about the Web site

This Web site was hand-crafted by Mark Johnston for the Reno Air Racing Association.

In addition to being responsible for the design and maintenance of the Web site, Mark built the on-line ticket ordering system and the historical race results databases.

He does a limited amount of free-lance Web site design and implementation, SQL database design, and multimedia programming from his home base in Japan.

Mark's photographs and artwork have been published in magazines, calendars, and brochures in the United States, the UK, and Japan - some examples can be found here.

Please direct any information regarding problems you experience with the Web site to him through the RARA contact page. Constructive criticism always appreciated.

technical basis

The Web site is written in PHP, a freely-available, open source programming language that runs on the Web server and is capable of generating Web pages dynamically - the reason you always see different photos on any page of the Web site on each visit. There are over 5,100 individual source code files [mostly PHP with a few javascript and plain HTML files] and over 5,500 photos on the Web site. All of the files are entirely hand-coded and built "from scratch" - no automated file generation tools or visual editors were used.

The Web site also has elements that are driven off SQL databases, such as on-line ticket sales, race results, and event/race schedules.

It also features facilities for the Reno Air Racing Association staff to generate reports on ticket sales, enter race results, and provide captions for photos.

for photographers

Virtually all of the photos on the Web site are digital. The photos from 2002 and 2003 were shot with the Canon EOS-1D digital SLR. In 2004, 2005, and 2006 the Canon EOS-1D MarkII was used. In 2007, the EOS-1D MarkIII was added, and in 2009, the EOS-5D MkII.

The following lenses have been used:

• EF 16-35mm f/2.8L
• TS/E 17mm f/4L
• TS/E 24mm f/3.5L
• EF 28-70mm f/2.8L
• TS/E 90mm f/2.8
• EF 135mm f/2L
• EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro
• EF 300mm f/2.8L IS
• EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS
• EF 1.4x II or EF 2x II tele-extenders

Contents copyright ©2002-2010 Mark Johnston and the Reno Air Racing Association. No part of this Web site may be reproduced without the express written consent of the copyright holders. See [Terms of Use] for further information. Reno Air Racing Assoc., 14501 Mt. Anderson St., Reno, NV 89506 USA TEL: 775-972-6663  FAX: 775-972-6429  EMAIL: [Click here] This page last modified: 08 February 2010.