Get extra lift from AOPA. Start your free membership trial today! Click here
News & Media eMedia Associate Editor David Tulis' favorite shots

eMedia Associate Editor David Tulis' favorite shoots

September 1, 2020

eMedia Associate Editor David Tulis’ photojournalism career began with a black and white Valentine’s Day photo of a jogger caught in an Atlanta snowstorm that was picked up and widely distributed by United Press International while he was in college. “Mentors, perseverance, and good fortune led me to a wire service and newspaper photojournalism career that included covering every U.S. president from Jimmy Carter through Donald Trump; dozens of Super Bowls, World Series, Masters golf tournaments, and NCAA football championships; three Olympics; numerous hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters; and world travel on five continents,” he says. A private pilot certificate and a willingness to learn new skills brought him to AOPA where he can combine his love of photography, aviation, and writing.

Click on any image to start slideshow.

David Tulis

“Spectacular Catalina Fly-Out Caps AOPA Fly-In,” May 4, 2017 aopa.org: Pat Mullen taxies his 1948 Navion past the setting sun at Catalina Island’s Airport in the Sky after the AOPA Fly-In at Camarillo Airport in California in April 2017. Cessna Pilot Society member, 182 Skylane owner, CFII, and all-around good guy Mike Jesch invited me to camp out at the airport and it was an amazing experience. (Nikon D4, 120mm, 1/160, f22) “AirVenture Highlighted by Celebration, Innovation,” July 29, 2019 aopa.org: Framed by a 1951 Ryan Navion B, the Twin Tigers Aerobatic Team lights up the sky to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of EAA AirVenture at Wittman Regional Airport in 2019. Here, pilots Mark Nowosielski and Mark Sorenson sky dance above fireworks. (Nikon Z7, 24mm, 30, f5.6) “Happy Birthday, Col. McGee,” December 6, 2019 aopa.org: It was an honor and a thrill to fly with U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, a Tuskegee Airman and a decorated veteran, during a one-hundredth birthday celebration flight in 2019. His airmanship in a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet was sharp—especially for flying the airplane for the first time. The former P–51 pilot’s buttery smooth landing at Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base preceded a hero’s welcome; it was the icing on the cake and a career highlight. (Nikon Z6 mirrorless, 14mm, 1/200, f5.0) “Going Native for AOPA Fly-In Camping Fun,”: Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. Ninety-eight-year-old World War II Navy veteran Robert Penton enjoys the view from the turret of ‘Champaign Gal’, a North American B–25 that operated paid flights during the 2019 AOPA Fly-In at Tullahoma, Tennessee. (Nikon Z6, 14mm, 1/320, f8.0) “It Takes Teamwork,” September 2020 AOPA Pilot: AOPA Senior Photographer Chris Rose uses a Cessna 182 photo platform to document what it takes to produce an air-to-air photo mission while AOPA Editor at Large Dave Hirschman pilots a Van’s Aircraft RV–8 owned by AOPA Pilot Information Services/Flight Operations Vice President Dave Roy. (Nikon Z6, 160mm, 1/100, f6.3) “AirVenture Highlighted by Celebration, Innovation”: Airshow performer Julie Clark flies her Beech T-34 Mentor into the sunset for the last time during an EAA AirVenture 2019 performance that signaled her retirement after 40 years and 34,000 hours in her logbook. Clark’s smoke trail splitting clouds that are illuminated with pastels from a setting sun seemed a poignant end to a brilliant airshow career. (Nikon Z6, 122mm, 1/320, f7.1) “Honda’s E ticket,” March 2020 'AOPA Pilot', Turbine Edition: The temperature on the ground for a winter HondaJet Elite air-to-air mission was 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Conditions called for flying at 8,000 feet and with the baggage door removed from a Beechcraft Bonanza A36 photo ship it was cold! The cover subject of the March 2020 'AOPA Pilot' Turbine Edition proudly hangs in my office. (Nikon Z6, 78mm,1/1600, f7.1) “Thunderbirds and Blue Angels Salute Coronavirus Frontline Workers, Victims” Spectators gather at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial to watch the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and U.S. Navy Blue Angels air demonstration teams perform a salute to health care workers and others battling the coronavirus during a flyover of Washington, D.C. I used a very fast shutter speed to capture the two teams of military jets above the monument. (Nikon Z6, 70mm, 1/3200, f11.0) “Boosted Bristell,” April 2020 AOPA Pilot: The Bristell 915iS Turbo single-engine light sport aircraft is framed by geographical features in an area known as the Ten Thousand Islands during a Florida air-to-air photo mission. (Nikon Z6, 50mm, 1/100, f4.0) “Swift Pilots Celebrate Museum’s Golden Anniversary”: A formation of Swift aircraft with AOPA President Mark Baker riding shotgun in the center aircraft helped celebrate the 2018 Swift National fly-in in Athens, Tennessee. The trio was photographed through the windscreen of a fourth Swift flying in trail. (Nikon D500, 24mm, 1/160, f10)

Stories featuring the photographer's favorite shoots

Spectacular Catalina Fly-Out Caps AOPA Fly-In
Happy Birthday, Col. McGee
Honda’s E ticket
Going Native for AOPA Fly-In Camping Fun
AirVenture Highlighted by Celebration, Innovation
Boosted Bristell
It Takes Teamwork
Swift Pilots Celebrate Museum’s Golden Anniversary
Thunderbirds and Blue Angels Salute Coronavirus Frontline Workers, Victims

Go to Mike Fizer's favorite shoots | Go to Chris Rose's favorite shoots | Go to Mike Collins' favorite shoots | Go back to "A Moment in Time"

Related Articles