B-17G Sentimental Journey Photo Mission

“What’s it like to shoot Air-to-Air at our Air2Air Workshop?” “Was you ass really hanging out?” “How much did you shoot with the D3x compared to the D3s?” “Can anybody shoot air-to-air?” These are just some of the questions I’ve received in the last week with all my aviation postings.

Well the Moose Cam was going the whole time during our flights and after nine hours of editing (I learning some more to produce a better video), I have a short that hopefully brings some of the excitement, thrill and heart pumping exhilaration this shot brought me!At the same time I hope to infect a few more and share some of what I’ve learned shooting air-to-air. Enjoy!

Air2Air -day1pm4

This movie requires Flash Player 9

And then out little buddies showed up, two P-51D Mustangs and a Supermarine Spitfire. In air-to-air photography, you don’t have a lot of time with any one subject, plane. You have to choreograph the flight before you even leave the ground to make the most of ever minute of the flight. We had just 1 1/2 orbits with the B-17 and the Lit’l buddies, a classic European WWII view. With that knowledge I clicked around the entire orbit and liked all that I captured. It was an absolutely magical moment for me!

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

Air2Air -day1pm

There are NO words for the moment you first look out the back and you see a classic warbird pulling up behind you. I had that experience when I photographed the P-38 / F7F a month back and now again with the B-17. Seriously, I get lost in the moment and simply take it in, and then I comeback to earth and get to work. This is a workshop so teaching is what it’s all about. One thing we stress is when you first see the planes, make the money shots. Use a fast shutter speed to assure a sharp image and with those in the can, move one to more daring techniques.

This is still photography where light is everything. And even with that in mind, I make shots that aren’t the best light because you never know if all of a sudden the flight will come to an end. These are aircraft, machines and there are any number of mechanical, flight or personal reasons why a flight can end so I click the first orbit kind of like a mad man to get images in the can. My prime lens for all my air-to-air this weekend was the new 24-120AFS and in this role the lens did a killer job. I also shot in Vivd the entire time.

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

Simple Click – Bigger Teaser

That’s the amazing Russ piloting Sentimental Journey on our air-to-air evening flight. Even mtc!

Simple Click – A Teaser

Yeah, that’s a B-17, two P-15D Mustangs and Spitfire over the Superstitious Mtns. Just a little teaser.