It was a GREAT day of shooting at the Reno Air Races! I’m at 3731 images filed so far and have 4 days more to go. I’ve shot a done of different things, not just aircraft as I’m taking care of clients needs. I also shot 5.58GB of video today which I need to edit so I can put it in the clients hands tomorrow. Still editing is easy and fast for me, video is not so that’s why, more pics and less text today.
As Richard said, “You and your clouds!” Now the Super Corsair looks as regal as it is. I like this, it was a good day!
With my success yesterday with the 600 w/1.7x, I thought today I would test the 600 w/TC-20e3. While I like the image size and intensity of the action, the heat shimmer killed me. I didn’t get one, not one tack sharp image. I have some that are sharp but they would fall apart if I were to make a 24×30 print of them. And that’s just not acceptable. So that means I need the temps to fall to kill the heat shimmer, get closer physically or just not use the 2x if I want tack sharp. I think I’ll go with getting closer with shorter lens while still incorporating the new angle.
One of the most amazing aircraft I’ve had the privilege to photograph is Bob Odegaard’s Super Corsiar. #74 is an aircraft that I’ve been involved with for a couple of months. I should rephrase that. I’ve been involved with the family that has given life back to #74 and it’s been just a marvelous experience. The world gets to see for the first time this amazing plane this week at the Reno Air Races and to say it is a hit is an understatement. Well, this morning at o’dark thirty, the Odegaards arranged for #74 to be on the ramp for a portrait session. The killer clouds of yesterday afternoon were gone leaving me with my favorite, bald skies. So I went to one side to get a little color. Not happy with this click at all.
So with no love on the other side, I went to the sunny side. Still same bald skies but at least the color is better. The problem from this angle though is the background. You’re probably asking what’s wrong with the background, looks pretty clean. Well that’s because I spent 7min nuking all the homes on them dar hills! All those purty white walls drive me nuts! While this photo is alright, in my book I think of the photo as being “forced.” What I mean by that is, the photo didn’t just come naturally. I had to make the angle work, make the light work, make the background work. Force the photo come to life rather then it coming alive. I can do better!
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
I have thousands of images of Rod Lewis’ F7F Tigercat, but these are the first with the new paint. You can see it as “Big Bossman” on both of my sites and even air to air, today was the first time I got glass on its new color. I wasn’t too sure at first but then once it hit the sky, schweet!
But it was the going away shot after running the course that I liked the best shooting with the big glass. The thunderheads made for a great background and in this case, a monochromatic one. Great first day!
