Snow & Water Tonight, our black cloud weatherman suggests rain tomorrow morning followed by 2 – 4″ of snow tomorrow afternoon and night. Water and snow can mix quite nicely; like when a stream winds its way down hill. Hoping for more snow than rain; a lot more. There’s nothing like snow on Christmas Eve.
Sgt. Phil Boucher, WWII Photographer, an Army Air Force photographer for the 494th BG, captured some amazing images with his Speed Graphic 4×5 camera. Although a few images that pointed straight down in this portfolio were taken with a special camera mounted in the belly of the B-24, most were taken with a 4×5 Speed Graphic camera. The Speed Graphic utilized two back to back photographic plates as its film. Imagine Phil, he’s in one of the images, hanging out of a side window of a B-24 to photograph a F4U Corsair Fighter below. Actually, he met the pilot of that Corsair many years later. The pilot recognized the markings of his plane from Phil’s image.
And yes, Phil and his camera were on the small island of el Shima, just northwest of Okinawa, on 18 Aug 45 at the first meeting between the Japanese and the United States to discuss surrender. The Japanese delegation arrived on “Betty” bombers painted white with green crosses on the wings, fuselage and vertical tail. Then, the delegation was flown to Manila on a C-54 Skymaster to meet General MacArther’s staff to work out details of a surrender. Obviously, somehow Phil also made the trip to Manila.
Today, although in his 90’s, he’s still an active biker pedaling several hundred miles each year. Of course, his camera has become much smaller. Update: In 2018, Sgt. Boucher passed away at 94 years of age.
The Heart of the Volunteer from Pearl Harbor; a musical score composed by Hans Zimmer.
Wild Turkey Again What difference a day makes! Warmer light, more light, nice clouds for soft light; it’s all about the light. And, of course, the turkeys are closer.
Wild Turkey OK, it’s not the best shot. This wild turkey along with its mate, has been roaming around the wetlands recently. It turns out that wild turkey are a pretty skittish. And, they are pretty hard to sneak up upon. So, this image is my first decent image. Hopefully, I’ll capture some better images in the next few weeks.
Juvenile Bald Eagle Bald Eagles will soon be arriving at Starved Rock State Park. A few pairs nest there all year, but in January as the rivers freeze, hundreds of eagles come to fish near the locks in the river. The locks are kept open year around for commercial boats and the water near the locks remain ice free all winter.