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| Welcome to The Web Page of Carolyn Willis! |
| Here's a photo of me, taken in 2004. You won't find me in many photos, as I am usually the one BEHIND the camera! I have a photography business called Carolyn Willis Photography. Take a look at the Photo Gallery Page for some of my photos...and browse the other pages for photos of my family. |
I LOVE aircraft and flying, which might have come from the fact that both of my parents worked for airlines when I was born, and
while my mom was pregnant with me, she used to taxi commercial aircraft into hangars for the night. I like to tell people I've been
flying before I was born! My dad worked for Northwest Airlines in Great Falls, Montana. When I was 10 years old, he'd put me
on the morning flight from Great Falls to Minneapolis, and give me a roll of dimes. I'd spend a few hours in the Minneapolis
terminal (which I knew like the back of my hand) playing the pinball machines, and I'd catch the afternoon flight home in time to
go home with my dad from work. Occasionally I'd talk him into sending me to Seattle for the day and I'd do the same thing. That
was back in the 1960s when things were much safer. Now I'd be afraid to send my kids flying anywhere by themselves, let alone
having them spend the day alone in a big airport terminal! Through growing up in airports, I learned to love flying and love planes
in general. We live fairly near the airport, so get to hear the cool planes as they fly over for takeoff or landing. But, I wish we
lived closer, as they don't usually pass directly overhead.
while my mom was pregnant with me, she used to taxi commercial aircraft into hangars for the night. I like to tell people I've been
flying before I was born! My dad worked for Northwest Airlines in Great Falls, Montana. When I was 10 years old, he'd put me
on the morning flight from Great Falls to Minneapolis, and give me a roll of dimes. I'd spend a few hours in the Minneapolis
terminal (which I knew like the back of my hand) playing the pinball machines, and I'd catch the afternoon flight home in time to
go home with my dad from work. Occasionally I'd talk him into sending me to Seattle for the day and I'd do the same thing. That
was back in the 1960s when things were much safer. Now I'd be afraid to send my kids flying anywhere by themselves, let alone
having them spend the day alone in a big airport terminal! Through growing up in airports, I learned to love flying and love planes
in general. We live fairly near the airport, so get to hear the cool planes as they fly over for takeoff or landing. But, I wish we
lived closer, as they don't usually pass directly overhead.
| Steve and I at dinner in Seal Beach, California, October 2008. |
| Steve looks off the Seal Beach pier |
| Steve standing by the Veteran's Memorial on the Seal Beach pier |
One highlight of the trip my husband and I took to Seattle several years ago
was seeing an SR-71 aircraft at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. If you
ever get to Seattle, you HAVE to go see that Museum, it is AWESOME!
Also, visit the Boeing Assembly plants, and watch the big jets actually being
built!
Another really GREAT place to go for the aircraft buff is the restoration
facility in Everett at the airport. There you can see old aircraft in various
stages of disassembly and re-assembly. The let you walk around under the
aircraft, through the parts laying on the floor and on benches, and really take
an "up close and personal" tour. There is no admittance fee, they only ask for
your donations to keep the facility running with an all-volunteer staff. Most of
the restored aircraft are then sent to the Smithsonian. On July 27, 2003, I read
the following about a plane we had seen being restored at the facility: "The
Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the first pressurized luxury commercial
transport, today took off from Boeing Field in Seattle for its permanent
home at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington,
D.C. Upon arrival in Washington, D.C., it will be enshrined in the Steven
F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a companion facility to the National Air and
Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport.
The restoration began in June 1994 by a team of volunteers and Boeing
employees, who fabricated parts, reinstalled interiors and completely
restored the airplane to like-new condition. Nearly seven years later the
restoration was complete, and the airplane rolled out in 2001 to begin
testing and certification. The effort experienced a setback in June 2002
when the pilots had to ditch the airplane into Elliott Bay in Seattle
during a test flight.
The volunteers and employees went back to work to repair what they had
restored. This second effort took a year to complete."
was seeing an SR-71 aircraft at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. If you
ever get to Seattle, you HAVE to go see that Museum, it is AWESOME!
Also, visit the Boeing Assembly plants, and watch the big jets actually being
built!
Another really GREAT place to go for the aircraft buff is the restoration
facility in Everett at the airport. There you can see old aircraft in various
stages of disassembly and re-assembly. The let you walk around under the
aircraft, through the parts laying on the floor and on benches, and really take
an "up close and personal" tour. There is no admittance fee, they only ask for
your donations to keep the facility running with an all-volunteer staff. Most of
the restored aircraft are then sent to the Smithsonian. On July 27, 2003, I read
the following about a plane we had seen being restored at the facility: "The
Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the first pressurized luxury commercial
transport, today took off from Boeing Field in Seattle for its permanent
home at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington,
D.C. Upon arrival in Washington, D.C., it will be enshrined in the Steven
F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a companion facility to the National Air and
Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport.
The restoration began in June 1994 by a team of volunteers and Boeing
employees, who fabricated parts, reinstalled interiors and completely
restored the airplane to like-new condition. Nearly seven years later the
restoration was complete, and the airplane rolled out in 2001 to begin
testing and certification. The effort experienced a setback in June 2002
when the pilots had to ditch the airplane into Elliott Bay in Seattle
during a test flight.
The volunteers and employees went back to work to repair what they had
restored. This second effort took a year to complete."
I have always been interested in photography. My
grandfather bought me my first "Brownie" camera when I
still remember rolling that film until the next picture
number was perfectly aligned in the little window on the
camera. I remember severely burning my hand when a
flash bulb went off as I was pushing it into the bulb holder
on that camera, and the painful blisters that developed. I
was afraid to touch the flash bulbs for awhile after that!
My dad bought me a Polaroid "Swinger" camera when I
was a pre-teen, but although I loved the instant photos, I
wasn't happy with their quality. I remember sealing them
with the liquid plastic to preserve them forever, and still
have some of those early photos. When I was a
teenager, I was given an "Instamatic" camera with the
"flashcubes" and that is what I used to take most of the
photos of my youth. However, the old Brownie still took
the best photos! When I was about 20 years old, I bought
my first 35mm Canon camera, an old T-50, and have
taken some of the best photos with it.
When the digital age of photography broke, in the early
1990s, I had to be the first to grab a truly digital camera. I
bought an Apple QuickTake, which was a whopping 1.5
megapixels in resolution, and I thought it was the coolest
thing to put photos on a computer! I must have spent
nearly $700 on that camera, which I used for about a year
since I wasn't happy with the photo quality at all. Now I
use several cameras, depending on the situation. I still
have my old Canon T-50, along with all my digital
cameras. Please take a look at the photo gallery on the
next page to see some examples of my work.
grandfather bought me my first "Brownie" camera when I
still remember rolling that film until the next picture
number was perfectly aligned in the little window on the
camera. I remember severely burning my hand when a
flash bulb went off as I was pushing it into the bulb holder
on that camera, and the painful blisters that developed. I
was afraid to touch the flash bulbs for awhile after that!
My dad bought me a Polaroid "Swinger" camera when I
was a pre-teen, but although I loved the instant photos, I
wasn't happy with their quality. I remember sealing them
with the liquid plastic to preserve them forever, and still
have some of those early photos. When I was a
teenager, I was given an "Instamatic" camera with the
"flashcubes" and that is what I used to take most of the
photos of my youth. However, the old Brownie still took
the best photos! When I was about 20 years old, I bought
my first 35mm Canon camera, an old T-50, and have
taken some of the best photos with it.
When the digital age of photography broke, in the early
1990s, I had to be the first to grab a truly digital camera. I
bought an Apple QuickTake, which was a whopping 1.5
megapixels in resolution, and I thought it was the coolest
thing to put photos on a computer! I must have spent
nearly $700 on that camera, which I used for about a year
since I wasn't happy with the photo quality at all. Now I
use several cameras, depending on the situation. I still
have my old Canon T-50, along with all my digital
cameras. Please take a look at the photo gallery on the
next page to see some examples of my work.