Jun 14, 2011 | Aviation
So Jake & I are walking around the show, talking with folks, running into friends and thankfully, doing some business and to top that all off, having fun shooting when we walked up to the P-64. I looked like it was staged by the pilot, not really sure but there on the wing was a helmet and flight suit. It was in the sun, backlit but in the sun. Standing back and shooting at 400mm, you could get the flags on the fuselage in the frame. It was a cool detail shot that I look for at air shows, the reason why I carry the 200-400VR2. It permits me to shoot over and through folks. I had two major issues when I took the photo, which format and the backlighting. The format problem I fixed by doing both horizontal and vertical. Now that they are finished, I like the vertical the best. The helmet & flags in the background relate the best in the vertical. That left the backlighting. I didn’t have a flash and even if I did, there was no way with the crowd I was going to apply it in the limited time I had. That left finishing in post and that, I can do.
You probably don’t see a real big difference between the finished and unfinished photos and that’s the way it should be. But if you look carefully at the highlights and shadows, even in sRGB you can see a difference. Next, look at the flags, you’ll see in the finished image the flags have more color and punch. The final biggie is the helmet and flight suit. Notice in the final image the browns and richness there that is missing in the out of the camera image? I got that without sacrificing the backlighting highlight using OnOne Photo Tools Tint with Clean Whites. These are all small details but that’s how I like to work. They add up and the final viewer on the image if done right will never know, just enjoy.
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 14, 2011 | Aviation
After the ISAP convention last weekend, Jake & I had to drive home. We decided to get up early and spend a couple hours at the Wings over Gillesipe air show. We had seen a sneak preview of it a couple days earlier and the warbirds that had flown in early got our attention. So we got over to the show before its scheduled opening hoping that would let some early birds and sure enough, they were. Early was 08:45 on a clear sky day so the light was already a little hot but we made the most of it. It was simply fun!
In these situations, when the light is not great, background never clean, what do I go for? In all seriousness, I simply click for the fun of it. If it weren’t for the blog, you wouldn’t ever see these types of photographs. All three of these planes were new to me in one way or the other. The Skyraider above had a different set of arms and color scheme then I have in my files. The An-2 I’ve never seen out of a museum and never Yellow. And the Flying Barrel, this fighter has always intrigued me and again I’d never seen it outside a museum. So why take these photos in this less then perfect conditions?
When you’re building up a file or as I think of it “inventory” of images, you start out at the bottom and work to improve that file. Be it a bird, mammal, location or particular aircraft, while certain general techniques all work the same on them, there will always be little nuances, adjustments you need to make for the individual uniqueness. I don’t wanna wait until crunch time to figure those things out. So I take these photos to learn from, not to put out as examples of good photography. What did I learn? An example would be the shadow of the wing on the fuselage of the Flying Barrel, it’s pretty big, hides a whole lot. If I have the opportunity to do and air to air with it, this would be a real issue. How to deal with that shadow? Flash fill of course. No, just kidding! The shadow comes from the angle of the light, change that angle and you change the shadow. I wanna know about such issues so when presented with the golden opportunity, I can be golden.
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 13, 2011 | Aviation
photo by Larry Grace
One of those great memories and honors that comes from what I do happened last week at the ISAP convention. Jake & I went down a little early to the banquet, our guest speaker was there early as well. WWII triple ace Bud Anderson answered his nation’s call and served in the 8th Air Force out of England. We had about 10min before anyone else showed up and were able to talk to not only a legend, but a war hero. Bud being Bud had already had a copy of his book autographed and placed at the chair of everyone coming to the banquet. That was freakin cool! Since we were early, he offered to personalize our copies which was even cooler. Even after talking with these amazing veterans, it’s still impossible for me to relate to what they’ve seen, done and accomplished. When you see the reenactments of Bud’s aerial battles and then you talk with him, it’s hard to imagine that he lived through what you saw. He actually lived it! If you have the opportunity to hear him speak, do because he’s a very engaging speaker. At the very least, get a copy of his book, it’s a great read about our history!
Jun 7, 2011 | Aviation
Our ISAP field trip ended as a day for a convention of aviation photographers should, with two Stearman flying off in the sunset. They made a pass down the runway heading to the west and then turned and headed right back towards us. And luckily for us, the pilots put a little attitude, gesture in the flight which over the coastal marine layer that was floating in made for a great click. I wanna thank our host Bill Allen for a marvelous locale to spend the afternoon and all the folks of ISAP for making it a very memorable day!
Photo captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 7, 2011 | Aviation
Stearman owners love to fly at dusk as I learned 1st hand last week. This is Steve McQueen’s plane going for a cruise. Even at 1/30 handheld, the 200-400VR2 delivered a nice click.
Jun 7, 2011 | Aviation
I’m not kidding you, the hangar door is to the right, the home theater room is in the back and the wall behind me is the amazing bar. And parked right there is the incredibly rare Boeing FB-5 biplane of Bill Allen’s and is it gorgeous! The first time I walked through the room, the light from the track lighting was nice, the neon cool but that was all. About an hour later when I walked through (because there was so much to see, one trip wasn’t enough), the late afternoon light streaming through the windows was way cool! I had to have the shot, I just love it! Here’s the problem, the light coming through the windows on the right, the light on the floor and the shadow in the back was a HUGE range. Yeah, I could have brought in flash but that would have been a helluva lot of work and time consuming, neither was on my agenda. So I ran out, borrowed Bill Fortney’s tripod and because I didn’t have a plate on my D3x, I held the body on top of the tripod to do a 5 image HDR of this amazing plane. In all honesty, all of the above was the easy part, it was a no-brainer. It was the framing that still has me scratching my head. I like the top image because it includes the two cool leather chairs telling the story of the room. The bottom photo though has that killer neon sign on the left. Don’t know how to see this light and work it, come to class and you’ll learn how to make it work for you! Since I couldn’t make up my mind, I took them both and played it safe. But seriously, this is his den and it rocks!
