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The official photo blog of J. David Buerk Photography.

A Day at the Museums

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Every year I try to visit the Smithsonian Folklife Festival; this year was no different.  As we always do, Adrianna and I arrived hungry and enjoyed several of the different cultural food vendors.  With this year's festival, however, that was about all we did, as we found the entire festival quite small underwhelming, particularly in comparison to previous years; it seems as though the festival has been shrinking over the last few years, much to our disappointment, as we both look forward to attending each year.  The nearby waste bins reminded me of some fine art photography series I've seen done on trash.

We perused the entire grounds of the festival, and barely anything was going on - we saw two discussion panels, which the speakers seemed to be attempting humor that was falling flat on the gathered audiences, and there were no demonstrations taking place even at the scheduled times posted.  Disappointed, we decided to hit a few of the less trafficked museums.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

At the Hirshorn we saw parts of Yoko Ono's exhibits which were nearing their close, and Ai Weiwei's "Trace" exhibit of large LEGO portraits of political dissidents.  This of course was alongside some of Hirshorn's collection of rotating artifacts on display.

One piece that initially confused us was Reynier Leyva Novo's "5 Nights," which appear as different sized rectangles of black ink on the walls, each equal to the amount of ink used in writing five totalitarian leaders' manifestos; at the museum, we did not see a plaque explaining this, but we did notice the plaque underneath the largest rectangle labeled "Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf" and we incorrectly surmised that these were placeholders for an upcoming exhibit, one of which would be a painting by Adolf Hitler sharing the title of his infamous autobiography.  It wasn't until later that evening on the Hirshorn website that all was made clear; the conclusion we'd drawn earlier just didn't feel as though it added up, and had been bugging me for clarification and correction all day.

The detail and depth in Weiwei's repeating patterns is breathtaking, and a designer's delight.  Overtones of surveillance, oppression, suppression.  The rise of Twitter, resistance, transparency through opposition.  It's bleak and hopeful and applicable to the political state in many governments the whole-World over.  It is a modern illustration of a timeless struggle.

Weiwei's LEGO art was expansive and reminiscent of 8-bit art, eliciting thoughts of the digital age in which many of his subjects relied upon in their tasks.

National Museum of the American Indian

Next we decided to visit the nearby National Museum of the American Indian.  Adrianna is part Native American, so she's visited many times and is well versed in the exhibits and history.  I, on the other hand, had never been before, and my entire knowledge of Native American history is limited one learns in 4th grade; that is, to say, I admittedly have no significant knowledge of Native American history.  Our visit was rushed because they would be closing in less than two hours, and frankly this is a museum to fully absorb a whole day would be required; I will need to return to devote an entire day to give it the attention this museum requires and deserves.

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At closing time we split a pastry in the cafeteria head off back to Virginia for dinner.

2015 Dulles Day Plane Pull and 5K / 10K on the Runway

Dulles Day 5K / 10K On the Runway

Since 2013, the Plane Pull's 20th Anniversary, Dulles Day has begun with a 5K and 10K "Run on the Runway."  2015 continued this new tradition, with runners arriving at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum to run along Dulles' R/W 1R / 19L, and adjacent taxiway.  Similarly to last year, United towed the stationary aircraft runners passed on their run to its position in the fog at sunrise.

If you're looking for the video footage, scroll to the bottom of this blog post.

The 5K / 10K sold out with 2,500 people running on one of the most notably flattest surfaces one could find outside of a competitive track.  Some familiar faces took part in the run, including some highschool and college classmates of mine with whom I ran track, as well as Dulles' Airport Manager, who has competed with his daughter in the run every year now.

Dulles Day Plane Pull

The Dulles Day Plane Pull is an annual fundraising event, taking place every year since 1993, which benefits Special Olympics.  Held the third Saturday of every September, this competition for charity draws 10,000 - 15,000 people each year, featuring dozens of display aircraft, games, prizes, concessions, and live entertainment, all in addition to the main event running all day, the Plane Pull itself.

Every year I photograph the car show first, since it is located right next to where I park my car on the apron as I cover this awesome event.  A few of these are regulars to the Dulles Day Car Show, as well as regulars to other car shows I frequent.

Dulles Day is kicked off during the Opening Ceremony, where the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department Honor Guard present our Nation's colors, the National Anthem is sung, and MWAA PD Chaplain Grant delivers an invocation prayer.  Sponsors then formally present Special Olympics with funds raised, and the festivities kick off!

The first team to pull is always the Special Olympics Team.

Kids are also able to pull non-competitively; the 1-2-3 Junk Truck is on hand for kids to get a feel for what it's like pulling an aircraft, on a smaller scale.

Dunk-A-Cop is one of Dulles Day's most popular attractions with the kids.  Dulles Day would be impossible without the cooperation of countless police, fire, and rescue agencies which donate their time and energy to help organize the event and run attractions such as the K9 Demonstration.  In this safe demonstration, officers and their K9 partners search for real explosive material hidden in a suitcase - dogs sit to signal "alarm" indicating which bag the dog detects the smell emanating from.

For the last several years, I have been privileged to fly in the helicopter that covers the "airport's open house" from the air.  Thanks to Steve Settle, a very funny guy I worked with in Engineering, who is also very integral to the planning of Dulles Day each year, for snapping this photo of me before our flight this year.

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I do love my job with all my heart.  That's the Main Terminal in the background.

Each year I do this, I not only cover the event, but I make sure to request a flyby of the Main Terminal to grab aerial photos of it.

I also have a bit of video footage from the flight, but video is not my focus.  Scroll to the bottom of this blog post to see the video.

Eero Saarinen's historic Main Terminal Building at Washington Dulles International Airport, from the back and front.  This year, construction of the new Dulles Metrorail Station can be seen in front of Daily Garage 1.

In case you were wondering, this is the view if you look down from ~400AGL.  Depending on the tightness of the turn, you may look straight outward and this will be your view.

Some people think this is scary; I think it's fun.  And don't worry; everyone and every thing is strapped in, including cameras.

If you see just one pull, make it the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office, which are now the 9x defending champions.  This year they pulled a monstrous, record-setting time of 4.753s, once again beating out the Fairfax County Sheriff's time of4.946s.

Chesapeake gets fired up; everything they do is big.  Their heaviest teammate weighs in at over 500lbs.  Because they are the reigning champs, and hands-down the Plane Pull's biggest spectacle, they are always the day's last pull.

Just Plane Mamas is another notable team, defending champs for Most Enthusiastic.  They also won this year's Slowest Pull - yes, the Plane Pull awards everything!  It's about family fun!

After the awards were presented, the airport must return to full operation.  The public departs, and most of the display aircraft "go home."  This year, the President's Osprey was on display, and was quite a sight to see depart - this was my first time seeing an Osprey flight in person.

There is video of some of these aircraft departing at the end of this blog post.

As always, the 2015 Dulles Day 5K / 10K on the Runway and Plane Pull were huge successes, with impeccable weather.  If you missed it this year, you really missed it; but make sure to mark your calendar for September, and I'll see you all there again next year!

Video Footage

Photos are of course my primary focus, however I do usually shoot a bit of video because it is so unique and interesting.  Here is a reel of all my footage from this year's Plane Pull.