Moffett Field

Here are some shots from Moffett Field in Mountain View.  For those of you that have never heard of Moffett Field before, here is a link to check out the amazing history behind both the military base and the Ames Research Center (NASA) that is right next door.

Moffett Field

NASA Ames Research Center

For the three years that we have been living in Mountain View we thought that this base was off limits to civilians.  As it turns out there is a museum on the base that anyone can access (as long as you have a stated issued ID to get past the front gates).  It is pretty crazy to drive up to the base and pass a red line in the road that reads "Government Land."

Once on the base there is so much to see.  The base is still active, however much of the base is in "arrested decay," so basically the buildings are in disrepair and they look as if they have not been used since 1960.  Also, there are booster rockets sitting around in parking lots (see image 3 below).

One of the buildings that I was immediately drawn to was the abandoned McDonald's that is on the base.  I read a couple of years ago that someone discovered hundreds of reels of high resolution footage of the moon in this McDonald's that the government had forgotten about since the 60s.  Since discovering the footage a team of experts has been digitizing the reels so they are not lost forever.  You can read more about this awesome find at the link below.

Moffett Field Mcdonalds

Abandoned McDonalds

Hanger One (Currently being dismantled)

Booster Rocket

Official Site is up!

Well I finally have my site up and running.  Turns out it takes sometime to get the design and layout just the way that you like it.

I will still be updating my blog with daily shots that I take.

http://www.bbraunphotography.com/

Shattered Window

Quick post for today. Had some fun in Photoshop.

Fort Point Part 2

Here are a couple of more pictures from Fort Point.

Fort Point is the oldest fort on the west coast. The construction of the fort was started in 1853. This was shortly after California became the 31st state in 1850, and the Army and Navy felt a need for a fort to secure the San Francisco Bay. A 90 foot cliff was blasted down to 15 feet in order defend the maximum amount of the harbor.

Though the Fort never saw action (there was a planned attack in August 1865 but it never happened due to the war ending), it was operational with guards until the end of Civil War. In 1892 the cannons were dismantled and sold for scraps. The only other time that the fort housed men was during the construction of the Golden Gate bridge in the 1930s, and it was not until October 1970 that it was declared a National Historic Site.

Fort Point

Spent some time this afternoon at Fort Point in San Francisco. I was able to get a TON of great shots, and figured before I share the best of the best I will post two from the beginning of the adventure.

Brooklyn Bridge

I will admit I am a huge sucker when it comes to the Brooklyn Bridge. It is iconic, it is unique and something about it screams NEW YORK! I have pictures of the brooklyn bridge that I have taken at all different times in the past 9 years and they all amaze me.

Maybe it is the fact that a bridge can take you from a land that you are use to to a land that is yet to be explored. Maybe it is the history behind the bridge and the blood and sweat that went into building such an iconic piece.

Bridges always seem to be one of those items that defines an area. You have of course the Brooklyn Bridge, but you also have the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia. While all of them are of course bridges there is something about all of them that speak to the people in that area, the culture, and the land.

Here is a collection of pictures of some of the bridges that I have spoken about above.

Brooklyn Bridge

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Sorry about delay in getting posts up. I have been working on getting my new website designed (will be up soon), as well as getting some products for sale on Zazzle.

While walking through the streets of San Francisco today something spooked a group of pigeons which in turned spooked the heck out of me when they all came flying towards me in a wall of pigeon feathers and potential bombs of pigeon droppings. While sheilding my face from disaster I was able to snap this shot with my free hand. Enjoy!