Senior Savannah - Portraits in Virginia Horse Country

For the longest time horses have fascinated me, but I've never had the chance to go riding (yet).  So, each time I am near horses I am some combination of awestruck by their majestic nature and jealous of the people who get to ride them frequently.

Savannah takes that a step further, since she not only rides horses, but has several years of training under her belt so she may compete in equestrian show jumping and dressage events.  As we waited for a missing part of her riding uniform, Savannah showed me how she grooms and prepares her horse before a ride, and told me about what the high school is like these days - Savannah will be a Senior at my (high school) alma mater beginning this September, and is a member of the Class of 2017.

We didn't photograph any jumps because it was becoming too dark to safely perform any.

Rose Corps

Rose Corps, a synth-pop solo project, burst onto the DC music scene earlier this year with the release of their first single, “Frosted Glass;” an icy track with ambient warmth and rich vocals.  Aeron, the singer / songwriter and synthesizer player behind Rose Corps, brought her background in dancing to the streets of DC for a sultry nighttime photoshoot.

Rose Corps is currently producing her next single, expected to release later this year, but for now you can listen to “Frosted Glass” while enjoying Aeron’s pictures.

I can’t encourage you enough to go follow Rose Corps on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Reverbnation, and most importantly, go buy “Frosted Glass” on Bandcamp to help support Aeron’s new music career.

A big thank you to Patrick and Rupeng for being my human lightstands in a short-notice pinch!

Nina and Ian: Married April 4th, 2016

Nina and Ian met me through Nina's brother Bayard, who I've had the pleasure of working with now and then since we first met in 2005, most recently working together at the Castleton Festival's annual gala.  The weekend Nina and Ian got married was a twofer; Amy and Brandon's wedding in rural Maryland was two days beforehand.

Nina and Ian's wedding day was threatened by rain showers, but luckily the bands narrowly missed Ida Lee Park, located in the heart of Leesburg, Virginia, only kicking up some wind and sprinkles during our portrait session.  By evening, the sky had cleared for a pink and orange sunset.  The party continued that cool night until Nina and Ian's friends and family gathered to light sparklers and send the newlywed couple off to their honeymoon.

As always, the fantastic Eddie Kyle assisted me in photographing Nina and Ian's big day.  Check him out on Facebook and his website!

LATAM Airlines at Washington Dulles International Airport

Yesterday, LATAM Airlines began non-stop service from Lima, Peru, to Washington, DC, with the inaugural flight landing at Dulles on a stormy afternoon.  Currently, LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines operate as independent air carriers under LATAM Airlines Group, but in the coming months will merge and rebrand together to form LATAM Airlines.

The aircraft arriving from Peru, landed on R/W 19R due to a quickly approaching storm cell a few miles off of the airport.  After battling a significant crosswind, the first LAN flight to Dulles arrived with the thunderstorm brewing behind it.  Guests were shuttled to the gate to witness the ceremonial water arch before heading inside for the ribbon cutting ceremony... and of course, cake: an airline tradition!

SOARING - A Short Film by J. David Buerk

Recently I accompanied my friend Ellen up to Connecticut to help her buy a new car - a metallic green Nissan Xterra.  In this case, one of only two green Xterras for sale on the East Coast.  After buying the car, we convoyed back down to Blairstown, New Jersey, a small township roughly 60 miles West of New York City.  Blairstown is home to Blair Academy, a prep school, and Blairstown Airport, a single runway public use airfield that is a base for Jersey Ridge Soaring, a glider business owned by Ellen's parents.

It's long been a dream of mine to get a pilots license and learn to fly an aircraft recreationally.  I flew twice that day; my first flight was scenic, and the second was an actual flight lesson where I was on the stick most of the flight - my first time actually flying an aircraft!

Without further ado, I present to you a short film I assembled from the bits of footage I gathered that day.

For months Ellen has been begging me to come and try flying in a glider, and for months I've told her, "aircraft are supposed to have engines." I've been in small aircraft plenty of times; mostly helicopters, but even a hot air balloon, which of course isn't powered.  If anything, I finally realized gliders are safer in that you can actually steer them.

My first flight was scenic, encompassing the photos and video footage you see here.  My second flight, after gaining just 500AGL, I was told, "Ok, follow the tow plane!"  Basically as soon as we were off the ground I was given control of the aircraft.  There were only two instances where it was a bit too much and I gave back the controls (beyond departure and landing); once while getting kicked around during towing, and once when a thermal became a bit too strong for my (lack of) skill level.

I'd managed to find and get centered in a 400ft/min thermal, gaining over 1,000 feet in altitude, before the updraft mixed with the crosswind was getting too dicey for my own inexperienced comfort at the controls.  That's a pretty solid thermal to latch onto, and a far cry from the first flight, which hardly had any thermal activity, lending itself to a short, ~40min flight.  The second flight was a little under an hour long.  What threw me off the most during my stick time was the lack of feedback through the stick, as well as how much movement it had available; at some points it felt as if my legs were in the way of the stick.  Also, there was the slight delay for inputs which also befuddled.  I found it interesting that the gliders' airspeed is in MPH instead of knots.  Both flights we were towed up to 2,500ft before releasing, and reached a max altitude of ~3,500ft on the second flight.

Glider aircraft are also called sailplanes because of their similarity to sailing a sailboat; wind currents are your friend, but you must know how to use them.  Flying in the sailplane feels like flying in a sky kayak.

I skipped over it, but immediately after buying Ellen's truck, we all got dinner at a Texas Roadhouse in Connecticut - Alyssa had driven over from Woonsocket, Rhode Island to catch dinner with me and my friends (you should have come flying with us!).  After dinner, we departed for Blairstown for a weekend flying, which you just read about.

Gliders are definitely something I will be doing again, though I find it ironic that I still have not been up in a single-engine airplane.  I can't wait to get more flight time in!