Very little wind, but what little there was made itself known in my landing at MadCo. I needed a little right wing down to hold the runway centerline against the light crosswind from the right, and the touchdown was smooth enough, but I somehow ended up riding the left wheel like a unicycle down the runway. Tiring of the rather quickly, I planted the right wheel back down where it belonged with some right aileron. Not satisfied with the overall quality of the arrival, I taxied back and took off for another try. For some reason, Papa tried the same trick on the second landing, but this time I was ready for it.
Papa took 24 gallons at $4.47 per, and I marveled at the fact that this somehow felt like a reprieve. $5.00+ a gallon will do that to you, I guess.
The ride back was nice, with the clear, clear air making the barns and cars and other objects on the ground so sharp and well-defined that it almost looked like a gigantic HO train set. Papa was far better behaved back on his home runway, and we patted ourselves on our respective backs for pulling off such a greaser.
The next hour and a half was spent bouncing around the yard on my single-seater, grooming the grass back to an appearance of civility. Finished with just enough time to gather up my photos and head into town, I even managed to get the registration for the festival done.
Each entrant is limited to three photos, which makes the selection very difficult. I try to find a balance between pictures I just plain like and pictures that I think will appeal to the judges. There's money involved, after all. Last year was the first time I had entered anything, and I actually came away with an Honorable Mention, aka 4th place. Oh well, $10 is $10, and the competition was pretty tough.
Here are the photos that I finally selected for this year:
(And remember: click on the picture to see a larger version)
I titled this one "Grand Solitude." While it's a picture that I really like, it was entered primarily because the wife really, really, really likes it. I don't know whether the judges will like it, though. For all I know, it's just a picture of a bird. But I like it a lot. If you didn't know that he was sitting in a tree no more than 5' from the edge of the canyon, you'd think I had to hover in a helicopter to get a shot like that, and even then you'd need a huge lens and a gyro stabilizer.
This one I called "Mid-life Reflections." I think this is the most artistic of the bunch, in that I think there is a pretty obvious metaphor in it, at least from the point-of-view of a 46 year old. The reflections in the two mirrors present a couple of ways of looking at what's behind me (the long road behind is a little fuzzy, but the closer view is still clear), the crispness of the mirror itself represents the sharpness and clarity of today, and the blurry graveyard shows that while I have a pretty good idea of where I'm headed, the path is still unclear.
It's also a picture that the wife disparagingly calls "a picture of a mirror." Hey, she got to pick the bird picture, right? I'm not saying that I entered it out of spite, mind you, but if it were to actually win something, well, I'm not above a little "I told you so." Plus the fact that the taking of the picture was a completely unplanned, purely impulsive act as I was just driving along would lend a delicious touch of irony if it were to win over my carefully crafted pictures. And I just love irony!
This is one I selected 1) because the B&W category was under populated last year, and 2) because my friend Guy, who himself is a photography and airplane aficionado, really liked it. And you know what? I like it too!
In case you're wondering what didn't make the cut:
Hey, Van's turned it down for the calendar, so it must not be that good.
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