Some of John Womack's work:

Photography: http://www.photo.net/photos/Pathways

Travel stories:

Titan Tales

Methods and Procedures of Outdoor Photography

Methods and Procedures of Outdoor Photography

METHODS AND PROCEDURES OF OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY: Photographic Art in the Southern Mountains.

By John Womack
160 pages, 4.25 x 7 inches. ISBN No. 0-9655546-1-9. Available from author for $15.95, plus $4.00 shipping and handling via USPS Priority Mail, shipping with invoice on the day after order. Payment may be made by check, money order, VISA or MasterCard. For more information write johnhwomack@gmail.com

Statement by the Author:
The southern mountains of the United States are the oldest mountains on the planet, yet the scenery they provide changes as easily as the clouds sail over their ridge lines. This is a indeed a land filled with an astonishing variety of life, spectacular scenery and color, but it is often difficult to make good nature photographs here! The great natural beauty of these mountains is often presented in a dazzling display of constantly changing brightness with contrast extremes that exceed the latitude of any film, and its distances are so great that tall mountains are easily flattened and rendered insignificant in the photographic frame. Great wildflowers whip about on mountain winds like trapped spiders, and autumn leaves sometimes become a messy jumble of random colors.

My book provides suggestions and strategies for dealing with these and other problems of photography in these and any other mountains. Here you will find how tones or values of darkness and light can be arranged to provide harmonic balances; how colors can be combined, and sometimes limited, to produce effective and compelling pictures; and how to emphasize and enhance the mountain environment, and keep those mountains tall! You will also find composition techniques that will attract the eye of the viewer and bring their imagination into your picture. Then keep them involved as an active participant in your pictures. I have taught these procedures in nature photography courses at my studio in Franklin, North Carolina, for the past several years. Many of my students have been artists in watercolor, oil or other mediums, and through working with them in the classroom and the field, and on into the exhibition gallery, a considerable amount of cross-fertilization has taken place. From that exciting interchange has come much of the material in Chapter Three, in which I discuss methods of discovering, exploring and interpreting the feelings that can be encountered in the world of nature, no matter what medium you are using. Then I present some of the methods I have found to be effective in pictorial storytelling. I use this book as a text in my classes, and it also serves as a field guide. In fact, I selected a book size that would easily slip into the pocket of a hiking shirt, as well as the hip pocket of jeans, and of course, into a vest pocket or camera bag. This manual is designed to help photographers of all skill levels make compelling photographs of the land and sky, and the wildflowers, butterflies and other objects found in the beautiful forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Statement by the Publisher:
This book goes far beyond being a simple field manual for photographers visiting the southern mountains; it is a forthright investigation and description of the role played by any artist who wishes to share their own feelings, moods and spirits with those found in the world-wide universe of nature. Then, through the medium of photographic art, the writer shows how to creatively express the understandings and impressions that arise from those encounters and explorations. The work of the artist is finding, interpreting and expressing such impressions in an imaginative and creative manner so the images that are produced will not be just a mere copy of nature, but a unique and distinctive representation of of an encounter between that world and the larger one within each of us.

Womack has integrated traditional concepts with original ideas to form images in our own imaginations as colorful and dramatic as those he presents in film. He discusses the process of composition from four very different points of view. The relationship of colors to each other is explained in an unusual and unforgettable manner. He explains how to understand and use the different "oceans of light" for the best photographic opportunity that each offers, and how to use "tones of light and dark" to develop contrast, texture and harmony. Methods for the photography of mountains, landscapes and skyscapes are presented in detail, along with numerous strategies and options. Techniques for photography of wildflowers are discussed and include the use of props and how to "garden" without affecting the other valuable natural resources around the flower.

The book contains 160 pages, plus eight color plates. There are twenty-four black and white photographs and eight pen and ink sketches which illustrate concepts presented in the text. An appendix provides tables of sunrise and sunset times and azimuths for each month, times each month when the sun rises and descends through 45° elevation, a general calendar for natural photographic events and some exposure settings. There is a discussion of equipment and accessories that are useful in outdoor photography, and a description of the processes that the author uses when he is actively shooting in the field. It is truly a book for photographers of all skill levels. More than that, it is a book for all of us who are interested in those "wild places" of which John Womack speaks, whether they are in the world of nature, or in that greater world he sees within each one of us.

Titan Tales

TITAN TALES: DIARY OF A TITAN II CREW COMMANDER:
By John Womack

200 pages. 5.5 x 8.5 inches. ISBN No. 0-9655546-0-0. Available from author for $15.95, plus $4.00 shipping and handling via USPS Priority Mail, shipping with invoice on the day after order. Payment may be made by check, money order, VISA or MasterCard. For more information write johnhwomack@gmail.com

Statement by the Author:
Some of the movies about the Cold War have depicted those of us who carried the nuclear weapons into the air, or who stood ready to launch them at a moment's notice as being wild eyed, macho monsters full of bravado and rage, ready to attack to prove our manhood. Well, this is a story of what it was really like working with the incredible system known as the Titan II. This book tells a tale of great missiles and aircraft and great men, too, that's true; but it is also a story about their families. It is a tale of children and parents - and the larger family of the United States Air Force - and how all that fit in to the great war that stayed cold, and the one in Vietnam that did not.

I served as a crew member on the Titan II ICBM for six years. This book is a story of the last two of those years. During that time, I was Commander of a Senior Instructor Crew serving at the Alternate Command Post; my crew launched a Titan II from Vandenberg AFB, California, we were selected as the SAC Crew of the Month, and we participated in the filming of a simulated missile launch. I was active on the SAC Speakers' Bureau and presented speeches at community organizations and affairs and participated in several university seminars. I also published articles in the Strategic Air Command's professional magazine Combat Crew concerning missile operations, missile safety and management techniques.

In this book you will visit the hardened missile silos that once were dug into the southern rim of the Ozark mountains, you will go on alert with missile crew members and meet some of the people who maintained and operated America's first line of defense during the Cold War. You will travel to Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Western Test Range and explore some of the even-then ancient missile complexes from the first generation of ICBMs. Also, chapter three is a step-by-step description of the underground launch of a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile!

Statement by the Publisher:
This is a surprisingly deep book. It will turn out to be more complex than it appears at the beginning, and that's one of the reasons you will probably read it more than once. Initially, it presents a simple story describing two years in the life of a United States Air Force officer who is commander of a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile crew. The crew helps maintain a gigantic missile on constant alert status, a missile that can carry its multi-megaton nuclear weapon deep into enemy territory at the push of a button. But that's all background to the main story. There is also the subtle background tension of the Cold War with its constant ebb and flow, and the unsettling, nagging pulse of the Vietnam War which slowly makes its presence felt and then gradually rises in intensity throughout the book. Then there is the main story, a description of a pleasant but hectic life in a military family with three young children during the late 1960's. We are treated to a deep look at life seen through the eyes and feelings of this family, both from the perspective of the young parents, and also their children. The story unfolds across the southern United States. From the missile base in Arkansas, the family travels in an ancient travel trailer across the southern deserts to California, where they spend seven weeks preparing a Titan II for launch at Vandenberg AFB. The launch, itself, is described in vivid, moment-by-moment, detail. Then, back to Arkansas, and later, on into Florida. What was Orlando and the Atlantic Coast like back then? Remember? This book does. And throughout the book you will find revealing excerpts of direct observation of life, which carry a very strong Zen-like quality in which you may find yourself observing, not just nature, but a deep place within yourself. The book is well written, with humor, and a lively pace and rhythm that will lead you on to the next page, and then to the next, and on and on! It is a real treat to read, and it is a book for all ages!

Photography

Some of my photos are displayed here:
http://photo.net/photos/Pathways


My blogs are on Blogspot.com. Some that concern a specific item (usually travel) are organized as “Composite Blogs” and are listed below:

308 SMW Reunion in Little Rock Sep 2007
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2007_09_16_adventuresinexploration_archive.html

Trip to Crete and Greece Oct 2006
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_adventuresinexploration_archive.html

Trip to Czech Republic Oct 2005
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_adventuresinexploration_archive.html

Trip to Andulicia, Novtp://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2004/11/andulicia.htm
Trip to France Oct 2003
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2006/07/france-2002.html

Austria and Germany, Oct 2002
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2003/10/austria-and-germany-2003.html

DC, June 2001
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2001_07_15_adventuresinexploration_archive.html

The Land of Flowers, May 2001
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2001/05/land-of-flowers.html

Trip to Germany Oct 2000.
http://adventuresinexploration.blogspot.com/2000_10_22_adventuresinexploration_archive.html