B-17 Flying Fortress - Take Two

While I was waiting for the second flight in this B-17 Flying Fortress, I watched as they started the engines for the first flight. As you might imagine, seeing this cloud of smoke as they started the engines made me a bit nervous, you know, as to the operating condition of the aircraft. I mean, if I owned a car that blew this smoke when it started, (and I HAVE) I would most likely sell it off quick. (Which I DID, for $300) I consoled myself by saying, "That's probably what they ALWAYS do when you start them." I'm sure emission standards weren't what they are today back in 1935. -BN

P.S. I know this is TWO photos of the day but in looking back through May, I missed a day in there somewhere.

B-17 Flying Fortress

I was asked to go cover the arrival of a WWII era B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. They were making a few flights and I was excited to find out that I would be on one of them. I used to be sort of a WWII history junkie, mostly the Pacific Theater with Pearl Harbor and the Battle at Midway. This plane was mostly used in Germany and some in Italy. Out of the 12,731 planes manufactured, there are maybe 16 still around and only 6 still flying. Here is a view of Ogden from the front gun turret. -BN

Demolition

Across the street from the DNews, there has been months and months of entertainment as the old ZCMI Mall has been torn down. I have seen some huge walls and columns fall which shakes our building. Once a crane operator dropped a huge part of the building on the crane he was driving. Scary. This is a photo I have been looking at for a few months now and decided to shoot it today. Who knows how long these colors will last. -BN

Ben Smith of Ben Lomond

This is the principal of Ben Lomond High, Ben Smith. He is beloved by his students and seemed to have a really good rapport with the teachers. I needed his help on a project I was working on and he was a huge benefit. Thanks principal Smith. -BN

Memorial Day

Memorial Day. I guess this one is very self explanatory. I used to use this day to reflect on the lives of those who have gone before. Today was different. I took a flag to my grandpa's grave, (he was a veteran) and took some photos of the nieces and nephews throwing those helicopter tree seed things in the air. I liked this photo better than those. -BN

Look Ma, No Training Wheels (Sunday)

As you can see from this photo, my daughter is hopping a bump in the cement while riding her scooter. That's pretty darned amazing. The amazing thing to me about this photo is not the peak action, but a subtle, missing element I didn't have to remove in Photoshop. Instead of keeping you in suspense, its the LACK of training wheels on the bike in the background. All afternoon Saturday, I ran around chasing a very cautious rookie cyclist. I am so proud that she was finally able put away the bicycle crutches. And I kept my integrity by removing that distracting element with a crescent wrench rather than Photoshop. -BN

The Pizzaria (Saturday)

One of our favorite places to eat cheap pizza is not from one of those national "five buck pizza" places, it's this locally owned place with a huge fish tank in the middle. Sometimes it's more work getting the kids to stop watching the saltwater wonders than dragging them to the dentist. Here is a photo of another kid with a similar problem. -BN

Dave Brown (Friday)

Not being from Ogden, I didn't know Dave Brown as a teacher but I haven't heard anything but great things from folks who have. Well, Friday was the last day of his 37 years and in his recollection, the worse day of all of them. I am glad I had the opportunity to get this shot on his last day. -BN

Ballet West Academy (Thursday)

One of my favorite things to shoot during the spring time is the Ballet West Academy's year end performances. These are kids ranging in age from maybe 5 to 18. Not being a huge follower of ballet, it seems these kids do just as well as the professionals. It's amazing. -BN

Toothless in Ogden

It's that time again when one of my kids starts loosing teeth. Which of course means that we, as parents, need to remember to "call" the tooth fairy to make sure there is some cold hard cash waiting under the pillow. I remember once with our first child, we forgot to "call" the tooth fairy (who apparently posesses enough magic to slip some bread under the pillow, but doesn't always know WHEN to come) and you can imagine how that went down. In a moment of panic and tears, we searched and searched until we realized (wink, wink) that the tooth fairy had actually put the prize under the wrong pillow. Whew! My wife's fast thinking helped avoid years of disappointment and expensive therapy. Well don't worry, today we remembered and the fairy is on the way. -BN

BBQ at the Lake

My wife noticed a huge plume of smoke rising above O-Town today and I decided to chase it down. It was a controlled burn near the lake and it took forever to get there. When I arrived, there were a ton of cars and people lined up to see what it was all about. I don't have any idea who put this sign up but I thought it was hilarious. -BN

Wedding Shots - Take 2

Here is a photo of Erin and Quinn at the State Capitol. They chose the capitol because they are both going into law and he will be interning here soon. I loved this photo which shows a natural moment between them. -BN

Budding Gymnast, Budding Photojournalist

There is this gym in Ogden offering some great classes at great prices, and the kids love coming to learn. This was the end of season "meet." And of course, there are as many cameras as there are children. I was very proud as each kid had a chance to showcase their talents and received their medal. Nice work. -BN

Beating the Heat

I shot this while at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. Some of the water attractions weren't open but the kids were drawn to this fountain to cool off from the higher than normal temps. -BN

Iwasaki

I was waiting to shoot a formal portrait of Scott and I couldn't help but notice that he has Ozzy Osborn and Bashful on his cubicle. Scott covers the music scene for the DNews and at any given moment, you can find tons of obscure titles lying around on his desk. Don't let the rock and roll persona fool you, he's one of the nicest guys you will meet. -BN

Wedding Shots - Take 1.

My brother is getting married and this is one of the shots of him and his fiancé during the engagement session. I don't know if they will use this shot or not but I really liked it for a colorful blog addition. -BN

Monticello

As you may know, a list of all these 'photo a day' installments are listed on my web page in the "Editorial" section. As I was looking through the photos for May, I noticed that I had missed a day somehow. This photo is to get me back on track.

As I was driving through Southeast Utah last week, I made a quick detour to check out the Monticello Temple. Right when I got there, the clouds opened up a bit and this was the result. -BN

I Love Cement Work

My kids always talk about opposite day, which must be today. Opposite day gives you the chance to say something like, "I love cement work," and really sound positive and optimistic about it. My true feelings about cement work are these, "I love my wife and she needed a new fence in a couple places in our yard to keep the monkeys from wandering off so I happily did some cement work for her." -BN

Side note: I found it amazing that the kids LOVED helping me build what will, no doubt, feel like a cage to them in the coming months, at least to the little one.

Mom

Every month, my family gets together to celebrate all the birthday's that happen in that month, regardless of whether the birthday falls before or after the family party. I have 8 siblings, over half of which all have children of their own, making this the best plan, hands down. This year it fell on Mother's Day.

My mom is one of the kindest, non-confrontational and patient people you will ever meet. One of the greatest lessons she tried to instill in us growing up is to be kind to each other, a difficult task with a family as large as ours. Being a parent has helped me understand what an amazing mother she was to us. Thanks mom. -BN

Last Minute

Not only did I take this photo at the last minute of the day on Saturday, it is also a last minute shopper checking out some flowers on Mother's Day eve. I was doing the same thing but in my case, I set aside a few minutes on my calendar to pick up flowers. So technically it wasn't last minute since I planned it. -BN

Funeral

I attended a funeral in Boise today and it was a typical one, except at the grave site service, they released these white doves into the air. I would have chosen different text and music to introduce the doves but when they were released, it was a big hit with the family and friends. -BN

Caution-Girls Night Out

I saw these women discussing what to do in downtown Salt Lake Thursday night. -BN

San Juan

I took a tour of the San Juan River today and shot this boat under a rock. I loved the color and the lines. This tour was hosted by Wild River Expeditions in Bluff, Utah. This part of the state is amazing. I highly recommend it. Don't come in the summertime. -BN

Cloud 10

As I was driving around in the middle of no where today, I came across this cloud. No rain came from it but I couldn't pass up taking it's portrait. -BN

Senior Photo

Here is Layne. His mom thinks he is kind of shy so I thought I would post this photo from his graduation portrait shoot. -BN

Lloyd and Harry?

No, this isn't Lloyd and Harry on their way to Aspen. It's Sam and Berk, two guys who should be classified Smart and Smarter. (an engineer and talented chef) The scooter is an Italian '65 Lambretta Li 125. Very Retro. -BN

Capitol Drive-by Shooting, May 3rd

As I was driving by the Utah State Capitol tonight, I thought I would try and shoot some interesting effects with the trees whizzing by. After nearly causing a head on collision while shooting out my window, I got this shot. -BN

Law Enforcement Torch Run (May 2nd)

Friday was the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics and this is the photo that ran in the paper. However, the audio slide show can be found at DeseretNews.com.

Dino Runner (May 1st Post)

I saw this guy out running at midnight past a running dinosaur. I think I may have freaked him out a little taking photos that late but I also thought it was odd to be running that late, on Highway 89. -BN