Eastern Michigan Basketball Vs Western Michigan

I went to the Eastern Michigan game today.  It has actually been a while.  I was going to go to the last game but I wasn't feeling well and the prior game was during the weekend that I wanted to boatwatch.  So here I am.  I'm just posting a handful of pictures here, if you want to see others go to Eagle Totem.

 Brandon Nazione started the game with a pretty sweet duk.  For this picture, I was up in the stands because I wanted to try a different angle.  It's kind of nice for dunks but not for other shots.

 So I headed back down to the floor.  Mike Talley is driving towards the basket.

 Nazione with another dunk.

 They had a pretty sweet halftime show today.  It was a group of BMX people and they were doing various stunts.  It was amazing how high they got.

 And some of the tricks they could do.

 It seemed like this guy was looking at me.

 One more shot.  It was kind of cool to do these because this would be something I wouldn't normally get pictures of.

 Karrington's only offense for the day.

 Mike Talley working his way around the defense.

Raven Lee trying to work through the defense.

Eastern ended up winning 69-63 and looked pretty solid doing so.  I hope this means that their slump is over.

M...O...O...N....That Spells Moon

I guess there are many movie lines that work for the moon.  Although this particular line came from a book first.

With all the coughing in the office...Has Captain Tripps arrived?

Messing With Light and Shadows

In keeping with my attempt to do at least one photo a day, I figured I would use tonight to do some more messing with the light pen and different lighting angles.  While I think I get cool pictures out of this, I think it helps me understand light and my camera better.

 My first subject was a model 747 that I have.  I was going to do trains again but I decided that I don't do planes on here enough and the 747 is a pretty good subject. 

 The plane is wearing the United Airlines "Friendship" Livery.  This was the scheme that was common in the late 60's through the 70's.  The airline traces its lineage to the Varney Air Lines in 1926.  It started as an air-mail service and morphed into passenger service.  It also traces it's history to the Boeing Air Transport which was an airline run by William Boeing formed in 1927.  In 1928, Boeing merged with Varney and a couple other airlines to form United.  Eventually, it would expand into the airline we know and love today.

 The development of the 747 began in the early 1960's when the US Air Force was looking for a heavy cargo aircraft.  Boeing lost out the contract to the C-5 Galaxy designed by Lockheed, however Juan Trippe of Pan Am was interested.  He was looking for a plane that was larger than the 707.  It first flew in 1969 and the first plane was delivered to Pan Am in 1970.  The bulge on top of the fuselage used to hold a lounge.

 Sadly, this plane is being phased out in favor of the twin engine jets.  It is a very nice looking jet.

 The plane from a different angle.

 For this shot, I was messing with the shadow.  This something I'm going to have to explore more in the future.

 My next subject is one of my action figures.  He is depicting a British paratrooper from the Falklands Conflict.

 Just messing with different angles of light.

And a picture of the shadows.  Again, I'm going to have to mess with this some more.

Messing With My Trains Again

So I was messing around with my trains again tonight.  Well, I was using my trains to mess around with different lighting.  I just wanted to try different angles and stuff.

 My main subject was my BNSF engine that is wearing the old Santa Fe livery.  I was using a pen light and it was working fairly well, but I think I may need to mess with the exposure a bit.  I kind of like how you can just see the front train.

 Then I went for a different angle.  I kind of like the way the light looks on it.

 Since this angle is pretty tough for a real train, I figured I would get it here.  Although I may need to try to lower the camera to get a more realistic angle.

 So then I tried an angle where I got two of my trains.  Again in the normal light.

 And then I went with the pen light.

 Just messing with different angles of the light.

 And different f-stops.

 A couple more shots at an even smaller f-stop.  I was trying to get the whole engine in focus.

I think I might have gotten it.

A Pair of Ships

Normally I would split this into two posts but it was cold yesterday and I didn't take many pictures of either ship.  Both were waiting in the Belle Isle Anchorage for the clearing of the St. Clair River.  The Coast Guard has been having a heck of a time keeping the area around Algonac clear of ice.  Yesterday, they were breaking the North Channel so that the ice had another place to go.  As of this post, these ships are still waiting.

 First up, is the Algoma Hansa.  She's been on this blog a few times and is a fairly new boat on the Lakes.  She's actually pretty nice.

Next up is the ship that has been the subject of quite a few of my favorite pictures, the Saginaw.  She was built in Manitiwoc as the John J. Boland for the American Steamship Company.  She became the Saginaw in 1999 after she was acquired by her new owners.

The 2015 North American International Auto Show

I don't think I went to the Auto Show last year because the weather was pretty wonky.  I really would like to make this an annual thing.  While I don't like many of the cars on the roads these days, I do like to look at the concept cars and cars that I don't normally get to see on the road.  For the most part, the Auto Show gives me that but it seems like they've been making less actual concept cars.

 As you head into the Auto Show, there are displays set up along the outside wall of Cobo.  This is one of the cars that they use in the Detroit Grand Prix.  While I think it is cool that they do the Grand Prix, I wish they wouldn't block off that part of Belle Isle for as long as they do. 

 This is a Falcon F7 and is built in Holly, Michigan.  It uses a carbon fiber body and a 1100 Horsepower engine.  Only 12 are made per year.

 A statue of Joe Louis.  He was born in Alabama but his family migrated to Detroit after World War I.  He started boxing in 1932.  He had a record of 66-3-1.  His most famous defeat was when he lost to Max Schmeling in 1936 but he turned around to beat him in 1938.  His career ended when he lost to Rocky Marciano in 1951.

 A bronze casting of the glove used to defeat Max Schmeling.  There is also a sculpture of his fist at the end of Woodward Avenue.

 One of the Smart Cars.  I am not a huge fan of the Smart Car.  The gas version doesn't get much better mileage than my Focus.  It seems like a car of that size would get better gas mileage.  Plus, I think they are ugly.

 An Audi Coupe.

 I think this one is a pretty sharp looking car. 

 A Bentley couple.  At $300,000 per car, I don't think I'll be getting one of these anytime in the near future.

 The interior of the Bentley Sedan.  This is another pretty nice looking car but at almost $400,000, I don't think I'll be getting one of these either.

 It was actually nice to see an actual hood ornament. 

 A BMW Coupe.  I think this is another pretty nice looking car.

 A shot of the badge and distinctive front end.

 If I were going to consider a small foreign car, I would actually consider one of the Minis.  I think they look pretty sharp.

 The Mini Concept Car.  Now this would be one I would consider because it reminds me of an old MG or something like that. 

 The Beetle.

 Probably my favorite foreign car line is Porsche.  I do like the looks of this car but I think it's criminal that there is a four door Porsche.

 The name badge.

 I think a Porsche SUV is even more criminal.

 The concept Prosche Targa. This is the style that made Porsche famous.

 From a slightly lower angle.

 One of the production Porsches.

 The Jaguar nameplate.  With all the shakeup in the Auto Industries in the past few years, I'm not quite sure who owns them.  I know that Ford used to own them but I think they divested back in 2008 or so.

 This is a pretty sharp looking car.  They tout it as a manual but there was no clutch.

 I guess the ability to shift gears kind of counts but I think if they are going to call it a manual there should be a clutch.

 A pretty basic instrument cluster.

 Another Jaguar.  Again, I think this was a pretty sharp looking car.

 This was Toyota's concept car.  It doesn't look like it would be out of place in a Batman movie, but I think that is what they were going for.

 Another concept car.  This one is a one seat car.  I kind of like the idea but I'm not sure about the safety.

 Another variety of a one seater.

 The Scion iQ.  This appears to be the competition for the Smart Car and if the concept is for ugly cars, this one is pretty good competition.  When I sat in one the last time, it seemed pretty cheap.

 The radio seemed like an afterthought.

 Not to say there aren't nice looking Scion cars.

 The new Chrysler 300.

 The Fiat Abarth.  Fiats seem to make pretty sharp looking small cars.

 The Dodge Challenger.  I'm glad that car companies have kept making modern looking classic cars.

 The Charger.

 The Dodge Viper.  If I won the Lotto, this would be one of my considerations for a car.

 A special edition of the Challenger.

 You wont see too many SUV's on this blog, but I do like the Explorer.

 In a way, Henry Ford still signs off on his cars.

 The new Ford Focus.  I kind of like the way that Ford is making each of its cars look like each other.  I think the styling on these are pretty sharp.  It also shows that small cars do not have to be ugly.

 An old Ford GT.  I believe this is a 1966 version that one the LeMans.

 A newer Ford GT.

 From the side.  I think this is a pretty nice looking car.

 The Ford Concept GT.  If I heard correctly, this may end up seeing production in the  next few years.  Now this would be in the running for my Lotto Car.  For some reason, it seems like this and the Viper are the only pure American sports cars.  By that, I mean cars that could give Ferrari or Lambourghini a run for their money.

 The three quarter view.

 And the other side.

 The Shelby GT300.  This is a souped up version of the Mustang.

 One of the more distinctive car brands in the country.

 An older Shelby Mustang.

 A Mazda racer.

 I was hoping to see the Corvette.  This was the closest I got to one.

 The new Camaro.

 The Acura NSX.   Another car that I would consider.

 It was odd to see a plane amongst all the cars, but I think this was part of a display that showed everything that Honda engines power.  Kind of neat.

If you ever wanted a good picture to show you the Auto Show, this one is it.  The later in the day you show up, the more crowded it becomes.  It is a pretty fun but sometimes it is difficult to work around the people there.