Panning Practice at Air2Air

Practice, Practice, Practice, I do it all the time because it’s the only way I know of keeping sharp at my panning skills. Getting a sharp image throwing the 200-400VR2 around at 1/90 demands constant practice. Once again the field provided us access (which is everything in aviation) to the taxi way for the group to learn, practice and refine their handholding and panning, We had Sentimental Journey and some other cool aircraft including the Lancair Evolution, one of only three around. The sky wasn’t the best but no matter, I was just practicing. I selected the 1/90 not only to show visually how good my technique (in case I needed more practuce), not just to blur the prop, but to blur out the background as much as possible. I was glad the images came out sharp, hate to think my practice went for not. Great start to Air2Air and only a hint of things to come!

Photo captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Workin New Subjects and Questionable Backgrounds

Our good friend and supporter Bob acquired a new plane, this 500s Shrike and she’s a beaut! I personally have never seen one so never photographed it. Since it would be one of our air to air targets, I wanted to get a few static shots of it.

By the time I moved over to the Shrike the clouds had already closed in. To make the most of the opportunity though we pulled the plane out and positioned it on the ramp. It just amazed me how our hosts, the AZ Wing of the CAF treats us like kings and spoils us.

With that ability to position the planes as we need for the available background, even with the clouds change we can make the image. I like both images for different reasons. The 1st Shrike because of the graphic, the 2nd because of the gesture and the NanChang, well that’s obvious, the red.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Simple Click – Rear End View

I was proud of this find, not bad for me. Wait for it…..

Air2Air Cranks it Up

Our 2nd Air2Air Workshop began under a cloud, the cloud of bad weather shutting us down. While weather in landscape photography is a great thing, when planes are involved it’s not so good. None the less before sunrise we were on the tarmac with one of my favorite subject, B-17G Sentimental Journey. And we were in place before the sun peaked out from under the clouds lighting up the storm front. Yummy!

There is one thing you need to think about when shooting aviation and that’s distorting the wings. Those large lifting bodies have a distinct shape that makes the plane, the plane so I really prefer not to redesign them with my lens.

It is really a small matter but you can see here that just by closing in a little physically shooting at the same focal length, 18mm, the distortion I’m talking about. Photography can be that way, little details that most might not ever notice but you know about. Take the time to deal with those little details you notice in your photography and you can’t help but improve it!

Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

It’s Starting to Feel Like Home

We’re down in Phoenix getting ready for our Air2Air workshop which is based out of the AZ Wing of the CAF. These great folks open up their doors and hearts and make us feel right at home. This is the home base for the B-17G Sentimental Journey and the B-25 Made in the Shade you see here.

The AZ CAF does an amazing job putting people together with our history which I personally think is so important. I wasn’t able to photograph it, but today a WWII B-17 radioman who was shot down and was a POW was flying in Sentimental Journey. When if got back down he was nothing but smiles. That’s an aspect of aviation photography I truly enjoy. I’ll be blogging through out the weekend, give you something to do as the weather is looking to keep many in.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Road Warrior View

Home for a few days, long enough to do some chores, some laundry, move snow, backed up images from the last two weeks onto the network drives, pat the dogs on the head, pack and back out the door we went. It’s that time of year again when I look in the mirror I see the road warrior view.

The Sierra is a magical place, one I’ve written about and shared in my images many times, I never get tired of them. They always seem to send us off and welcome us back without any conditions, just that we do comeback. We skirted out this time just as another big storm was coming in. You can see its beauty piled up over Mono Lake hiding the fact the fury that would be unleashed as the sun set.

We continued up the road without a hitch, just a gorgeous view as the storm piled in over the crest. We’re heading north past Carson City and just heading into Washoe Valley when the weather closed in. The winds were such the highway was closed to all high profile vehicles, it was blowing snow across the highway and in some places making is an icy mess. The normal 70mph limit was more then most felt comfortable with, 50mph seemed more cautious with the conditions. We were just about to get through the mess when in the southbound lane we saw a new, white, Ford F250 just as it started to fish and then the wind gust grabbed its empty bed, flipped it a couple of times over and over and dump it into the center island. There was no way or place we could stop but we were instantly on the phone reporting it. Moments later the ambulance passed us heading south. The rest of the details I’ll leave out but it’s not good. Life is so precious and yet it seems we get stuck in the fast lane and miss that fact until we get hit in the side of the head. Waiting until you loose something to realize that is too late. That too is sometimes the road warrior view.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 is here!

It’s no secret I’m a HUGE fan of Silver Efex Pro, it puts ALL the creativity and power of the web B&W lab at your finger tips in the digital darkroom. You wanna burn, dodge, red filter globally or selectively, it’s no more then a click away! I have this little vid on the site (which has been viewed nearly 30k times) on SEP which I’m going to have to update but in the meantime, the basics of Silver Efex Pro 2 are there to get you up and running. And if that’s not enough, check out ALL the B&W I’ve done using SEP HERE or download a free trail HERE. I’ve been honored in being asked to do a Webinar for Nik in April. Besides talking SEP & photography, I’ll have a little give away, a 24×30 B&W print so you might wanna drop by! Stop reading now, go get SEP! Wait, comeback, there is more! Check out what Alan just posted. Cool! Now go!

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor – Light!

I wasn’t really into GA (General Aviation) photography until I meet this lovely A36 Bonanza one gorgeous Sunday morning in the Phoenix skies last fall. It wasn’t old (warbird old) and not really that rare so photographing it at first just didn’t put lift under my wings. While my lovely wife is second seat, I didn’t think I would comeback with much until I saw the light! The soft morning light wrapped itself around everything and gave it that desert morning freshness that you just can’t pass up. You’ve gotta embrace it and make it yours. You do that by how you assemble the elements within your viewfinder to make the image. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, a rock, horse, rocking chair, weed, stick, all these elements and more can come to life in this kind of light. In this case, this photo has become a favorite for many reasons. #1 – it opened my eyes that GA photography can be rewarding to me. #2 – the light on the golfers make them a very important part of the image which is why I framed it the way I did (they have great shadows stretching across the green). #3 – the light on the sand trap makes for a killer background for everything. And that’s all because of the light!

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Then just heartbeats later the background changed but that sweet light was still with us. The background went into shadow of the mountains we were passing while the morning light literally wrapped itself around the A-36. You can see from the prop we were flying into the light and that makes it all work. The all white fuselage can be a very unforgiving form in the wrong light as we experienced just minutes later as the sun rose in the sky. I have a very well earned reputation from my workshop participants for getting up and going at o’dark thirty. That’s because so often that sweet magic of light comes and goes so very quickly. It makes or breaks a photograph and I personally like the make part a whole lot more then the break part. And in this case, light taught me another very important lesson, this time about aviation photography and myself. I love chasing light, I love more when I catch it!

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR (handheld 1/60) on Lexar UDMA digital film

Cheapest Digital Insurance on the Planet!

PhotoRescue has resided on my all computers since the first days of the D1. It’s one of the first programs I load on a new computer. I’m never without it. Why? Because there is always the possibility, usually at the worst moment, that images/video have to be rescued off a card. For me that time was when I was in such a bloody hurry, I forget to download a card and went back out shooting with it. This happened once and if it weren’t for PhotoRescue, I would have lost that earlier shoot. It’s now updated to deal with DSLR vid accidents which makes it even more important that you own it!

For many though, PhotoRescue is a must because of bad card habits. The program is only $29 yet I know of very few digitals shooters shooting with their $5000 body who’ve purchased this simple butt-saving program. Typically, they come up to me in a panic because they’ve lost their images and don’t have any solutions to rescue them. Do yourself a big favor, your images deserve it. Download the program right here for either Windows or Mac and try it for yourself. I guarantee that it’s not a matter of if, but of when you’ll use the program.

Download a free trial of PhotoRescue 3.25

PhotoRescue 3.25 (PC – zip)
PhotoRescue 3.25 (Mac – zip)

The Master is in the Classroom!

Terry White Simply Rocks!

Cruisin Yellowstone ’11

The 2nd week of our Yellowstone Adventure, I had the GoPro attached to the hood of the van. I have quite a bit of footage, not gone through it all but I did grab some clips and put them together to give you a very slight feel of what Yellowstone is like in winter from the road. It’s amazing, beautiful and it’s your wild heritage. Enjoy!

When Size Matters

I hear from a lot of folks saying they don’t have a 600mm lens. They ask “How do I get a large subject in the frame without the big lens?” This is a really great question. Here are some suggestions when you feel lens challenge and your desire the large subject size. The first option is demonstrated right here. Can you tell what it is?

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Compostionally, I think this is a vertical photo with the tree trunk being so strong visually. But when you rotate the camera vertically, even though that is all we’ve done, the subject now “feels” much smaller in the frame. Nothing has changed other then the camera’s orientation yet in the vertical format the Bald Eagle appears smaller. This is because of the space above and below the eagle in the vertical format compared to the horizontal format. Yeah, you can make your subject size appear larger that simply. Is this the only way? Not hardly but it doesn’t cost you a thing and it’s really simple to do. Just thought I would pass it along.

Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film

The Come Down Blues

I’ve never talked with another photographer about this so I could be all on my own with this, but after a successful shoot, be it a day long or two weeks long like our Yellowstone Adventure, there is a big come down when I hit home. In the old days when we went back to our little condo, it was pretty severe. For a long time now we come back to paradise here in the Sierra but I still feel that let down. Have you ever felt that? Am I alone in this? Well, if you’ve not felt this you have no need to read further. If this feeling has hit you, you might just wanna keep on cruising down the page.

Being conditioned to wake up early, once home my eyes fly open still on que even though no alarm sounds. I don’t fight it, I just get up and start to work and perhaps that were the letdown starts. Work just the day before meant being out shooting in the wilds of Yellowstone in this case and the next day it means being within four walls. I don’t do well inside four walls. There is no way around it and I’m incredibly fortunate to come back to work but even recognizing that, I hate paperwork, it’s just not my forte in life. So I aggressively blow past this stuff so I can get back to the creative stuff just as soon as I can. But the trick I found that gets me through this is to have the images I just took on a computer monitor that I can see.

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This means that while in the field, I went through my workflow so I not only had material for clients and the blog, but for myself when I get back home as well. I select those images which I consider as favorites ready for viewing. What are favorites? Those are single clicks that sum up for me that moment in time, a memory that when I see the photo all that went into making that image comes rushing back and makes me smile. This is not the same as being the greatest photograph in an artistic sense but rather, simply bring a smile to the heart. And for the last couple of years, this has taken on a new twist.



Video is an amazing tool to get beyond The Come Down Blues. The past week in Yellowstone, I remembered to pull out the GoPro and attach it to the hood of the van. I have hours upon hours upon hours of video of our travels through the park. As you’ll see soon, some of it is pretty boring and some is just freakin cool! Having those segments playing as I work is huge fun and really takes me back down memory row. And that helps with the next task when back in the office, file management.



I came back this time to the dreadful task of having to migrate files on a 4TB NAS to a 8TB NAS. It’s been running for two days now and it’s not even half way done. The worst thing about this is, it’s my Location drive where I need to upload a majority of my Yellowstone images for safe keeping. So while that is taking place on one computer, I’m finishing all the images that are left and making needed submissions, prints, etc that keeps me reflecting back on two great weeks.



And that really is the grounding that keeps it all working, the photographs. After going through this cycle for decades, I learned long ago that The Come Down Blues is simply not being able to actively explore the world with my camera and then capturing those moments I find. You can’t know the high of that discovery if you don’t experience the four wall yuck and if you don’t know the four wall yuck, you don’t push yourself to make the most of the time behind the camera. So what it all comes down to for us is it’s simply we’re very fortunate to be photographers. And that wipes out the blues and puts the smile right back on the face and in the heart!

Moose – Peachpit Webinar!

Yeap, I’m jumping on the webinar bandwagon and looking forward to it. On 8 March at 5PM PST, You have the opportunity to talk with me about wildlife photography, landscape photography, a little digital darkroom and just in general your questions. To keep the creative juices flowing, Photo Club members will receive an assignment at the end of the session. Once the assignment is completed, Photo Club members can upload their work to the Peachpit Photo Club Flickr Group where Moose and the Peachpit crew will help critique your work. And of course, there will be a chance for prizes! So click here and sign up, it’s free!

Dan Steinhardt’s Simple Celebration

There are those photographers who make clicks that simply make you smile when you see their explorations. I really envy these photographers who not only see our daily life, but have the talent to share it with us. Dan Steinhardt is just such a photographer and he has a new website I think you should check it out. The one thing you can learn from Dan is his marvelous use of color, it really is exceptional. He uses color to bring to life shape and form, emotion and design. It’s simply an amazing study in light and anytime you spend time looking at such images, you can’t be help improve your own photography. It’s well worth your exploration!

YA Wk2 D4-4

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And just as quickly as the storm comes in….

What I’m doing to make the contrast pop is 1st, shooting in Vivid and then underexposing -.05. And that’s it.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film

YA Wk2 D4-3

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And just as quickly as the storm comes in….

The storm blows out but the crusties remain. And how you ask am I getting the contrast I am in camera? You’ll have to read the next blog….

Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film

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