In Hope that Ansel Would Approve…

Having only spent about 30 minutes at the Wright Brothers National Memorial for photos, I wanted more. Riley has been such a good dog that I felt a “wanna-go-for-a-ride” reward was in order. Figuring there would be less people thereby less distractions for the boy, we waited until Monday to assault Kill Devil Hills again. It was a good choice.

This time I wanted to concentrate on things other than the obelisk. In the memorial parking lot, Riley sat on the ground next to Mack and was very patient with me. Once all my gear was readied — one wide angle camera on my custom-made suspender strap, one long lens camera over my shoulder and Riley’s 16-foot reel-type leash affixed to my belt — we started touristing. Oh, and I had two doggie bags in my pocket.

To my very pleasant surprise Riley responded perfectly to my voice commands. I fully expected to have many tugs on my belt when he became interested in some smell. There were very few times I actually had to pull on his leash.

A little side note here about my boy. From our first meeting I felt he had the heart and soul of a good dog. He just needed some love and positive guidance. There were a few times early in our relationship when we almost reached the end. I am glad I never made that Wrong Decision. He is everything I want and could ever ask for in a canine companion. Riley is a Great Dog!

For those who do not know, there were actually four “heavier than air” flights accomplished by the Wright brothers that December 17, 1903, each successively longer than the last. The park service memorialized the place and distance of those flights with five markers: one large stone at the take-off point and one marking the end of each flight (see photo).

I walked around this group of markers looking for an interesting angle to photograph from. Well, nature takes its course and Riley — you guessed it — lifted his leg and properly anointed the take-off point marker. The boy has no respect for the pioneers. Ha-ha. I am glad we were the only ones there at the moment. Whew!

This place is huge. A life-size stainless steel sculpture depicting the first moment of flight stands on one side of the obelisk. It’s titled “December 17, 1903,” and was created by Stephan H. Smith. Because I had an artistic idea for that sculpture we got back in Mack and headed over that way. The road winds around the Memorial Hill showing many different angles, and I saw one view I could not pass up. With a screech of the tires, I did a snap turn to a parking spot. Riley said “What the…?”

Many of you know I admire Ansel Adams, whom I consider to be the greatest technical artistic photographer ever. And here was something I think he would be proud to have. I will let this image explain itself. Except for the post-processing black and white conversion, it is exactly as I photographed it. To date, this is my proudest work of the trip. The Brothers were smiling on me again.

To close this extended photo trip dialog here are two more images of the first flight sculpture. One as it is and one I modified to make it look as if it were taken back in 1903.