The Tennis Court Photo

Photographer’s Note

Tennis pro Roger Federer - who is of course OUR national hero in Switzerland - is now proud papa of twin girls so I thought it might be appropriate to make the connection :))) and celebrate with him and the world. Don’t take me too serious, okay, but this is what fills our newspapers these days and I mean every once in a while it is nice to hear and read something positive, isn’t it! Also me had an “oh so cute” phase the other day when I saw pictures of the babies. LOL.

Anyway, this picture was taken on the approach to Grand Junction Airport (from a Cessna 172) and this is the moment when Benno wants me to “think” with him - and especially looking out if there is nobody else in the approach sector - instead of taking pictures but when the airport is controlled he does not mind and I went ahead (many of the little airfields are not and you just land, with some rules of course, talking over the radio telling everyone “out there” where you are, in case there is someone else that wants to land at the same field at the same moment). Gran Junction Airport is usually pretty busy but nothing compared to an international airport of course. It has all sorts of traffic including air force but the controller brings you down so you do not have to worry too much about an FA18 behind you, they separate you from faster moving aircrafts.

The only problem when trying to land was xy to be honest with you. He is one of the air traffic controllers sitting in the Grand Junction Tower but if this guy is in a bad mood, honestly it is even for Americans hard to understand what he wants, not to speak about us who’s language is not English. So after Benno said several times “say again” this guy got really mad and spoke even faster and I mean you do not want to land if you are not “cleared to land”. Just so awful, it makes you nervous and when we returned the key to the renter’s office, they asked how it was and Benno said well okay but he did not understand this guy in the tower and Tina said “oh you mean xy, yeah we are aware of the problem”. What a relief that it was not us but how dangerous, this guy should rather work at Safeway controlling how much tins are left in the shelf :))) instead of scaring off pilots!!!

jwmunro, crhieatt, feather, Dyerco, PixelTerror, ktanska, burraburra, ciakgiak, gunbud, ChrisJ, wolf38, rigoletto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

avene (11138) 2009-08-11 10:48

ah, vertical again :) I think I've told you before that your "from the air" photos remind me of SimCity, everything looks like toy towns with toy cars on the streets. another fascinating shot from a vantage point most of us will never see.
your story about Todd is quite scary actually. I'm flying to Europe tomorrow, I hope the pilot of my plane is lucky and avoids Todd-like characters :)

regards,
Kristine

crhieatt (5145) 2009-08-11 10:51

Barbara,

Okay - but that still leaves 42,999 on the hard drive!!! :-)))

Federer - twin girls - I'd not heard that - I'm way out of touch - maybe they'll see off the Williams' sisters - Williams' grannies - as they'll be by 2027!!

Yes, but what about the photo? I hear you ask. It's an odd one Barbara! (I'm one to talk!) - it has a random quality - (almost like it was taken out of the window of an aeroplane coming in to land) - the landscape, the urban scenery, speeding by in it's own overly ordered -but somehow randomly placed way - quite typical of American townscapes to be this way - apparent even on the ground.

Cheers
Have a good eve! Say hi to Roger!

Colin

jwmunro (6255) 2009-08-11 13:27

Hello Barbara -

I really had to chuckle with your note and the local controller. This is kind-of back water USA and the FAA probably doesn't really pay that much attention. Should old xy get enough complaints from the airplane drivers he could get the boot. This is really P***-poor attention to detail on xy's part.

I like your image as it is something most of us never see since small town airports are not on the usual commercial run. I know GJ has some commercial but it is limited.

Thank you for sharing and the note.

John

feather (50144) 2009-08-11 13:40

I love reading your stories. You always make them interesting, but in this case it could be dangerous. You should have asked him to tell it in German. That would have riled him even more. We don't get to see these bird's eye views very often. It is so satisfyingly graphic. Imagine a similar area in Europe with all kinds of twists in the roads. Well done
Kath

delpeoples (6756) 2009-08-11 15:08

Hi Barbara, what a birds' eye view! I can see you like climbing! What I like about this photo are the different shapes and patterns the subjects take on that when you're on ground level, you never appreciate. You've used the vertical framing well to add to this effect. Nice spotting and unique composition, TFS, Lisa.

Dyerco (9302) 2009-08-11 20:50

Hi Barbara
A fitting tribute to Mr Federer. Your story about the air traffic controller is a little unerving but thankfully you landed okay and got the picture to boot.
Phil

PixelTerror (86839) 2009-08-11 23:51

Hoi Barbara
LOL mit dem xy, so macht man fliegen sicherer ! Wenn alle davon wissen, sollte der Typ ausgetauscht werden... Aber so lange Du oben warst, hast Du eine YAB Perspektive über die Welt gehabt, oder sollte man dem YAB mitteilen, es heisst die Welt von einer Baba-Perspektive ;-)
Liebe Grüsse, JY

ktanska (16695) 2009-08-12 0:19

Hi Barbara,
Breen and brown tones match well. Especially variations of brown on almost identical buildings look fun. One player on one tennis court, three on another, how odd.
Kari

burraburra (906) 2009-08-12 2:26

Hi Barbara,
Great aerial shot (as usual) :)
Love your note. I visualized Benno pleading with you to put the camera down and help 'think' with him :))
Note: Dear YX, you are a bully.
Thanks for sharing :)))
Graham.

Waylim (11157) 2009-08-12 15:32

Hello Barbara,
I don't know if I would be in the mood take any photo when the other person is having problem trying to land. Some experience you have.

Typical small town house, almost all of them are the same shape and size, same design to cut cost. That the way we build houses here. We do have plenty of land for many tennis court, some were never really use. But it is nice to know when you want to you can. From the skit marks of the tire where the two are are parked. We know they travel mostly to the left and not to the right. Good shot.

Have a nice morning when you get up.

Way

aadilj (17950) 2009-08-13 5:11

hey Barbara, everytime you do a bird's eye view you do something to my senses. I like this pov and this perspective

Nicou (45711) 2009-08-13 8:26

Hello Barbara,

Génail graphise sur ces courts de tennis avec le tois des maisons, on voit même de petit tache jaune que font le bouleu sur le court, superbe compo.

bravo et amitié

Nicou

ciakgiak (11250) 2009-08-13 14:30

Hello Barbara,
my best congratulations for your great hero, a champion that is also an idol for me, because I like tennis so much.
And, of course, I like a lot this aerial view, an unusual POV for a very pleasant scene. And now I go to sleep... :-))
A dear hug
Giorgio

gunbud (28161) 2009-08-13 16:33

Hi Barbara,
This very imaginative airel photo makes an excellent tie-in to Roger and the two lovely additions to his family.
Love the patters and textures of these tightly grouped homes.
Regards, Tom

ChrisJ (70443) 2009-08-14 3:50

Hi Barbara

An incredible downward pov, almost resembling a satellite image in Google Maps! Good sharpness, & a nice juxtapositioning of the house roofs, against the tennis courts. Bon weekend!

wolf38 (13111) 2009-08-16 8:25

Hallo Barbara. Der Blick von oben gewährt völlig neue Einblicke. Ich staune über die hohe Qualität des Photos, bei der Google maps nicht mithalten kann. Insgesamt ein sehenswertes und gekonnt realisiertes Photo. Und wie immer: vorbildlicher und lebendiger Text. Viele Grüße, Wolfgang.

speedymanu (1594) 2009-08-19 7:58

Hello Barbara

a stunning graphic composition. It reminds me of Robert Adams' work on suburbia.

Great photo.

Emmanuel

rigoletto (26792) 2009-08-19 10:55

Hi Barbara,
I've checked your gallery, and it is like a manifestation on minimalism! I like a lot your vision, how you see all your surroundings in such a pleasant and peacefully "simple" way.
And amongst your latest shares, i am stuck to this GoogleEarthean photo, most probably zoomed in from a sattelite flying high above :))
The humble color rendering also add to its striking simplicity. TFS,
Deniz

giorgimer (21478) 2009-09-15 5:28

Hi Barbara,

really original shot, your POV works perfectly, very nice crop

TFS

G