Hi and Welcome to our site. If you enjoy Aviation and airplanes as much as we do then your in for a real treat. Sit back..read a bit and enjoy our site.
Happy as can be!! Joe In a P-51 named February
A little Bio on me!!
A passion for aviation and an extraordinary eye for capturing the joy of flying is the jumping off point for images created by Joseph D. Kates, co-founder and chief photographer of High Alpha Imaging.
Joe’s enthusiasm for aircraft and helicopters has always been fueled by family. It started early in Joe’s life, while living in Hackensack, New Jersey. Joe and his grandmother, despite never flying in her lifetime, would sit for hour after hour on La Guardia Airport’s observation decks watching the aircraft. When the family relocated to the New Mexico desert, Holloman Air Force Base provided a daily personal air show of F-4 Phantom II’s for he and his brother, Steve Kates (a.k.a. Dr. Sky www.drsky.com).
While living in New Mexico, Joe attended the Holloman Air Force Base Open House Air Show. A very special gift from his parents, a Kodak 110 Instamatic camera, went with Joe to the air show and his first aviation photos were shot. A lifelong journey into the world of aviation photography had begun.
Over twenty one years have passed since that first camera and photo and family continues to play an important role in Joe’s photography. Years ago, a gift of a 35mm Minolta X370 camera and lens system from his brother and sister brought Joe’s photography to a new level.
Today, Joe shoots in digital and film, using both Canon and Nikon camera bodies while attending air shows and visiting military bases throughout the United States with his brother Steve,Joe’s Parents Robert and
Dolores Kates still attend airshows with Joe from time to time. He is an active member of the International Society of Aviation Photography (ISAP).
Joe’s wife, Melissa Kates, fully supports Joe’s passion for aviation photography. They currently reside in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona and in close proximity to Luke Air Force Base and Glendale Municipal Airport, giving Joe his daily dose of aviation.
In Reno with Nikkor 500 prime!!
To view Joe’s images, please visit www.photorecon.net ,www.classicwarbirds.net or www.phxspotters.com.
Joe:
It was great meeting you at the IPMS show last week. I just finished browsing your site – luv it, nice job! I would very much like to take you up on your offer to trade links. If you look at my site (www.3wiredesign.com) you’ll see I have links on the right side of my homepage. Just shoot me your logo and I’ll be happy to set you up. Do you want the link going to photorecon.net? You also mentioned an upcoming trip out to “the boat”. Per my biz name, would love to get a couple trap shots showing the wire that I could use as page header photos and I would certainly credit you for sure.
Glad to know you’re local and so well plugged into the bases. I don’t really have any aviation contacts around here so I’d like the opportunity to take you to lunch sometime, talk shop and see if there are any situations that 3Wire can be of some benefit for you. By day, I’m the executive director for Coyotes Ice, LLC (dba Ice Den in Scottsdale) so let me know if you have some time – my treat. BTW, I joined your Facebook and YouTube pages… I have both as well and you can access them from my homepage if you want to check ‘em out – thanks, J