur of some kind. It was in darkness, but lighted from the west by ambient street lighting. With the use of remote flash, and an amber filter on my Big Max flashlight, I was able to get shadows into the skull, and some shaded lighting onto the exterior of the skeleton (and dino). To get a tight shot of the skeleton, I had to crop out most of the dino, and all of the right hand. I erased the farthest extension of the right forearm, and copied the left hand of the skeleton. I inverted the left hand, and moved it onto the right forearm, so that now my skeleton man had two visible hands. I removed some junk from the background, and decided to remove the source of the junk which was the side of a building. Now, the skeleton man was able to really stand out without all of the nonsense that was going on behind him. Not sure what this guy is really called, but I’ll stop by the store and get some additional information on skeleton man.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/skeletonman.htm

The Flying Goat

Next location was a target over on Northwest Boulevard. This place was packed with people watching the ill fated Gonzaga basketball team play San Francisco that evening. My original intent was to shoot the very colorful sign in front of the building, but a fog bank moved in as Josh and I arrived at this place. What I decided to ultimately do, post photo shoot, was desaturate the entire thing. Might as well let the fog do its thing, as the moisture droplets just hung in the air in front of the camera. I cropped out the majority of the shot series, so that there were basically some areas lit by ambient lighting and the overhead business sign. So, here is a place called The Flying Goat.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/graygoat.htm

JDM

Spokane Night Scenes gets slammed

Spokane Night Scenes gets slammed

At the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/macstairwell.htm)

This week’s project began at the MAC, as I wanted to inspect the premises to see what might have changed since my last visit. A lot had, and the sights were dismal. I spotted some interesting lights and shadows only on a stairwell that ran along the east side of the MAC. Since there was a guy running up and down the stairs for a workout, I put that on things to do in an hour or so. He told me he would be done momentarily. When I did manage to shoot a series of exposures at the stairwell, it was fun to shoot a plain, everyday, nothing special, stairwell. Only the lights made this any different than any other set of stairs, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.

John A. Finch home (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/finch.htm)

I walked over to the Campbell House to see if I might find any interesting light challenges, and once again I found little to shoot. To give the guy on the stairwell more time, I walked over to the John A. Finch home and shot a series of exposures over there, perhaps an hour after sunset.

Dwight Merkel Sports Complex (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/merkelcolor.htm)

One of my targeted locations for 2011 was the skate area at the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex in NW Spokane. I had previously shot the skate park in Hillyard (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/hillyardskatepark.htm), and I wanted to take a look at this area for a potential light painting shoot. Upon arrival I parked east of Assembly, and began to haul gear out of the car as the Merkel complex was totally in the dark. I must have gotten in a hurry, as I forget to remove my right thumb from the driver’s side door of the car as I slammed it shut. Yep, stars were in vogue that night, both in the sky, as well as my brain. Man, did that hurt…..what a dumb thing to do. A great way to ruin what was a fun night, up to that point. So, I sucked it up and went out to the skate park area, and tried to forget about the prior stupidity. I used red, amber, and blue lenses on the Big Max flashlight, and shot a series of over and under exposures using color. It was so dark out there, that only the colored lighting made any sense at all of the surrounding objects. The headlamp helped, but this was totally dark.

Francis and Crestline, Northeast Spokane (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/napa.htm)

My wife and I were headed back home one night from a friend’s house, when she saw this lighting distortion in the windows of a somewhat large building occupied by the State of Washington. The windows had a distorted view of a Napa store across the street, and at this location it was the only organized splash of color to look at. I thought I would take a look at this window distortion to see if the yellow was as bright as my wife thought it was. After a series of shots at this location, I headed back home for an ice wrap for my right thumb.

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com

A Patriotic and totally fun year with Honor Flight

This year was one of the busiest years with a camera in hand, which I have ever had. At the same time, I can say with pleasure that it was the most fun year I have EVER had with a camera.

Inland Northwest Honor Flight began flying WWII Veterans to Washington DC in April of 2010, and I asked to be a part of their effort. My idea was to document each day of the veterans Honor Flight experience in digital images, and then provide each veteran and his/her family with a video (integrated DVD slideshow) of the entire three day experience. My idea was graciously accepted by Tony Lamanna, who heads the Inland Northwest Honor Flight project.

My next step, now that I was on the hook, was to take a look at local highly skilled photographers, and invite them to commit to helping me photograph the entire Honor Flight event which occurred each month for the entire year. I was very successful in attracting great regional photographers, and in total we have averaged ten Honor Flight photographers over the course of the year (since April). This bunch was not just good with their cameras, but extremely reliable in every way possible. We always had someone to fill in when one of the HF photogs was unable to make a shoot because of work, illness, or vacation. The beneficiaries of the HF crew labors were the WWII veterans and their families.

The Honor Flight process involves a morning departure from GEG on day one, and a visit to the military/war memorials in Washington DC on day two. On day 3, the WWII veterans and their guardians (usually family members) fly back to GEG for a show unlike anything they have ever seen. Literally hundreds and hundreds of people show up for the Honor Flight returns, and there are bands playing, flags waving, and tears flowing. Patriotic bedlam is the term I use for this show, and when the veterans pass the last TSA checkpoint and see the masses, they break into tears. In the beginning (April) the photogs also broke down in tears, and it might still happen…if certain members “fess up.” Yet we learned where to be, to document every important part of the three day event, so that we were there to “catch the moments.” Tears, cheers, and smiles, we wanted to be there for them all.

To our knowledge, there are no other Honor Flight Hub locations in the United States (there are several hubs like Spokane is) that shoot the entire three days, and then turn around and produce a video for each and every participant, every single time an Honor Flight is scheduled. The videos are produced by me, in my office, after I get the edited images from each photog, of each portion of their 3 day shoot. In April, the videos began at about 24 minutes, and in November, the video ran just over an hour. Videos (DVDs) are formatted for viewing on the veteran’s television/DVD player at home. Many are not computer savvy, and we wanted to make this as easy as possible for each of them. All videos are synched with background music, and without fail, families cry when they watch them. We call this result, “happy tears.”

Every photographer who has ever participated in their first Honor Flight is hooked on the project. Our “merry band of photogs,” has never had this much fun with a camera, for any project…let alone a community service undertaking of this size. Some months require 3-4 shoots at GEG, beginning with Southwest Airlines departure schedules. Some shoots have been accomplished as late as 10:30 PM (for a late arrival of a veteran who suffered a heart attack in DC), and almost all departures from GEG are at 10:30AM. Photogs get to GEG at or near 0830 to start the departure shoot (usually done by noon), and at least two hours before the arrivals on day 3. Some shooters have to accompany the veterans through TSA, and also onto the aircraft to shoot the departures. On arrivals, one photog has to be at the aircraft door when it opens and as the veterans deplane. Almost all other shooters are out in the crowds shooting virtually everything they can capture. The tears and cheers and bands start playing just as the first WWII veteran makes the last turn into the lobby area. It’s hard to keep that many people quiet, but we found it can be done. Many incoming passengers from other airlines refuse to leave the airport until after the veterans come off their plane, and military members from all branches of service show up, in uniform, for the arrivals. Incredible, every single time is all we photogs can say about all of this. None of us have ever seen that many US flags waving in any airport, let alone our own.

2011 will bring another year of Honor Flights from GEG, and each of the photogs is having “Honor Flight withdrawals.” We do not fly again until April, as we did this year, so we have a few months off. Then the photographic fun starts again.

Our slate of Honor Flight photographers includes myself and;

Josh Burdick, photographer
Ron Trees, photographer
Greg Hustad, photographer
Kevin Liechty, photographer
Robert Chiappe, photographer
Mike McNab, photographer (normally shoots day 2 activities)
Stephanie Yanuszeski, photographer
Kent Henderson, photographer
Annette Barton, photographer
Danielle Maldonado, photographer

I have added one more photographer as a result of working with her at the Northwest North Pole Adventures shoot a week or so ago. She requested to become a part of the photography team after the Honor Flight photographers were mentioned at the children’s recent North Pole event at GEG. Carol Trost will begin shooting with us in April, 2011 for the first Southwest Airlines departure of the year for our veterans and family members (guardians).

Yes, all of this takes each photographer a lot of time. Not just shooting, but scheduling your day/week/month, to be available for the three day experience. Editing takes time, and quickly choosing at least 60 edited images apiece for the video takes time. Producing the video can be mind numbing, but each video from an individual flight has to be in the hands of the families before the next Honor Flight begins.

Information on Inland Northwest Honor Flight is available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lijr1Eeeods

Photography for sale to each veteran and their family is also now available online at: http://inwhonorflight.smugmug.com/

Some of our WWI veterans have passed away before they were able to make their scheduled Honor Flight. Yet, for those who are able to make their flight, the value of having highly skilled photographers there to capture their event, will last their families a lifetime.

Is it all worth it?

You have no idea how satisfying all of this is to every single photographer. If we do nothing else with our camera systems, we know we can capture the smiles and tears of the WWII veterans who made our existence today possible.

Merry Christmas everyone.



John D. Moore, CPP
Photography coordinator
Inland Northwest Honor Flight
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

A low light Christmas, at the North Pole

I had the opportunity to photograph Northwest North Pole Adventures (Spokane Fantasy Flight) this December. A few of my friends who are highly experienced in shooting low light images also shot this event, which was a superb event for homeless or underprivileged children.

An extensive amount of planning goes into this event, and the 2010 event was administered by Steve Paul, CEO of Northwest North Pole Adventures . A total of 64 children made the “trip,” to the North Pole, courtesy of Alaska Airlines. This is a marathon day for us photogs, and doing the treadmill for an hour every day sis nothing to prevent the pain in the quads the next day. The only way to shoot this event was to get down to the level of the children, and it was very well worth the experience…and the minor pain for a day afterward. I shot about 1200 images (CR2), and after editing I sent 197 image files (JPEG) to use for the children and for any purpose determined by Steve.

The event organizers are top notch people, and all of their efforts this Christmas season was evident. For those of you who have never heard of the Spokane Fantasy Flight, drop in on their website and see what good people can accomplish (with a lot of work).

So, not all of my low light imaging has to be done outside, but inside the large hanger at GEG which literally became the North Pole. Some tripod use was required, and a ton of direct flash photography for the activities of the children. ISO’s ranging from 100 to 1600, and two camera bodies (11 X 18mm, and 18 X 200mm).

This event was a tad unusual for all of us shooters, as we were all dressed as elves for the entire marathon day. I distinctly had the feeling of wearing PJ’s for the entire day, and this actually added to the importance of why we were shooting pictures at GEG and then on the other side of the runway at the North Pole.

Take a look at some of the videos from North Pole events of the past, so you can see the looks in the children’s eyes when they get on the aircraft for the short flight to the North Pole. Here are a few links to some short videos:

2009 Spokane Fantasy Flight - Event review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZZuaCZrZo

2009 Spokane Fantasy Flight - Elf Tribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruxCq2ljt84

2009 Spokane Fantasy Flight - Donors & Sponsors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvcaLt7SZN4


Merry Christmas everyone,

From JOMO the Camera Elf at the North Pole.

The ethics of stealing whatever you want

For four years in a row, I begin to see some very strange URLs and IP addresses on my website at spokanenightscenes.com. This is the season, after all, where it becomes ethical to steal online images from anyone who displays them. Am I the only one who gets their images taken? No, not hardly.

Last year I worked through some issues with Gonzaga University, as I found some of the Gonzaga images on the same sites as mine were being displayed unlawfully. The year before, it was the same issue, with all of the usual suspects. I called GU staff to let them know where I found their images, and then I began approaching the sites that took my work.

Several years ago, I went after 11 local commercial abuses of the images I own, and I remember some real strange phone calls I had with violators. A few would not return my calls, but those who did told me they got permission to use my work. Interesting, I thought at the time. So, who told you it was okay I asked? Well, we don’t know, but somebody told me I could use anything I found as long as it was on the web. 5 Spokane realtors used almost the exact same defense of their use, although what is not surprising is that they all worked for the same company locally. Then there was a local law firm who blamed it on their web designer, and the web designer who blamed it on their law firm. Guess who their law firm was? Yep, you guessed it.

I tired of making the phone calls, and just started billing the 11 abusers, and the checks started coming in after that. First to be delivered was the one from the law firm, and they were a little worried. Last to hit my PO Box was the collection from the web designer, who was unemployed thereafter from their work at the law firm. 11 violations, 11 payments.

The common denominator for all of these things is that “someone told me it was okay.” Next most popular abuse defense is “well, it isn’t my fault that your images are on my web site.” Oh really? Let’s see here, and then whose fault would it be? Answer, “well, I don’t know, but it isn’t mine.” My answer, well okay, just PAY me. After all of these abuses, I was hoping I could find a few more abuses as my system was working pretty well.

So, in 2010 there does not seem to be as much local abuse. In fact it has been 90% outside the area, including outside the country. Harder to settle up with abusers, so maybe there is another way.

For the URL’s and IP addresses that I read and review on my website stat logs, I can read who has my images, and then go right to the site to see their destination. Singapore, China, Russia, UK, and on the list goes. There are travel displays, news displays, college displays (Gonzaga U, U of Washington, U of Alabama), including law schools. All of these instances are third party abusers and not affiliated with the schools or law school. Yet, abuse is still abuse…and there are no contracts for such web use.

So, I am continuing my approach of tagging my images blatantly so they are readily identified as being stolen (copyright infringement). Takes a couple of minutes, but soon these abusers will be displaying my images, and every visitor to their site will see the images were taken without permission. Really terrible that I would have the gall to tag my images displayed on THEIR website. Bah humbug methinks…..

You need to be a little careful as you browse through your websites statistics database. As you see these URLs which have taken your image, some of these sites are also ATTACK websites. Simply put, these websites will attempt to install software onto YOUR computer by clicking through or past the opening screen. Some of the abuser websites will try and hit your computer just by clicking on the URL.

I will display some of the websites that seem to have problems in actually using a copyrighted image legally. Some of them do not have the copyright modification on them yet, but I’ll get around to doing that tomorrow. Let the embarrassment begin for those who want to take my images and use them for whatever purposes.

I’ll spare you from seeing the two porn websites that are displaying some of my images from Riverfront Park, and the two travel sites that I may be able to go after for payment. If it isn’t one thing, it is another.

News Gratis
http://newsgratis.com/news-spokane-night.html
http://newsgratis.com/news-night-photos-in-spokane-washington-a-digital-camera-documentary.html
http://newsgratis.com/news-spokane-night-scenes.html
http://newsgratis.com/news-ordering-a-cd-nighttime-digital-camera-scenes-spokane-washington.html

connect.com
http://connect.in.com/law-school/photos-1-1-1-5b823cd2cf7321a9ea493d6c8d129640.html
http://connect.in.com/patsy/photos-1-1-1-eba25881075ed1a2e410ec36bd48d412.html
Gonzaga Basketball schedule
http://www.memoriesofdaysgoneby.com/suko/Gonzaga-Basketball-Schedule-2011

in.com
http://connect.in.com/house-of-night/images-the-campbell-house-night--1-328006248671.html

Clear Airway
http://weaverclearairway.com/vtope/erin-gibson.html

Electronic News
http://electronic.districsides.com/gonzaga-university-spokane
http://electronic.districsides.com/george-washington-university
http://electronic.districsides.com/the-statue-of-bing-crosby-gonzaga-university-spokane-washington

World Cities
http://worldcities.bloguez.com/worldcities/1558199/Nine-Mile-Falls
-----------------------------
There are also some companies that allegedly will “search the web,” for your images. I was curious so I joined one of them (ImageRights). They are supposedly searching for 588 images of mine, and in 6 months they have found NONE. In that time, I found around 25 just by reviewing who visits my website.

Merry Christmas everyone.

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

Night shooters, the Spokane night photography season has commenced

Night shooters, the season has commenced

At least for me.

I spent two evenings in RFP shooting the 2010 Indian Pow Wow, and I scheduled those shoots for the evening dance schedules. This event has been on my schedule for the past 4 years, and 2010’s version was the first time I shot it at sunset. A total blast.

As the sun began to set on the first night, I was joined by Josh Burdick for the evening. Josh is a terrific shooter, and is also one of the great technical photogs that shoot with us for all of the Honor Flights that leave GEG each month. That program involves about ten or eleven very good photogs, and our impact on the WWII veterans and their families has been well established. More on Honor Flight, on another occasion.

On the first night of the Spokane Pow Wow, Josh and I shot the opening ceremonies, and then wandered through the park as it got dark. The Ferris Wheel was inactive, and suffering mildly from half the rides lights being out. I asked the RFP employee if she would turn the ride on for us so we could get the lights in motion, and capture the profile in the process. She gladly offered to help out, and I was able to shoot two strings of images, about 30 minutes apart. The Ferris Wheel was able to create the circular pattern I wanted, even though only half the lights were lit that evening. When the camera is viewing with a timed exposure, the turning lights make it appear that ALL of the Ferris Wheel lights were illuminated. Josh shot a different angle of the turning Ferris Wheel, but neither of us could have gotten any shots without the nice young lady running the ride that evening.

Ferris Wheel adjacent to the Sugar Shack

On the second evening in RFP, I was joined at the Pow Wow by my wife Cheryl. She tends to not hang out with me normally when I spend hours out in wacko conditions throughout the fall and winter months. Someone in my family has some common sense….but on this evening occasion she came out when the cameras were also on my shoulders. After Pow Wow opening ceremonies on their final 2010 evening schedule, we wandered the park as Josh and I had done the evening before.

We headed to the area of the Post Street bridge to inspect any changes in the flow of the Spokane River as a result of Avista’s test on the modifying the base of the north river channel. As I set up my equipment for a Monroe Street bridge shot, some passersby recommended another location for me to take my cameras. I wasn’t very happy with what was in my rear screen viewer anyhow, so off we went to the area of the Canada Island footbridge recommended by the earlier passersby.

Cheryl found some shots she liked, so I l set them up, and took several image series at different locations.

Post Street bridge, looking west

Washington Water Power Upper Falls Power building (SE corner of the Canada Island Footbridge).

What we noticed from the Canada Island Footbridge was exactly as we had been told by the earlier passersby. Water was almost totally absent from the north river channel. I shot that scene, but as of this writing it is not uploaded to the web yet. Later today, or perhaps tomorrow.

At any rate, it is ON now, and I’ll hit the streets twice a week to see about reshooting some older shots at local targets. I won’t begin taking out small groups of night shooters until later in September, but I’ll start now with two hours in the evening schedules set aside for night shoots, twice a week.

Interested in joining up with my night groups? I can add you to the night shooters email list. Targets aplenty, throughout Spokane.

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
Spokanenightscenes.com
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

Honoring the honorable

The first few days of May 2010, I was involved in coordinating a photo shoot for Inland Northwest Honor Flight (http://inwhonorflight.org) at Spokane International Airport (GEG). Spokane photographers Leland Hoffman, Josh Burdick, Palmer Halvorson, and Greg Hustad joined in the effort to document the Honor Flight effort for WWII Veterans. Without exception, each of the photographers who participated in this great project loved every minute we could spend documenting the departure and arrival ceremonies of 37 WWII Veterans on Honor Flight. We have already added two more very good photographers to that list, and they will shoot for their first Honor Flight in June.

This program is exceptional, and the goal of the project is superb. Getting US military Veterans who served in WWII back to see the WWII Memorial and other military memorials built to honor them, before they die.

How is it possible for a small group of Spokane photographers to contribute, in some way, to these WWII veterans? Our thoughts are to document each minute of the time the Veterans spend over the three days they spend as honored guests of Honor Flight. Following the photography efforts, each photographer chooses photographs that they have taken, to become part of a video/slide record of the Honor Flight experience. For our first effort earlier this month, we presented a DVD program to Honor Flight organizers for each veteran, and their families. The DVD video creation lasted 27:30 (278 slides), and began as the Veterans arrived at GEG on their first day, and finished upon the Veterans departure from the airport after they arrived back home on their third day. The onsite documentation in Washington DC was done by Mike McNab, who also happens to be one of the Honor Flight organizers.

As family members, sponsors and Veterans all begin to see the photos on the video; the tears are going to be plentiful yet memorable. The Spokane photographers began to see these tears as the Veterans began to arrive at the airport with their families. After their flight home to Spokane, the Veterans were greeted (totally shocked) by literally hundreds of local people, hundreds of flags (large and small), and a local band playing in their honor. All of this was happening inside the confines of Spokane International Airport, at 9PM for this particular Honor Flight.

Just photographing this event for the Honor Flight Veterans consisted of quite a few photographic challenges. The lighting levels at the airport, movement of Veterans constantly, dealing with airport security requirements (TSA), cabin crew needs on-board the SWA aircraft and many more such issues were handled by the photographers. Learning the entire Honor Flight process, and having photographers in the right places at the right time, made for some great photographs. Getting through security after being cleared by Southwest Airlines managers and TSA took time away from photography. Yet, as we learned the ropes of the airport process with all of our equipment, Honor Flight went without any major hitches. Each of the Spokane photographers feels that this Honor Flight event is “addictive.” Once you are around these WWII Veterans and their families, the total enjoyment of what we are doing for the veterans is almost instantaneous. The photographers collectively feel that participating in Honor Flight was the most fun they have ever had with a camera. The fact that this is a technically challenging photographic community service project make it even more fun than originally anticipated.

Spokane photographers who wish to participate in the Honor Flight project (future flights), should send their names and email addresses to me. Feel free to go to the Inland Northwest Honor Flight website, for details on how the Honor Flight process works. If you wish to not participate, but there is a WWII Veteran in your family (or a friend), consider signing them up with the forms provided by Honor Flight. I have schedules for June and July, and they are preparing for a new Honor Flight during each month through the end of the year.

If you jump on this community service project, it will be something you will never forget. I'm not going to give you all those details, and spoil it for you. Within 5 minutes of shooting at Spokane International Airport, you'll know exactly what I mean.

John D. Moore, CPP
Community Outreach Chairman
Spokane Camera Club

Spokane Night Scenes
http;//www.spokanenightscenes.com
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

6 Spokane Photographers, 6 nights, 6 different days

For the past weekends night shoot, we totaled 12 photogs. There were three noshows, but we continually looked for them to get them to the group location. I did post one image of mine online so the Spokane Parks Foundation could use it:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/olmsteadpainted.htm

It was a great night for the photogs, and there was a lot of outside the box photography accomplished. So much so, we drained the batteries on at least two of the Big Max flashlights. Yet, the painting with color went well.

That is it for the large group activities until Fall, I think. I am planning a few other type activities though, although there is no date for them yet.

One activity will include 6 photographers, shooting for 6 nights, on 6 different days/occasions. 6 is the bottom/minimal number of photographers, and I may add a few more people. There are lotsa targets locally, but I'll ask each of the photogs who participate in this to select at least two of their own. Lots of other stuff will be happening, mostly in the Fall months.

It's early yet, but if you wish to be one of the 6 photogs for the "outside the box night shoot," let me know. Lots for us to work out on that gig, but doing something different seems to be appropriate. Fun? Yep, a requirement for anyone who participates on this 6 night project. Want details? Don't ask, as this is evolving. I'm not a fan of 6 nights in a row however, especially with some of our folks having day jobs. So, if interested, get in touch and I will work through the details as they get decided.

Thanks to all of you night shooters. A lot was accomplished by many of you this season. Lots more stuff coming.

John

Olmstead Overlook, a Spokane night photo shoot

This week’s plan was to take out a group of photographers for a night shoot, with my target being the Olmstead Overlook. This historical landmark at 3rd and Arthur is in disrepair, with ruins and rock walls which are falling down. Yet, this is a place that had its prime, until Interstate 90 split Liberty Park basically in 2 parts.

In 2006/2007 I visited this park area, with some older equipment, and shot a series of images of the rock wall walkway. It is just plainly different than anything around here, and capturing what used to be seemed important. As a result, last night I gathered 12 photographers for a night shoot at this same location.

Many of the photographers were very experienced, and it helped with a few of my group that were not so advanced. As it got darker and darker, the questions from our less experienced folks were perfect for their learning experience. The more times those photographers go out and shoot these very dark nights, the better they will get.

Since this area is replete with rocks and rock walls, it was my goal to shoot with a variety of colored lighting elements. “Painting with light,” can take an area which is less interesting, and make it very pronounced. Our group of twelve worked in shifts to run the lighting (Big Max handheld flashlights with colored lenses), and to also run the cameras for the photogs who had to be in a separate location. This concept worked fairly well, although the choreography for lighting and shooting with a dozen people needed some “fine tuning.”

As we worked through the evening, two of us burned so much power from our Big Max units, that those units were essentially dead. It came at the end of the shoot however, so we were all able to collect all of our gear and “hit the road.”
I made a suggestion to the group, that if they had any “keepers,” that perhaps the photographers would donate an image or two to the Spokane Parks Foundation (SPF). SPF does a wonderful job locally for Spokane Parks, and if our photographers can help them in their efforts we are glad to so. I sent SPF a link to a low resolution image I added to my website, in case it is something that would be useful to them.

The link to this image from last night is located at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/olmsteadpainted.htm

This shoot was likely to be the last group activity until Fall. It is darker much later now, and my preference is to not keep all of these people out late into the night. I’ll likely still be going out after dark to grab shots, but I won’t ask larger groups of photogs to have to do that.
John

Spokane Night Scenes on Twitter

After some recent requests from several night photogs, I took the leap and set up an account on Twitter. The account is set up as "spokanenights" Or in Twitter lingo @spokanenights

Designed for short updates, it might actually be helpful in short contacts to night photogs and others about night shoot details. It may also be helpful in doing some local marketing of Spokane, based on the evolving photographs taken of the city after dark over at Spokane Night Scenes.

If you are a Twitter user, I'll certainly welcome you over @spokanenights

We live in a beautiful place, and if Twitter can help show off our community via my photographs, I am good with doing that.

JDM

Update for Olmstead Overlook photo shoot

Today I had requests for images, which may be taken during this upcoming photo shoot this weekend. The Spokane Parks Foundation (Toni) would like to use any images that you would care to donate (with photo credits to you). They would like to use images for marketing, as well as on Facebook and in slide programs. A number of photographers have donated (community service) images to the Spokane Parks Foundation for a number of years. The images you take are yours, and remain so, even if you grant the Spokane Parks Foundation limited use for their marketing. If you would like to let them use any images, please send them to me for inclusion on a DVDR for the Parks Foundation.

The night shoot for Saturday is after sunset on Saturday the 17th of April (7:30PM). Feel free to visit the venue before sunset, but my target for the group is to shoot after sunset on Saturday evening. It may be possible to get some sunset images a little earlier than the kickoff of this, so feel free if you are so inclined. Please read my prior comments on issues related to safety, before we head out this weekend. I have spent so many years dealing with security management issues, that I tend to emphasize those.

Thanks everyone. I have heard from 6 or 7 people today, but please RSVP as soon as you can.

John

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
PO Box 18715
Spokane, Wa. 99228-0715

509-327-5627
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com
photos@spokanenightscenes.com