Todd Hakala's photostream  

Detail of the Boeing 307 Stratoliner Clipper Flying Cloud, the first pressurized airliner.

The Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy branch of the Air & Space Museum is an extraordiarily difficult place to make pictures. Tripods are prohibited, it's fairly dark, and it has three different colors of lighting: The skylights let daylight in, the planes are underlit with orange incandescents, and the roof is lit with what I think are mercury-vapor lamps.

My tips:
Bring your fastest lens. (I didn't! Mistake #1.) I ended up shooting most of the day over ISO 1000.

Make a string and washer rig to attach to your camera's tripod socket. (My mistake #2.) Here's a good DIY: www.petapixel.com/2011/01/26/stabilize-your-camera-for-1-...

Go on a weekday when school is in session. On weekends and holidays the place is quite crowded.(Nailed it!)

Go on a day when it's raining or the sky is overcast. The light through the skylights is better balanced with the roof lighting. On sunny days, the sunlight washes out everything. (Nailed that one, too!)

This one is a hand-held HDR.