Simple Click – Here Kitty Kitty
And then the sun came up, I went down and the Tigercat just shinned!
The Tiger Morning
The morning I had with Rod Lewis’ F7F Tigercat “Here Kitty Kitty” was really killer. I say morning but in reality, we had only about 50min with her when we had light to work. We (Scottie & I) arrived long before sun up to get things like the ladder and Gtizo set up, trash cans moved, ropes lowered so when the light start to happen, we’d be ready to go. As you can see, we had bald skies which means the light would change fast and not for the better. I had talked to Rod the evening before and he was very kind to have Here Kitty Kitty parked how you see it and with the wings left down. I asked for the plane to be parked as you see because of past experience shooting in the morning. See the light on the nose of the plane, those nice highlights on both side? That’s a common thing at Stead for a short time each morning. It’s great light and I wanted to take advantage of it.
Photographing a dark blue subject against a black background can be a crazy scenario. I have that combo because I went up on the ladder. Many have asked why did I do that? The main reason is because it’s a vantage point you normally don’t get. Having the plane to ourselves and parked as I wanted, going up made sense. Normally it’s parked wherever it’s parked and you’re shooting from eyelevel. Once I went up, I had that color combo to deal with. With that, the yellow tips on the props became pretty important. The hint of color really catches the eye. That’s why I kept moving the tripod up on the nose to make that final vertical which I really like. After all of that, there is the light itself and the desired results. I blogged on Monday two images from this seen and commented on how I went. Well, the question I have for you now is, are these single clicks or HDR images? I’m actually not going to say, you’ll have to look, think and feel the answer out. I’m just glad it’s one of those morning when I was able to grab the tiger’s tail and hold on!
Photos captured D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
A Moments Diversion
So there I am, up the ladder working the F7F Tigercat having one helluva a good time. My mind was on one thing, that Tigercat so the blinders were on. I noticed a glow in the nose of the Tigercat all of a sudden so I turned around to see a really, little cloud off in the horizon turning pink. I then noticed the P-51 “Precious Medal” and the sodium vapor lights were casting a cool glow in its side that seemed like it could be coming from that small cloud. So I quickly moved the ladder and tripod and went over to it. The sky is really nothing special, the background pretty busy but when’s the next time I’m going to have this plane all to myself at sunrise again (and since they are repainting it, it’s kinda history). There is one thing I’ve learned in aviation photography, there is money to be made recording history. So, I wanna make the shot. But…..
This is very much a backlit situation. Besides that, what’s the main reflector in this silver body? The black tarmac. So I have a double whammy when it come to lighting. Now the only way to make something of that limited color is to underexpose. Doing so takes everything in the photo to the basement. That’s not a good thing. As you can see here, when I did that, there is NO information left in the photo. This is a -4.5 image and it’s simply not working.
OK, let’s just go -.5 and that’s really zero improvement. But one can see instantly the range of light is greater then five stops but that’s not what my eyes are seeing. Many have emailed asking why don’t I introduce flash? That is a very valid approach and it can make gorgeous things happen. But bringing in a dozen flash and all that comes along with that takes time and simply put, no one is paying me to spend that kind of time. Besides, it’s just not what I do, I work with what I have available. So coming back to what dragged my ladder over here in the first place, the sodium vapor light reflection in the fuselage, HDR was the only solution (using flash would have blown away that glow). You’re probably going back up to the finished image, looking at the other two and wondering how those two images made the top on and how the top one doesn’t look like HDR. Precious Medal is a silver bodied, lime green winged plane. It looks HDR without HDR. Getting to this point, everything from access to the aircraft to understanding light and then applying the right post processing techniques is all part of the photographic long haul plan. Now I’ve already paid the dues, I don’t think you should have to reinvent the wheel which is why I share the info here and why we started Photoshop for Shooters. I’m hoping you’re looking at the final image, looking at the two images below and if nothing else asking yourself, “How did those propellers get lit?” Because that’s the key to the whole photograph. If you asked yourself that question, you need to come to class so I can not only teach you how I did that, but why it’s important. If only I knew this five years ago when I started working with aircraft. It makes me wonder what will I know five years from now?
Waiting for the Shot
A good friend and fellow aviation photographer Jay Beckman has a sweet image of the “jaws” on a P-40 that I’ve always liked. It’s a shot that takes the right angle and light to pull off. On Wed last week, Jake & I were on the ramp with the newest P-40 to come to Reno flew in. Tony Banta’s “Kittihawk” is a gorgeous plane so Jay’s image came to mind as we stood there on the ramp. Even with a Media Vest, while those props are turning you have to stay back. So you have to wait. We saw the P-40 coming in, land, taxi and pull over to the ramp. During this time other things are going on, some are potential photo opps and some are photo opp spoilers (like other planes coming in, tow vehicles parking and moving planes) so even though I have a photo in mind, it doesn’t mean it will come to be. The waiting game begins.
OK, no props are turning, vehicles have moved and we can get up to Jaws. After everything else, there is the light. It’s not really killer but that’s just the way it is. I take the horizontal and, well, I really don’t like it. Why don’t I like it? I look at it in the viewfinder wondering what is it that is lacking. It took me a little while and then it hit me, it’s the prop. It looks like a mustache. Now I like a mustache but in this instance, one on Jaws isn’t working for me. It seems to take away from the fierceness of the Jaws. The fierceness comes from the eye, I need to make it more dominant. The fix? Get in tighter and go vertical. Now is it perfect? It’s not as nice as Jay’s but it’s the best I have so far. If the pilot or crew was still around, I would have asked them to move the prop and that would have helped as well. My personal triumph, and while it sounds little it’s important to me, is I actually remembered the photo possibility from looking at other images and then went after the idea when I had the opportunity. It’s such a game, waiting for the shot.
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Take Your Time, Make It Yours
“I’m halfway through “Captured” and the amount of effort and study you put into your subjects is impressive and inspirational. It’s a great motivational read, especially when a day comes along that I feel lazy. Time to get off my butt and shoot!” So far in my 30yrs, I’ve not found another method to move me down the road other then the way Jim pointed out from reading my book. The end of last week is a perfect example. I just celebrated the beginning of my 5th year working in aviation photography. I have so far to go after coming such a long ways already. There is no doubt I had some good friends help me along the way who opened doors but I had to walk through them. All of my peers that I’ve talked to have the same stories with the same basic thread, someone opened the door but they walked through them. Didn’t burst through them or crawl through them, but walked through them. That translates to taking the time to do the homework, hone the skills and making the most of the opportunities provided you. This of course means, making things happen for yourself, not waiting for them to happen. As my good friend Joe likes to sum up as, “Going outside you comfort zone.” This weeks blogs (which everyone will forget by Tuesday) is about my going outside my comfort zone to find success and moving that forward. Yeah, it will be a bunch of plane pictures but the photo subject matter really matters not. In fact, not sure why so many look at the photo in a blog and make a judgment call without reading the blog is beyond me. I am always taken aback when folks ask me how I got so good in aviation so fast when I’m a wildlife photographer. When I tell them, “I’m just a photographer,” all that comes back to me in a puzzled look (30yrs chasing light does count for something not matter what that light was falling on).
I thought I’d start off with something that might grab your attention (or not). One of those opportunities I made for myself was with this gorgeous plane, Rod Lewis’ F7F Tigercat “Here Kitty Kitty.” I talked with Rod and arranged for the plane to be parked as you see it so I could photograph it at sunrise. It’s then upon me to make something of that opportunity. I could have shot it ground lever (and did) or at eyelevel (and did) but I wanted to shoot it at level that is not only cool, but typically not possible. So I grabbed the ladder out of the truck (surely you have one) and shot from it. I put up my “teepee” tripod (really tall Gitzo 5560SGT) and went to work. With such an opportunity, you might just make one click and call it a day, that is totally valid. I wanted to cover myself so after making my primary shot (the top photo), I decided to try some HDR (bottom photo). Personally, I’m really glad I didn’t just go with HDR because I really don’t like it, not at all. The top photo though, it was a good start. There are a lot more from the morning of “Here Kitty Kitty” but an image or finishing technique is not the point of this blog. Just six months ago, I couldn’t have done this. I couldn’t have arranged for the plane, I wouldn’t even have had the ladder in the truck. Photography, no matter the subject matter takes time to master and even more time to make your own. The key is, if you don’t start today, you won’t have it tomorrow because it takes time to make it your own.
Photo captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
What Hard Light Images Did I Find that I Like?
I know the question will be asked so I thought I would post a couple. We are up at Stead for PRS (Pylon Race Seminar) and this year we came a day early just to hang with friends and photograph arrivals. We had a great day and the majority of the time, shooting in hard light. The top plane from the Formula Class is a Jake find. He pointed it out to me after I got done talking with a pilot. The Hawker Sea Fury “Argonaut” is an old favorite of me. That was an easy click and an obvious B&W when I took it. One of my favorite though is this view of the P-51mod Precious Medal. The aluminum skin has been polished so many times, at the right angle like this, looks like tempered metal. It’s not that I did something any other photographer couldn’t do if they were there, the problem was/is, there were no other photographers there. It’s simply just going out and having fun. Being able to share this with Jake and being with friends, I can’t think of any more fun. As our good friend would say, “Good Times!”
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film