James Ross
My name is James Ross, I was born and raised in Montana. I have loved
photography since I was seven years old and received my first Kodak
Brownie from my grandfather. I took all the photo classes in high school
and decided that’s what I wanted to major in when I attended college. I
received a Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State University
majoring in Film and Television production in 1987. The following year I
moved to Los Angeles and looked for work.
After two years of working in Hollywood at a photo lab, I saw an ad in
the LA Times for a photographer job at NASA Dryden. I applied over that
phone and a few weeks later, I landed a job with the contract that did
the photography work for NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Ed-
wards Air Force Base. Within 2 years, I was the Lead Photographer and
began get qualified to fly photo support missions in the T-38 and F-18
aircraft. I have worked at NASA Dryden, now Armstrong for the last 29
years and flown for 26 of those years. I have approximately 900 hours
in various aircraft including the T-33, T-34, T-38, F-15, F-16, F-18, C-12,
C-20A, KC-10, KC-135, DC-8, Boeing 747-SP and various helicopters.
I have received many awards from NASA and other organizations during
my time at Armstrong including two medals, a Public Service Medal and
an Exceptional Public Achievement Medal. I was also awarded a Silver
Snoopy award from the Astronaut Office and I won the Best of the Best
award from Aviation Week & Space Technology’s 2001 photo contest.
My work has been used in many publications including Aviation Week
& Space Technology and Air & Space Smithsonian.
We have always used Nikon equipment for our 35mm and digital work
as NASA Armstrong. During the film days, our primary camera was the
Bronica 6x6 camera. It was what the government could afford for all
five photographers to have a kit and 3 lenses. We also had a Hasselblad
available for checkout and for our inflight work we used a Mamiya or
Pentax 645 because those cameras were a good set-up for use with
our helmet and mask in the fighter jets. I rarely shoot at air shows, but
would use my Nikon D810 and 80-400 mm zoom if I was to shoot an air
show.
We shoot in RAW at NASA Armstrong because it is what we archive
and we can work better with the file to do the adjustments we need in
the RAW form. We use Photoshop, just because it is what we select-
ed years ago and we all four have the license for that program and it
makes things universal for us when working together.
I had heard about the ISAP organization and thought that it would be a
good group for me to be a part of and am not real sure why I waited so
long to join, I guess I kind of forgot about it until I came across it online
recently. It looks like it will be a great organization to be a part of and I
am excited to see what it is all about. I had heard about it from current
members who are a part of the organization. I do not belong to any
other photographic associations or groups at this time.I often am often invited to speak to organizations about my job and
photography. I enjoy sharing what I do and helping people out with
their photography when I can. I have spoken to many school groups,
photography groups and other associations. I enjoy talking with people
about photography. I would recommend people new to that aviation
photography world to network as much as they can and offer to take
photos for people with aircraft, eventually that will pay off and you will
get your name out there and soon will be asked to start shooting for
more and more people.MEET OUR MEMBER
Photograph of the gold shield of a NASA space suit inside a
Space Shuttle following a landing at Edwards AFB in 2001.Space Shuttle Columbia being ferried from Edwards Air Force Base to
Kennedy Space Center in 2001.