Jul 18, 2011 | Aviation
Click Here to Hangar Pano.
It had been a long day. This is where I spent my Wed shooting like a crazy man, challenging my photographic skills, sweating profusely and loving every moment of it. At the end of the day, I wanted a image of my workplace but a simple, single click wouldn’t do. I mean, I had been doing HDR, flash fill VR panos for the past ten hours so why not keep the pain going. So dragged the ladder out into the sun, climbed to the top and did a 16Fish, 5 image HDR, 3 image wide, hand held pano. I mean what the hay…never tried that before.
As my folks learned this past weekend at Photoshop for Shooters, a good realistic HDR starts at the point of capture. It’s all about light, quantity and quality. The reason when I went with a 16Fish pano was because a single click from my vantage point cut off the left wing of the left Mustang and the right wing of the right Mustang. I wanted those wings so I needed to shoot three images across. Why doesn’t it look like a Fisheye shot? The horizon line is running dead center of the frame. And with the addition two image on either side of the main image, some of the bowing at the edges is avoided.
The finishing was pretty straight forward. The HDR was done with Photomatix Pro. The pano was assembled in Photoshop using Photomerge to assemble the three Tifs from Photomatix Pro. A little Nik Tonal Contrast, Darken/Lighten Center and Vivezza to brighten the back two planes and flag and all done. It was actually a whole lot easier to do then I first imagined. But then that’s true for a lot of things in photography. As long as you start with the basics and execute them correctly, it all seems to fall into place.
Photo captured by D3x, 16Fish on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 15, 2011 | Aviation
This plane has an amazing past! From War to Alaska to photo platform, this L1 has seen it all. I even saw an old B&W of it on a Disney set between takes (it was a photo platform) parked at Upper Newport where someone had erected a clothes line and was drying clothes on its struts. Well, all those modifications done to the L1 has been removed and it has been painstakingly with TLC put back to the smallest detail as it was when it came out of the factory.
Even the wire, “tiger stripe,” has been reproduced to modern code, to look like it is cotton wrapped so it is accurate. It is simply amazing! And for the second time in a month, I had the very good luck to be present when the last connection was being made and the starter was being tested for the first time on a restored aircraft.
With a “Clear!” the power went to the starter. This has an inertia starter that when the switch is thrown, spools up and when the ignition goes live, turns over the engine. The spark plugs were pulled so it wasn’t going to turn over, but Paul had the great joy of the first time it was tested, all worked perfectly. All the photography was done the same way. Shooting 1/5 – 1/8, f/5.6 – f/8 with the SB-900 with the LumiQuest Softbox handheld. It was a great day, lots of learning, fun photography and all part of a project that will culminate when I shoot the L1 air to air. I wanna thank all the folks at Fantasy of Flight and especially Paul for a great day!
Jul 15, 2011 | Aviation
When I was at Fantasy of Flight a couple months back, I saw the tail cone Rick is standing in front of here. Part of a P-35 restoration, I thought when I saw it that it was a work of art, a sculpture destined for a gallery, not the rear of a plane. Today I took the opportunity to get to know the artisan who made it, Rick, a little better and he was more then willing to share some of his craft with me. And of course, I listened with heart and camera.
Just like my 30yrs of working with biologists, I shot while the work continued. I didn’t set up shots, I just listened, asked questions and shot. In the art of historic restoration, the smallest detail is important. Rick is holding up two of the same size rivets and while they technically the same size rivet, one has a slightly different head size and is accurate to the P-35. Could you see a difference? Ya, sure, especially when you put in place (not!). Those in the know sure would pick up on the difference so that’s why that TLC is done. It is a slow, laborious, TLC process and Rick is a real artist.After my technical and historic lessons (which I just love which is why I was here) it was time to get back to work. Those tiny rivets are being put in place one at a time. It was that process that I wanted to photograph.
How were these photographs taken? There is a open door letting in filtered afternoon light to the left. I filled it in with a SB-900 with a LumiQuest Softbox LTp (love this thing!) running on a SC-27. This is a big, portable light source that I hold off camera. Here’s the kicker to the whole thing, I was shooting at 1/5 – 1/8 the whole time. Why such a slow shutter speed? I’m shooting 1 flash, by myself in a big shop constantly on the move. I work much better using the ambient light as my fill and the flash as key in these situations. With that, the filtered light coming in the doors which was gorgeous, was a limited quantity, hence the slow shutter speed. Was a tripod in involved? No, there was barely space for a Moose let alone a tripod. All the photos were handheld. What about ghosting? What about it? If there was subject movement during an exposure, it just gives a sense of motion and work which is what you see in the last image. Now one of the three images, the flash was above the lens and not to the side. Can you tell which one?
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 15, 2011 | Aviation
“So what are you doing in FL?” Folks who follow me on FB have been DMing that question after I posted a photo from the cockpit of a L-39 yesterday. Most assume that if I’m in FL, I must be photographing wildlife. Don’t know about others, but standing in the sun when it’s 100 degrees isn’t fun. So I spent yesterday instead in a hangar where it was a cool 98 degrees (much better). I did a commercial shoot yesterday, not done one of those for a long time and this one was fun being aviation based. I was doing HDR, flash-fill VR Panos and after 16hrs and 20gal of water, had it all done. At least the shooting portion.
Today was my time so I headed over to a favorite locale, Fantasy of Flight and to the restoration shop of my good friend Paul. Back in 1997, Paul started the restoration of the Stinson L1 and is getting “near” completion. This is a very cool plane of which only 352 were made, a handful exist and Kermit’s will soon be the only airworthy example in the world. Its 51′ wingspan permitted it to go rear slow making it a great observation aircraft. I had a marvelous day. Stick around and I’ll tell you the story.
Photo captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 1, 2011 | Aviation
It was a cold, gray morning a few days after New Year, 2010. I had a contract to create content so this was no pleasure cruise though with the family in tow, you wouldn’t have guessed it. As a matter of fact, acting very much the kid, you would have no clue that there was a bunch of money on the line, a reputation and client to please at the end of the day. Then I again, I always say photography should be fun because otherwise, well, it’s just a glorified desk job. We were having fun!
This was a first for us, as in, I said yes and took a job to photograph something I had never, ever photographed before! It’s not the first time I’d done this in my career and have done it many times since. It’s the nature of the work and it sure is one way to make your photography grow. Fear is such a great motivator! The panic only began when we looked at the overcast skies and the project was about to be called off because of weather. The window to get the work done was itty pitty as we were working in a window between Sierra winter storms. I pulled out the iPhone and looked at the Radar picture. Over Lake Tahoe there was a window in the clouds, what appeared to be about 20-30 minutes of clearing. It was my checkbook, it was my call. Take the risk and spend the money and chase that light or not? I do was what I always do, a bull in a china shop (and some wonder why my dad named me Moose) so we went for it!
Jake got in the T-6 and I in the other T-6. PIC of the T-6 I was in would turn out to become a dear friend, flying with him a whole bunch since, nearly every opportunity we have. At that moment, I didn’t know that would be the outcome, he was just someone close and came recommended to me by my bud Richard. Off we launched, up into the gray skies and looking even grayer then just minutes before. It was such a rush, not just being up in a T-6 Texan, an old warbird but doing our first ever air to air shoot! And, I was getting paid to do this, have this much fun! I was just counting my blessing with these thoughts running through my mind when it was interrupted. My headset rang out, “I see nothing but gray skies, what do you want to do?” We’re traveling south and I knew that 40 miles straight ahead was blue sky, I had just come from there. But that air time would take my payday and blow it all away. It’s still a business, can’t lose sight of that, ever!
I’m scanning the skies as if I were a WWII fighter pilot looking for the enemy to jump us but I’m looking for light. What’s new? I’m scanning and off to our right, looking west over the Kingsbury Grade I see a little light and perhaps even blue. I asked Dennis, “Does that look like an opening to you at 3 O’clock, it’s where the radar said there was a hole.” “Yeah, kind of, not really, not sure I trust it,” came back in my headset. “What do you want to do?” “Let’s head for it.” With Jake in the other T-6 on our wing, we turned and headed for that light. Well, the rest of the flight as they would say is history.
We went over the Grade to find Lake Tahoe completely open, gorgeous light and fresh snow on the peaks for a backdrop. For the next 25min we flew orbits around the lake as I created the contracted content. We even made time to do barrel rolls, loops and some other really fun stuff. Jake even flew part of the way back to the airfield. We landed and there was enough time for Sharon & Brent to get in the T-6s and head up to the lake. But by the time they got there, the window had closed in, the winds came up so they made a big orbit around the basin and returned. We totally lucked out!
A week later I submitted all the images and video and invoice and 30days later the payday arrived in the mail. And for most, that would be the end and they would pat themselves on the back and say Job Well Done! Not me, not the way I was raised, money is not the end. I wanted to see my photographs, video and story put out there which is what I was contracted to create. Nothing, it was put on a hard drive and abandoned! I asked and asked about it but I never heard a word. As in literally, it was buried, no word yea or na, it was like it had never been created. And why was it buried, I never knew and it has always really bothered me. Yeah, I had been paid for the work. But that wasn’t enough, it never is with me. Then……
I still work with the client, they have run a half dozen pieces since that shoot. They paid for the job and still use me yet that piece which I had such an emotional attachment to languished on some hard drive in a corner of some building doing nothing. The phone rang this week and it was the client (who I’m not going to name) looking to do another project. After going over the particulars I had to ask about what we had labeled, “The Lost Flight.” Still no answer but I figured I had nothing too loose so I pushed it, usual Bull in a China Shop and I’m glad I did!
The outcome, that piece is still forever buried on a hard drive but I now know why. The photographs, the video, what all that good luck and fun had made possible, the images were just not dramatic! Sharon & I have looked at those photos a lot, one is a very large medal print in our office. It has a ton of great memories attached but when compared to the air to air shoots I’ve done since, it definitely is not as dramatic. It’s what I’ve described so many times referring to landscape photography (photography is photography no matter the subject matter). You have to say in your photograph, “You Need To Be Here” and not just say, “I Was Here.” These photos say no more then, I was here but I couldn’t see it because I knew and felt all the back end stuff.
I have shot and rode in #33 a whole bunch, it being a subject and photo ship many times in the last 18months. #43 won the Reno Air Races in 2010. I’ve never flown in her but I do love photographing her and that’s because Dennis smiles the most when flying this speedster. So in an air to air we did last week, the story was just that, the speed this old warbird has and it being the 2010 champ. And with that story line, that reason for shooting makes all the difference in the world in the final image. The drama of flight is told and how do I know that? That client that shelved the first piece with my persistence is now running a new piece, same topic but new images. When I sent the new set of images they said on the phone and in an email that the new ones have so much more, drama!
We all have an emotional attachment to our images, that’s how it is supposed to work. We protect them and try to find them the perfect home. When that falls through, like any lost love, it hurts and leaves us wondering. Money aside, it’s that acceptance for our photographs that is the greatest payday. No matter if you’re just starting out or have been doing this click thing for 30yrs, we all share this one very basic and important aspect of photography. An no matter where you are in that pursuit, it’s hard to recognize and remember this very basic, very human fact. It was again another reminder that while my photography is still improving, there is still room for improvement!
