SP Mallory

I enjoyed over two decades as a C-17 Globemaster III aircrew member in the U.S. Air Force. Frequent travels took me to about 40 states, all U.S. territories, and over 65 countries. I rate Cambodia, Australia, Germany, and South Africa among my favorites. I have lived in Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, Florida, Alaska, and now Nebraska. Texas, Alaska, and Hawai’i (a frequent travel destination) are my favorite U.S. states; as for Oklahoma, well, sorry Sooners.

Aside from photography, my other passion is studying the Pacific theater of World War II. My dream would be to get funded to tour and photograph all the Pacific WW2 battle sites for a then-and-now book.

In addition to numerous combat and humanitarian missions, including the initial responses to Hurricane Katrina (2005) and the 2011 magnitude 9.1 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I had the privilege of flying multiple Presidential support missions under Clinton and Bush 43, as well as the highly selective Prime Nuclear Airlift Force (PNAF) – a very small cadre of expert aircrew members entrusted with airlifting America’s nuclear weapons around the world. I also served as the chief flight instructor/examiner at the U.S. Air Force C-17 schoolhouse, where I oversaw training and evaluations for U.S. and allied C-17 aircrew members.

Although some people rely heavily on digitally manipulating (aka “Photoshopping”) photos for artistic or dramatic effect, I prefer a more purist approach to photography by minimizing post-production to the absolute basics – typically just white balance, lighting/contrast, and lens distortion corrections. I enjoy the never-ending challenge of shooting the perfect photo, rather than creating a perfect photo in post-production. I’m always learning.