Oakland Aviation Museum

Yesterday I took my camera club to the Oakland Aviation Museum.  I’d been here before but it’d been probably over a year.  There’s so much history about aviation at this museum, so I included some information about it down below for those who are interested.

May I first start by saying my admission fee was for a SENIOR CITIZEN?????  LOL!  It was my very first discount as a senior.  I’m not sure whether I should laugh or cry.  😛

When I started taking pictures of all the planes I realized that images would be mere snapshots, so I started wandering around looking to see what else I could get.   The first photo is of a shed which housed maintenance tools and it really attracted my eye mainly because of the blue and red objects.  The scene screamed HDR to me, so I took three bracketed photos to create this image.  The second photo of the wheel was tone-mapped, and the third is a lauramacky blue plate special, lol.

Hope you enjoy!

Oakland Aviation Museum

Oakland Aviation Museum

Oakland Aviation Museum

Oakland Aviation Museum, formerly called Western Aerospace Museum, was founded in 1981 as a non-profit organization operating an aviation museum located at North Field of Oakland International Airport  in Oakland, California.  It has over 30 vintage and modern airplanes, both civilian and military, and other displays that highlight noted aviators and innovators.

The Boeing School of Aeronautics was started here in this very spot where the museum is on September 16, 1929.  Incredible!  It was an entire school dedicated to training pilots, mechanics and other personnel specifically for Boeing Air Transport, the airline subsidiary of the Boeing Airplane Company.  The company chose a site at the Oakland Municipal Airport in California, the largest municipal airport in the United States at that time.

You can see more about this wonderful place here:   http://www.oaklandaviationmuseum.org/

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School the Old-Fashioned Way

I finally got back to the 1889 Tassajara Schoolhouse to see “school in session”.  Kids from around the area dress up in period costumes and have a class the old-fashioned way.  I actually didn’t plan on going to the schoolhouse this day, but at the last minute I remembered it so I thought I’d stop in.  I noticed cars outside and a sign that school was in session so I got kind of excited as I pulled off the road and grabbed my camera.

One of the men who takes care of the place was there and said the kids would be coming out anytime and right when he said that, the doors opened and out they poured all full of giggles and talking.  I was kind of disappointed I didn’t get there in time to see them all seated at the desks, but I was lucky to get there when they came out to play games.

I will preface you viewing the photos (if you got this far in the read here) that I have practically zero experience taking people photos and it shows.  It’s not something that usually floats my boat but this particular opportunity was just to good to pass up.  The kids were so cute with their little outfits!!  I really wanted to just put the camera down and watch.  I took lots of photos but decided just to include a few of the “best” ones, lol.

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Please don’t put me in the corner!

Awhile ago I had posted a picture of the Tassajara Schoolhouse built in 1889 and promised more.  I haven’t been back yet to see the kids in school dressed in period costumes, but I did pull this one from the archives and thought I’d post it.  I felt like I had been transported back in time sitting in one of the small wooden desks.  My knees loved getting out of that desk!  😉

I’m thinking now that I should’ve had a smaller aperture to show the word “Superintendent” more clearly, but at the time I was thinking blurring it would be more effective.  What do you think?  Even so, fortunately nobody will put me in the corner for it.  😛