Video: Accident in the Air

For years I've had the pleasure of photographing the amazing feats of pilots at various Airshows in the United States.  I'm always amazed at the precision and skill of those maneuvering their craft with technical mastery.  Of course with aircrafts that pass each other at hundreds of miles per hour just inches apart, and planes being pushed to the very limit, there is always the chance of danger.  Thankfully, I've never witnessed any accidents, and I hope I never do.

When I saw this video, chills crept up my spine.  As reported by AV WEB "Kyle and Amanda Franklin, a young husband and wife aerobatic and wingwalking team, were seriously injured after the Waco Mystery Ship they use in their routine caught fire in flight during a performance at the Brownsville/South Padre Island Air Fiesta Saturday. The Brownsville Herald reports Amanda Franklin was on the wing of the Waco "Mystery Ship" when fire erupted from the engine at low altitude, all of which is visible in video shot by a member of the audience. Amanda was able to get into a seat while her husband made the best of a very bad situation as the aircraft came down in a wooded area and burned. Emergency crews responded almost immediately, apparently while the aircraft was still coming down. They arrived and drove through the shorter brush to douse the flames. Kyle's worst injuries may have been suffered while trying to remove his wife from flames in the forward cockpit. Amanda was more seriously burned."

In researching their condition, I found this quote from Matt Younkin (Amanda's brother): 

"All, Please forward this letter on to who ever you see fit...

Good morning all. Let me first express on behalf of Amanda, Kyle, Myself and both of our families so many thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes. We are all so fortunate to have such a wonderful support network in all of you. We are still waiting for updates and it could be many hours, days, or weeks before we know exactly how the recovery process will play out between Amanda and Kyle. I can however report that Kyle was not injured and or burned as badly as reported earlier by the media and is expected to make a full and rapid recovery. I can also say that the updates we are receiving on Amanda are increasingly optimistic and though she has a long road of recovery ahead of her, the doctors are giving us the impression that things are not as bad as first reported and her chances for a full recovery are getting better not worse. The first 24 hours will set the tone for the story ahead.
I also have to extend a very sincere thanks to my brother-in-law Kyle who I strongly credit for the fact that my little sister is still with us. Having witnessed the accident and being on of the first on the scene, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that he made no less than five quick decisions in the air and on the ground that gave her a second chance at life!! When the engine quit, Amanda was on the top wing in the rack. Kyle continued to fly the airplane in a straight and level fashion as long as he could to give Amanda every opportunity to unstrap and get into the front cockpit where she would have the best chance in the event of a hard landing. He also resisted the tendency to turn for the pavement which typically induces a fatal stall/spin situation. He avoided a landing in the pyro field which could have proven to be fatal, and faced with the only other option of land in mesquite woods, Kyle landed into the wind drastically reducing the forward speed at impact. Upon reaching the scene, I noticed that he set the airplane down in the only Waco sized piece of ground in that dense woods that didn't have tall trees in it. Kyle sustained the majority of his burns trying to pull his wife from the wreckage and when his efforts produced no results, he stayed in the cockpit and transmitted a repeating distress call about the post impact fire that had started. I honestly believe this motivated the rapid responders to press through the brush and douse the airplane at a more rapid rate which meant the split second difference that saved Amanda, who was still in the plane. The first responders on the scene did an excellent job of responding to the situation in a rapid manner. Having a professional air boss teamed up with professional CFR personnel made a world of difference that could be the single most important factor that both Amanda and Kyle are still with us. Please continue to send your thoughts and prayers this direction because we sincerely believe they are helping. I will pass updates along as I receive them."

Please join me in wishing Kyle and Amanda a speedy recovery.

New Video: How NYIP Has Helped Me

We asked students and grads to make a short (30 seconds - 2 minutes) video of themselves talking about how NYIP has helped their photography. Check out this one from Kathleen Malinowski Popola. She even shares some of her beautiful images, and details why NYIP worked for her. Well done!  Thank you for sharing your story Kathleen.  If you would like to see more of Kathleen's photography, she recently set up a website at www.photographybykathleen.smugmug.com

We love to hear about all of the exciting things that our students and grads are doing with their photography. We're proud to have trained more successful photographers than any other school in the world. And now, we want to hear from YOU!

If you would like to submit a short (30 seconds - 2 minutes) video talking about how NYIP has helped you, just upload it to YouTube, and share the link with us here.

We can't wait to hear what you have to say. Open submissions until 4/15/11.

Marching Into Women's Photography

2010Gertrude Käsebier (American, 1852-1934)

Blessed Art Thou Among Women, 1899

Platinum print, 9 3/8 x 5 5/8" (23.8 x 14.3 cm)

Click to read more ...

NYIP Contest Watch

NYIP's Contest Watch provides information on international, national and regional photo contests that you might want to enter. Here are the lastest photography contests to check out:

Outdoor Photographer Magazine's 2nd Annual The Great Outdoors Photo Contest

Have you ever wanted to hang with the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba? If the answer to that question is a great big "Heck, Yes!" then you might want to enter this contest from Outdoor Photographer Magazine. The Grand Prize winner will go on a Polar Bear Adventure for two from Natural Habitat Adventures, have their picture published in the magazine, plus get a host of new gear including a Gitzo tripod and a Tamrac bag. You have to enter by April 4th for your chance for this or one of the other prizes.

Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011

The deadline is looming for the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 photography competition. If you want to enter this British contest sponsored by London's Natural History Museum, BBC's Wildlife Photographer Magazine, and Veolia Environment, you'll have to do so by March 18th. Winners will share £24,500 in prize money, will be invited to the awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London, will have their photos in the Museum's exhibition, be published in BBC Wildlife Magazine and in a commemorative hardback book. The competition "seeks to promote the discovery, understanding, responsibility and enjoyment of the natural world." There are eleven categories you can enter including Animals in their Environment, Behavior: Birds, Mammals and other Animals, Underwater World, Animal Portraits, Urban Wildlife, Nature in Black-and-White. The rules of what can and cannot be entered are pretty specific and there's an entry fee too, so head on over to the contest Web site to learn more.

iExplore Photo Safari Contest

The travel site iExplore has kicked off  the Photo Safari Contest for those who love to photograph their travels —no matter where in the world they were taken.  The winner will go on a $9,000 "Classic Kenya Safari" for two as well as other prizes.The contest runs from February 8 through April 22, 2011 and is judged by a panel of nine award-winning travel photographers, media writers and as well as by popular vote.

Epson International Pano Awards

Epson's International Pano Awards is open for all professional and amateur panoramic photographers and features $25,000 in cash and prizes.Winning photos will also be featured in an exhibit at the PMA Photo Imaging Trade Show in Sydney, June 2011. There's a number of different categories you can enter depending on whether you are a professional photographer, amateur or student and whether you are shooting VR/360 'immersive' images or for photos with a minimum 2:1 panoramic ratio. There's an entry fee for this contest as well. You have until April 15th to enter.

For tips on how to enter and win photo contests, check out NYIP.com's Contest Tip Collection.

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Tune in on YouTube. Visit the Official Site at NYIP.com

Are Your Photos Safe on Facebook?

To the students of the New York Institute of Photography, this is a message to BEWARE!

 

I am an instructor at the New York Institute of Photography and like many of us have been on the social network, Facebook. I used it to keep in touch with family and friends, and to display my work for feedback and to keep people abreast of what I have been working on in the past few months.

Two weeks ago, Facebook informed me that I was "disabled" permanently for using a false name. Now some of you may know me as your instructor and others may have listened to the podcasts on the New York Institute's site, I can assure you that my name is Beth Shapiro Green and other than getting married 35 years ago and adding Green that is my name. In fact I own the Web site www.bethgreen.com. So there maybe a glitch in their system, but there is no way to contact the Facebook people other than an email begging to be "re-enable".

I have done some research on this and apparently in the latter part of 2010, thousands and thousands of women were targeted for "disabling" (this sounds like words from the book "1984", where the future is bleak and our speech and actions are arbitrarily controlled).

The real danger about all of this is in the notification that by disabling my account they will not return my pictures. Most of my pictures are under copyright protection and have water marks, but not all. This is a very dangerous situation I have been put in, because my art work, the images that I show and sell, are all limited editions and they are sitting on the Facebook server.

So users BEWARE! I would not recommend putting important pictures on Facebook. Instead have it linked to a site you can control. I have no idea how to solve the problem, but I can at least warn my students and colleagues. I'll let you know when and if I am able to resolve the problem.

Beth Shapiro Green

Instructor at the New York Institute of Photography