Travel « Mike Lesnick Photography's Blog

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

AHSP “Almost Heaven Star Party”

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

This year I went to the Almost Heaven Star Party at The Mountain Institute in West VA with my brother Stephen. We were both volunteers which meant we got to spend an extra couple of days up on the mountain before everyone else showed up. I got some great photos of the Milky Way and had a blast spending time with my brother. By the time all the other attendees arrived Hurricane Irene was really hitting hard so it made it difficult for anyone to view any stars the last two nights up on the mountain. However, I didn’t mind and just enjoyed the time spent with my brother and meeting new people. Despite the storm the activities continued through which I met Erin, who I am currently dating and has taken on an active role in my business. Who would’ve thought I could meet someone so amazing in such a random place.

Mike Lesnick – Washington, DC Wedding Photographer

Tags: AHSP, Almost Heaven Star Party, The Mountain Institute
Posted in Astronomy, Fun, Photos, Travel | No Comments »

USS Enterprise Tiger Cruise

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

I was excited to learn that the US Navy has a program called the “Tiger Cruise” where civilians related to sailors can take a cruise with them. Excited because my brother Brian, is assigned to the USS Enterprise, the first atomic powered aircraft carrier and he was my key to such a cruise! The carrier was returning from a mission in the Middle East supporting war operations and I was approved to accompany the ship on the final days of its deployment. After spending a few days with my Dad in Charlotte I flew to Jacksonville, Florida where I met the Enterprise in Mayport and departed on a three day trip. Luxury cruise this was not – we “Tigers” got a real taste of what is is like to be stationed aboard this huge naval ship. A cramped bunk, close quarters, constant activity, hard work and the cafeteria style food made me glad I was being deployed for 3 days and not the 6 months these sailors had seen! The crew put on quite show for us, launching and recovering aircraft, demonstrating the ability of the fighter jets, providing tours of the ships operational and functional areas and pretty much let us have free range of the ship. I recorded the cruise with over 3000 photos – this situation was a photographers dream. We arrived in Norfolk to a huge crowd of family and friends of the crew on the pier to welcome their loved ones home with cheers, music, banners and balloons. What a thrilling adventure! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and although I really now appreciate the job our sailors are doing to keep us safe I think I will keep my job on terra firma as a photographer.

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My grandparents let me stay at their place the night before the cruise and then drove me to Mayport. They were excited to see brian home safe also.

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This is the hanger deck which is below the flight deck. It is amazing to think that this is all onboard a moving vessel!

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I was in the top bunk because it had “more head room” since there wasn’t a bunk above it. Those bars over top of it however made it impossible to turn over since my shoulders are wider than the space is tall. Thankfully I only had to sleep there two nights!

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By brother, Brian

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Leaving Mayport

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This was Brian’s workspace for his 6 month cruise. He shared this area with 4 other sailors.. it was cramped with the three of us in there!

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These are the escort ships. They were always around even though most of the time they were way off in the distance. The came in close for the air show though, it was really cool.

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Brian is assigned to the “Screwtops” and works on the planes between missions.

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Once we landed in Norfolk there was a bit of down time before we were able to leave the ship. With so many people on board (5000 sailors on average) I was actually surprised how quickly everything went.

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My sister brought my niece Katherine along to surprise brian.

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Mike Lesnick – Washington, DC Wedding Photographer

Tags: Mike Lesnick Photography, Navy, Tiger Cruise, USS Enterprise
Posted in Fun, Photos, Travel | No Comments »

Sherrills Ford Fire Department Photos

Monday, July 11th, 2011

While visiting my Dad in North Carolina, I was asked if could photograph the apparatus fleet of the local fire rescue department. The Sherrills Ford Terrell FR serves a semi rural area of Catawba County 20 miles north of Charlotte. It is a combination fire rescue department which runs about 1000 calls per year from 4 stations. Go to http://sftfr.net/ for more. They assembled the fleet on the shores of Lake Norman, a 500 square mile lake of which they cover over 100 miles of shore line. The nearby Denver Fire Department kindly provided their Aerial Tower which provided a moveable stable platform from which I could work. We waited until dusk to reduce shadows then I shot the photographs. The firemen then moved all the apparatus to the side lot of Duke Energy’s Marshall Steam Electrical generating plant which is also in the SFTFR first due area. It was now well into the evening and the darkness provided for interesting photographs.

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Mike Lesnick – Washington, DC Wedding Photographer

Tags: NC, North Carolina, Sherrills Ford, Sherrills ford fire, Turrell
Posted in Fire Department, Fun, Photos, Travel | No Comments »

WPPI Conference – Las Vegas

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

I went to Las Vegas for the WPPI conference but I figured since I was going out there anyway I mite as well make a vacation out of it. My brother, Stephen, came along and we spent a week seeing the sites and having fun Vegas Style!

This is my brother Stephen..

This is a view of the inside of the Venetian, it was absolutely incredible!

My brother and I both like pinball. We heard that there is a pinball museum in Vegas called the Pinball Hall of Fame so we decided to check it out. From the outside it was a little scary but once you got inside it was amazing! We had so much fun playing all the tables, we actually went back another day.