The Photo that Started It

June 2009 was an exciting month for me. I was at my first Pylon Race Seminar shooting one of the most exciting subjects to rip through my viewfinder. The D3 was pretty new then, I was the only one shooting with it at the time. Panning is something that I’ve been doing for a long time. All of this in combination with the 200-400VR made it possible to take instruction from my good friend Richard and make some solid clicks. In fact it went so well that from my very first time out I submitted this image to the Reno Air Race Assoc. and got the image on the Sept official Race Poster!

And that’s why I pursued aviation photography. It was this success that made Sharon & I actually look at aviation photography as a viable addition to our photographic business. The entire process was all based on basics, from click to business. Solid handholding and panning along with great instruction made the click. Quick follow up and the clean printing made the sale. And lastly and a point you can never overlook is the subject. Having a clean, sharp image of Strega being the plane to beat didn’t hurt one bit!

Photo captured by D3, 200-400VR on Lexar digital film

FL Int’l Airshow

Sharon, Jake & I left Kauai and came straight across to FL to be at the in Punta Gorda. We made that flight because not only is the airshow a really good one (really, really good one) but also because we’re filming my next Kelby Training class on, aviation photography. There are two main attributes making this a great airshow. One is the aircraft, they have a great force here, you can see a sample above. The other is the show is “small” in that if it’s very personal, not spread over a huge acreage and all the aircraft in the air are right overhead. We’re really enjoying it and can highly recommend. We’ll be there again tomorrow and if you’re at the show, I hope if you see us you’ll come up and say hi!

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

Air2Air -day1pm4

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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

Simple Click – The Ghost

What you’re seeing is a P-51 that has been racing like you see it since 1946! Wow!