Your Bio

Thank you for visiting!  I'm Jay S. Mangum from Kingwood, Texas. The equipment that was used here is a Canon Rebel XTi for the photos taken since Dec 2006. A Minolta Konica DimageZ3 (point and shoot) was used from March 2005 to November 2006 photos, and a twin lens reflex for the old dragster photos.  The telephoto lens is a Canon 100-400 IS  4.5/5.6.  The Canon 18-55MM kit lens was used for all the wide angles. If you have info on those unidentified subjects, please let me know.  My email is jaymangum73@gmail.com. Many thanks to friends Wayne Wendel, David McDonald and Damien Carey for their fellowship, assistance and ideas. All rights reserved.

Galleries

Chrome and Steel : Images of the Man's machinery, concentrating on transportation.

Chrome and Steel

Images of the Man's machinery, concentrating on transportation.

Updated: Nov 19, 2009 2:50pm PST

nature and misc :

nature and misc

Updated: Nov 17, 2009 6:20pm PST

American Landscapes : Mountains, Waterfalls, Beaches, Sunsets,etc.

American Landscapes

Mountains, Waterfalls, Beaches, Sunsets,etc.

Updated: Nov 17, 2009 6:19pm PST

Other Wildlife And Flowers : Dragonfiles, butterflies, wild flowers, reptiles.

Other Wildlife And Flowers

Dragonfiles, butterflies, wild flowers, reptiles.

Updated: Nov 03, 2009 11:39am PST

New Birds 2009 : Recent images of bird action in the wild.

New Birds 2009

Recent images of bird action in the wild.

Updated: Oct 31, 2009 7:13pm PST

Buildings, Forts & Fireworks : Time exposures, Disney sites, wood bridges.

Buildings, Forts & Fireworks

Time exposures, Disney sites, wood bridges.

Updated: Oct 31, 2009 7:11pm PST

Bodie Calif. Ghost Town, Twin Lakes Cal. : Located in the hills a few miles north of Mono Lake, California, Bodie is regarded as the best preserved ghost town in the U.S. In the 1880's, gold lured around 10,000 crusty and hardy souls here. Bodie had a nasty reputation that was well founded-killings were an almost daily occurrence. In June of 1932, long after the Bodie's heyday, a small boy playing with matches set a blaze that destroyed 90% of the town. Fire fighting water pipes from the lake were clogged with mud and debris, contributing to the disaster. Bodie was functionally abandoned afterward, leaving a treasure of relics behind. Fortunately, the mining company that owned the land did a decent job of keeping out looters. Bodie was made into a California State Park in 1962 and is maintained in a state of "arrested decay" with about 5% of the original buildings left standing today. Preservation efforts include screening building windows, replacing glass in buildings containing valuable contents and antiques, and repairing roofs where practical to keep decay to a minimum. It a paradise for photographers, antique buffs and historians. Security after hours is very tight. These photos are all big files, so feel free to put the cursor on them and select the original file size for better detail.

Bodie Calif. Ghost Town, Twin Lakes Cal.

Located in the hills a few miles north of Mono Lake, California, Bodie ...

Updated: Oct 25, 2009 9:25pm PST

Graphic Arts, HDR, Abstracts : Highly altered photos and abstract views.

Graphic Arts, HDR, Abstracts

Highly altered photos and abstract views.

Updated: Oct 15, 2009 12:22am PST

Other Birds : All other birds incl. smaller birds, Birds of Prey, Hummingbirds, etc.

Other Birds

All other birds incl. smaller birds, Birds of Prey, Hummingbirds, etc.

Updated: Sep 09, 2009 7:44pm PST

Sunny Alaska July 2009 : NEW PHOTOS 8-2-09, now all in proper sequence of the trip.. We made up in sunshine in '09 from last year's clouds/rain. We had full sun 8 of the 9 days in Alaska, and the locals were constantly reminding us of our good fortune. A lot of these photos were made from moving vehicles where control over composition was limited, but the scenery and lighting were both good enough most of the time to make up for the other missed opportunities. The captions and facts come from info given directly to us by guides, personal observations, or from published sources. The ship was luxurious, as the photos on the last page will attest.

Sunny Alaska July 2009

NEW PHOTOS 8-2-09, now all in proper sequence of the trip.. We made up ...

Updated: Aug 03, 2009 10:21pm PST

Favorites : Selected favorites from all the Galleries

Favorites

Selected favorites from all the Galleries

Updated: Jul 24, 2009 9:15pm PST

California Condors : The spectacular California Condor, a very rare and highly endangered species adds to it own drama by choosing the awe-inspiring Big Sur Coastline as a hangout. One of the my greatest experiences with nature was a California Condor making a very low, deliberate pass directly at me at eye level, then going straight over my head, very close. His approach started 100 yards or so away, wings locked in glide, moving directly toward my head, staring me down. I did not know what he had in mind! A few yards away, he slowly started pulling up. Over the noise of the ocean breakers below I could easily hear the whistle of the wind through the 22 pound bird's giant wings as it passed over me. It was not more than 10 feet over my head. Its huge shadow on the ground was impressive and somewhat menacing. Wingspan is 9 to 10 feet. Most likely it was just curious (a trait they have that can work against them), because I had stood there and watched it and a couple of other Condors for a long time before this happened. Less than 150 California Condors are flying free- mostly in the mountains and coastline around Big Sur, The Grand Canyon, Pinnacles National Monument, Zion, and a handful in Mexico. I have had the thrill of photographing many of these free flyers-22 of them close enough to read their wing tag serial numbers. Their steady glide is rock solid and majestic, with very long intervals between wing beats. The Ventana Wildlife Society (and others) work hard to keep these birds healthy and safe. The bird's locations are monitored daily.  If one appears to be stationary, even over a short period of time, a search rescue is initiated to check on it. Because each Condor's transmitter sends a unique signal with a dimensional characteristic, researchers miles away can I.D a specific bird and, with a twist of the receiver, tell if the bird is on the wing or perched! UPDATE: The Ventana Wildlife Society facilites were devastated by the massive 2008 wildfires, and your donations for the rebuild are badly needed to continue the bird's recovery process from near extinction. (Google "Ventana Wildlife Society").

California Condors

The spectacular California Condor, a very rare and highly endangered s ...

Updated: Jun 13, 2009 10:12pm PST

Alaska late Aug.2008, Mangum's : The scenery was amazing. Continuous cloud cover (we never saw the sun) and rain for the entire trip kept our cameras covered and hidden often. Lens fogging and cleaning was a constant problem. Much of the Inside Passage coast is a Northern Rain Forest. Some areas get over 200 inches of rain annually. They got their share while we visited, too.

Alaska late Aug.2008, Mangum's

The scenery was amazing. Continuous cloud cover (we never saw the sun) ...

Updated: Jun 13, 2009 10:09pm PST

High Island & Quintana, Tx., April 2009 :

High Island & Quintana, Tx., April 2009

Updated: Jun 13, 2009 10:02pm PST

Waterfowl, Wading Birds : Primarily Herons, Egrets, Ducks, and other birds that live around water.

Waterfowl, Wading Birds

Primarily Herons, Egrets, Ducks, and other birds that live around wate ...

Updated: Jun 13, 2009 8:56pm PST

Brazos Bend State Park, May 27, 2009 :

Brazos Bend State Park, May 27, 2009

Updated: Jun 13, 2009 8:54pm PST

Vintage Dragsters of the '60's : These photo originals are large format slides with more detail than can be seen here. Please contact me at jaymangum73@gmail.com if you would like to use or publish one of these images in the larger format. With help from veteran racers and fans we have made progress on identifications of the first set of photos. Thanks to all! If you have additional information or comments on the old dragsters shown here please email me at jaymangum73@gmail.com. I welcome your comments. All of these photos except the Miller Lite and Scott Kalitta pix were taken by me with a large format cameras, a Rolleiflex twin lens or a Yashica Mat 124 twin lens reflex wide angle set up. Back then you could walk right up to the guardrail and walk down track taking pictures only a few feet from the cars going by. On several occasions I got a blast of smoke and fumes in the face from a nitro-powered fuel dragster as it went by under full throttle 6 to 8 feet from me. In the very early sixties many of the National Championship contenders towed their prized machines on open, flat trailers or simple flat bed trucks, exposed to the rain and wind, with only the motor covered, and often with little or no pit crew. They would occasionally enlist race fans to help with any chore that took more than two hands. It was easy to be a "crewmember for the day" back then.

Vintage Dragsters of the '60's

These photo originals are large format slides with more detail than ca ...

Updated: Jul 12, 2008 1:27pm PST

My Smug Mug : Chasing West Texas birds at Choke Canyon, Texas with Wayne Wendel, Spring of 2008

My Smug Mug

Chasing West Texas birds at Choke Canyon, Texas with Wayne Wendel, Spr ...

Updated: May 25, 2008 6:03pm PST