May 25, 2012 | Aviation
I was incredibly fortunate to participate in the 70th Reunion of the Doolittle Raiders last month in Dayton, OH. Jake & I shot a boat load of images and written a number of pieces on the reunion. My first one is out in Plane & Pilot and you can see the web version here Doolittle Reunion. But I would encourage to pick up a hardcopy if you’d like to see what the D4 can do. All these images were taken with the D4 which includes the doubletruck. The results are stunning as far as I’m concerned but I invite you to see for yourself.
The photo above was taken from the nose of “Maid in the Shade,” my ride to the Reunion. What you see are 18 B-25s lined up before us, those that landed before we did and are waiting to taxi over to the static display area. The leaned back as far as I could in the greenhouse and made the shot with the 18AF. The D4 was the perfect tool for a number of reasons. I shot a bunch of video. It has that killer 10fps but the one feature I can’t speak highly enough about is its 6 stop dynamic range! Look at this photo, this is a single click and you can see detail inside and out. We are taxing, there was no way to do a 5 image HDR and with the D4, I’m finding I just don’t need to. If you’ve not checked out, this video might provide some more insight.
May 11, 2012 | Aviation
I’m in NY teaching, shooting and scouting and having a great time. My buds at B&H Photo didn’t want me sitting around much and kept me very busy all day starting with a flight over Manhattan. Jessica at B&H (thanks dear!) arrange for us to get a flight with Liberty Helicopters for 30min of shooting and scouting. Yesterday is was raining pretty darn good but this morning as you can see, I got my clouds. I just gotta have my clouds. The flight was pretty basic, we took off from the tip of Manhattan and went past the grand old lady and up the Hudson. Being a simplistic flight this time, doors were left on so I shot through the plexi which did color correction in post. There was no hover time so had to make the shot when you saw it which is always a challenge. The D4 & 24-70AFS made quick work of the shooting part of the process, I just had to see what I liked at click. The light wasn’t in our favor when it comes to direction, but it’s the only opportunity I was going to have so just had fun. Like anytime in the air, it was too short but it sure was a ton of fun. Thanks guys!
Apr 25, 2012 | Aviation
This is one of the most common questions I’ve been asked about the D4, “What’s your favorite D4 feature?” Up until last week I really didn’t have one but then I hadn’t pounded the D4 like I did last week. At the Doolittle Reunion I shot the D4 from long before sun up to long after sun down using all my normal settings and testing some of the new ones. It wasn’t until Wed morning that I figured out one of my favorites and that has to be the buffer. What you see above is the take off for the formation for the 13:00 flyover. You’re seeing in the top 3 image the first, middle and last click from the take off series, capturing a total of 53 frames stopping only because the B-25 was too far away to shoot anymore. I didn’t stop because the buffer was full. And the next two images are the first and last of the next burst, shooting without regard to the buffer! The D4 buffer and write speed is just freaking amazing! Wednesday evening I did my first air to air shoot with the D4 and again, I just let down on the hammer and only once did the D4 firing slow down when the empty got full. That’s ten frames per second Nef shooting at it’s best. So to answer the question, “What’s your favorite D4 feature” it has to be the buffer.
And to jump to the chase, what’s my next favorite feature? It’s gotta be the “improved” autofocus system. Now is it perfect, does it work all the time and with everything? Now I’m going to be a toad and answer this question with, you’ll have to get the upcoming issue of the BT Journal or wait a few months until I blog it. I do have some info you won’t find in the instruction book and so far I’ve not seen anyone put out. I can honestly say it performs and in ways that are better then the D3 which I didn’t think could be improved upon.
Apr 20, 2012 | Aviation
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To get to my point, I need to give you a little background trivia. Before the prop ever turns, a brief is held, actually a couple of them. The reason of the brief is to go through the photo mission so all parties are on the same page for a number one reason, the main being safety. I was incredibly fortunate that my friends who fly the Texas Flying Legends Museum aircraft asked if I would do an air to air shoot with them. So they were my client, they had specific formations, “family portraits” they wanted taken. At the same time, they did this amazing flight for two WWII veterans, brothers. One flew in a P-47 (in the back of the P-51 during this flight) and the other a tail gunner in a B-25 (in Betty’s Dream). The photo mission was then not only the family portrait but portraits of the brothers flying again.
Before the main brief with all pilots, Doug (who flew the Corsair) & I sat down and created a Shot List. This is a aerial script of the aircraft/formation sets I wanted to tell the story visually. The shot list is more then, “I want the Corsair and then the Zero” but rather a move by move of planes in and out of the frame. These movements number one priority is safety. Then there is time, time is money because gas is burning. For example the B-25 can’t just dart in and out of place like the P-51D Mustang. So in no time Doug & I had a choreographed shot list for 9 formations in 60min (pilots were so good, we did it in less then 40min capturing 1709 images). With that, we did a brief with just the pilots of the subject planes. Then we did a brief with all pilots, photo platform and subjects. Then we did a walk through brief where we stood in positions of the flight and walk through all the moves for each formation. With all of this planning, we get in our aircraft and go flying.
While we “fly the brief,” simple little things like wind currents which you don’t know until you get in the air can take that planning and send it south. When you do an evening shoot for the light like we did, time is everything. So when one aircraft is taken out of formation for a minute because of turbulence, it then takes minutes for them to get back into position. You add the incredible complexity of five aircraft doing this, even with the best pilots on the planet like I had to work with, getting it all started is a challenge and its something no one has control over.
Our first formation was a Vic, a V formation with the B-25 on point. Getting the tight formation wasn’t coming together quickly and light was fading. It was obvious I was going to have to come up with another solution for the family portrait. All I could do (since I can’t get out and push) was make images to create a pano. The two images below are the two used to create the pano you see above. The biggest challenge was the background was never the same second by second and at the same time, the aircraft were moving up and down. I really didn’t hold much hope for the idea but with the D4 blasting at 10fps, I went for it. The image above is the fist assembly. I am quite pleased!
And the point to all of this? We’ve been finding here on the blog that wildlife photographers aren’t reading posts with a plane photo. Landscape photographers aren’t reading posts with wildlife. Everyone reads a post when there’s a Photoshop technique. How can photographers put their head in the sand like that? If I hadn’t done a ton of panos as a “landscape” photographer, I wouldn’t have had a clue on how to make it work from an aircraft turning 160knts shooting with 70-200 with ever changing background & horizon line! I don’t do portraits for a living and don’t live with flash, but if I didn’t learn those aspects of portraiture, I wouldn’t been able to photograph all the folks I had to this week at an aviation event! I personally don’t know of any aspect of any discipline of photography that doesn’t effect every other. If nothing else, if you don’t have an open mind to all aspects of photography, how can your photography grow and communicate? I’m not saying you need to read everything. I am saying though you might find your photography growing, being more fun and challenging if you simply go outside your comfort zone with the simple idea of learning. While I don’t go out and seek ultra wide panos much anymore, I sure am glad I perfected that technique for my photography. It made it possible to make this click taking care of my clients needs. It’s what photography often boils down to, no control problem solving.
Apr 19, 2012 | Aviation
After an amazing day that started really earlier, I was invited to go flying with some friends. With the amazing Larry Kelly in the right seat calling the sets, I laid in the tail of his B-25 “Panchito” photographing a group of very talented pilots I am incredibly fortunate to call friends. With only 90min of sleep again last night, I only had time to put up this one photo of the four ship. You have here a P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, AM6 Zero and FG-1D Corsair. Not seen was the B-25 Mitchell. This is a whole other story I’ll have to share at a later date. But I can say…wow!!!
Apr 19, 2012 | Aviation
At 12:20 the 20, B-25s launched from a parked position as if on the Hornet. At 30sec intervals, they roared into the sky to the delight of the crowd of thousands. I was an amazing site and even more sound as one by one they taxied and took off to the south. Once they all were airborn they formed up and exactly at 13:00 they flew over the memorial in a formation of 16 and 4. Sixteen B-25s carrying 80 young men 70yrs earlier winged over the ocean to bomb Japan.
And these are the four Raiders that are still with us. All over 90 now, the smiles on their faces was stirring. Since Jake & I are here working for 67 magazines, we had media credentials so we could shoot the memorial ceremony from the media pit. It was Jake’s first time to “fight” for a photo. While I enjoyed watching him working to make it all work, he didn’t like it so much.
