One Man's Blog

Photos from the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Parade

June 8, 2010 By John P. 3 Comments

As you guys know, I went to the Indy 500 last week. It’s taking me a little too long to upload my photos, but I’m getting around to it! First of all, on Saturday before the big race day Indianapolis holds a huge parade in downtown, where literally all of the drivers and big shots involved in the race came down the street.

I camped out amidst a crowd of people and fired away as the celebs rode by. All of these photos were shot with my Canon 5D Mark II and I used two different lenses. Primarily the 70-200mm Canon 2.8 IS, but also my Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 for a few of them.

If you look close you’ll see Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle), Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady), Danica Patrick (the GoDaddy Girl / F1 driver), a bunch of Andrettis, Jeff Foster (from the Indiana Pacers), Krista White (from America’s Next Top Model), the entire George family (owners of the Indy Motor Speedway), and a slew of others!

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Filed Under: Photography, Travel, Vehicles Tagged With: Indy 500, Parade, Photography, Travel, Vehicles

Time Lapse Video of the Space Shuttle Discovery

June 2, 2010 By John P. 4 Comments

Thanks to Mitch over at Planet5D for finding this little gem…

Six weeks, and over 100 hours of footage shot on several Canon EOS 5D Mark IIs culminate in this remarkable, 4-minute time lapse of the second to last Space Shuttle Discovery launch.

With the help of everyone from shuttle technicians to crane operators to escorts (86-year-old NASA retiree Charlie Parker was particularly valuable in squiring Andrewsâ€™ team around) the photographers positioned multiple camerasâ€”up to nine at any one timeâ€”inside the cavernous assembly building to click away while the orbiter, fuel tank, and twin solid rocket boosters were â€œstackedâ€ for launch.

Scott Andrews figures the finished video represents tens of thousands of individual frames and at least 100 hours of shooting, using the highest-resolution digital single-lens-reflex cameras on the market. Jirman did the color correction, which took a week alone.

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Filed Under: Photography, Vehicles, Videos Tagged With: 5D Mark II, Canon, Cool, Discovery, Photography, Space, Space-Shuttle, Time-Lapse, Video

Washington DC is the Sexually Transmitted Disease Capital of the US! (But Your State’s Got ‘em Too…)

June 1, 2010 By John P. 3 Comments

Well folks, hang on to your hats, because according to Google’s Public Data Explorer it appears that most of the Sexually transmitted diseases tracked by the CDC are generally on the decline, with the exception of Chlamydia (caused by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria), which is skyrocketing!

And guess, what? The chlamydia capital of the US is none other than our nation’s capital, Washington DC!

A Little Bit About Chlamydia

Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States.
It is estimated that about 2.3 million individuals in the United States ages 14-39 are infected with chlamydia.
Between half and three-quarters of all women who have a chlamydia do not know that they are infected.
It can linger for months or years before being discovered.

The good news is that it’s not gonna kill you, though it could permanently harm reproductive organs. Treatment basically involves taking antibiotics and going on your way. Of course, there is still the little matter that if you live in Washington DC about 1.2% of fellow Washingtonians are walking around ready to give you the disease again!

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