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on Mar 13, 2019 in Aviation

Dustin Off the ‘Ol Light

“I’d like a photo of the Speedmail in front of the old terminal at night.” A simple enough request from my client (who is simply the nicest guy) which we had talked about before and which I had scoped out a few years ago. Easy peezy I thought, what could go wrong? I’ve light painted for decades but I’ve done very little if none in the last five or so years so I thought I should brush up. I headed to KelbyOne and watched my buddy Dave Black’s lighting Painting classes to get my mind thinking about light painting. Then I contacted Dave (such a great guy) and told him what I was thinking and what light recommendation did he have. “The Larson Electronics 5″ should do the job nicely” (he was right, it did). With my homework and notes and light in hand, off I went to work. What could go wrong? We had checked out the terminal the previous night and that’s when I found that they...

on Mar 6, 2019 in Aviation

Plane Portrait – Sept Fate

It was one of those deals where the wife of the pilot of the plane talked with my wife wanting a Moose Peterson plane portrait of his plane for a BDay present. At the same time, I was to “come up with the idea” of taking their portrait as well. Sounds simple enough, not like I hadn’t done all of that before. But here’s the rub, this plane is so small and so low that a simple portrait wasn’t going to be simple. You could put the plane in the back of a pickup truck and so low I couldn’t get my fist under the plane. And to top that off, it’s highly reflective surface was, highly reflective! And if that wasn’t enough, it has a very unique gull-wing design. How I love challenges! My biggest challenge and it’s all mental, is I have to LIE on the tarmac to make all the shots. That means when I go down, it has to be the right place because otherwise,...

on Feb 21, 2019 in Aviation

Time for a Window

Do you have time for a window? When you’re pushing the clock or the light, there are times when you have to make the call, go for perfect or Photoshop? Such was the case last week when at 22:00 putting in the last new window would take the mechanics way into the wee hours to install a window. When I knew I could replace the window in less than a minute in post, I said leave it out and go to bed. While not my preferred option, it was the practical and right one. But just “Photoshopping” is not the answer either, you still gotta look at the light even at the computer. First, I got the shot right in the camera, shooting with the Z7 / Z24-70f4 at zero comp to keep the effect of the ground fog. Then in post, I created a empty layer, then selected the window frame of the missing window. Then I simply used the Stamp Tool to clone the reflection from the...

on Feb 12, 2019 in Aviation

What’s Actually the Subject?

What was the story I wanted to tell when I saw this scene? That for me is always the challenge. “What’s the subject” is a really common question I ask other photographers when I look at their photographs. That’s not a good thing. In this case, there is that magnificent Spitfire arse and then there is that killer cloud above it. If you’re writing a sentence, there can only be one subject. To me, that is true for a photograph. So then with that amazing cloud, how do you have just one subject when you include the Spitfire? By getting down low and having the Spitfire pointed at that cloud, then the Spitfire is the subject and the cloud what it desires. The cloud to the viewer could be the clouds of war or perhaps, the vastness to explore in a gorgeous plane. When you tap the viewer’s imagination, then you’ve been successful, you’ve told a story about your...

on Jan 31, 2019 in Aviation

Normandy Bound Update

It’s really hard for us to realize the Documentary is coming up, fast, on two years! Even more, that we take to the air in just three months to Normandy!!! We have been really bad at keeping the Normandy Bound website up to date but it’s now up to Oct ’18. A new trailer will be posted shortly as well. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to the filming, the response was really, overwhelming. Thank You!!! We have started a Facebook Page for the C-47B, “Hit or Miss” that we are posting to daily starting with the start of the project and bringing it current by the end of Feb. I’d love it if you Like It, Share It and participate in the adventure that takes to the skies shortly and then starts flying to the UK in May. It’s your history we feel honored to share with you...

on Jan 18, 2019 in Aviation

“Hit or Miss”

In 1943, #43-48950 left the factory and was flown over the northern route to England. There she served for the next two years. She finished up her amazing WWII career as the lead plane for Operation Varsity, taking the British 6th Paratroopers over the Rhine. She came back to the states and for the next thirty years sprayed mosquitoes in Florida. Then she was parked, forgotten. That’s until two years ago! “Hit or Miss” is returning to England this June to be a part of the 75th Anniversary D-Day tribute. She will be amongst some forty odd C-47s / DC-3s flying over the Normandy beaches on 6 June, a site not seen since March 1945 and Operation Varsity. She will make at least two drops of skydivers over France as part of the tribute. You can follow the journey of “Hit or Miss” from the beginning two years ago, current progress and her flight to Greenland, Iceland, the UK and beyond on Twitter and Facebook and be a part...

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