1952 Diamond

DSC_3640, originally uploaded by frank.mara.

A 1952 Diamond T 2.5 Ton truck sits idle next to a defunct saw mill below Brasstown Bald in the Chattahoochee National Forest. I've photographed this truck on three separate trips. It's a terrific subject. I don't think it's been moved since 2007, the first time I shot it. You can see the original photo from December, 2007 here. Shot with a Nikon D90 and a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8D ED lens.

Toomer's Oaks

DSC_3659, originally uploaded by frank.mara.

A memorial takes hold around the Toomer's Oaks on the campus of Auburn University. The oak trees were poisoned with a lethal quantity of herbicide in January by an angry Alabama fan, after Auburn won the 2010 National Football Championship. Efforts are underway to save the trees and protect against the spread of the herbicide to the surrounding gardens. The incident has triggered a truce to the intense rivalry between Auburn and Alabama. BAMA students have raised several thousand dollars to contribute to the effort to save the trees.

The Toomer's Oaks are estimated to be at least 135 years old and have been the center of campus celebrations for most of the school's history.

UT 3, 4 & The Milky Way [video]

UT 3, 4 & The Milky Way [video]
Originally uploaded by josefrancisco.salgado

This is an absolutely remarkable video shot by Jose' Francisco Salgado of the Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The video was shot with a Nikon D700 in August, 2009. This video is comprised of 1,159 images shot over a 10.5 hour period. Salgado is combines his interest in astronomy and art to produce these amazing videos. You can read more about Jose Francisco Salgado's convergence of art and science here: http://josefrancisco.org/bio/

Mohawk Valley

DSC_3398, originally uploaded by frank.mara.

Mohawk Valley. A decommissioned B52G Stratofortress on display at the Griffiss Air Force Base Industrial Park in Rome, NY. It entered service in 1960 and was decommissioned in May, 1991. Mohawk Valley's missions spanned Vietnam to the first Persian Gulf War. The aircraft now sits on a concrete pad outside of the former Strategic Air Command base. The base itself was deactivated in the mid-1990's as part of the United States's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission's efforts to restructure the US Military infrastructure in the aftermath of the Cold War. In one of History's ironies, Griffiss was the site of the second effort to revive the Woodstock Music Festival in 1999.

I am intensely interested in twentieth century history. Scenes like this are iconic of the enormous changes that have impacted our lives since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This is a 15 second exposure. I shot this image with a tripod-mounted Nikon D90 and a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8D ED lens during a raging snow storm. A local cop stopped to see if I was alright. I suspect that he thought I was nuts when I explained that I was shooting pictures of the bomber in those conditions.