Mar 2, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dpa2ab171400.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
There is a skill that comes with time and once you have that skill, I think it turns into being a curse. At least I find it at times being a curse. And that skill? Seeing past the subject to the background. The background is this sweep that when working for us, makes the subject pop and finishes the story begun by the subject. And when the background doesn’t do that, it takes the eye right from the subject destroying the photograph.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPA2AB171412.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
The structures in the background just drive me nuts! Their white shapes in the brown and green grab the eye and don’t let go of it. You have this amazing aircraft staring you right in the face, a bright color trying to grab the eye and then there is the background. What can you do about it? Back on earth you could move left, right, up or down and control the background but up in the air, stepping out of the photo ship to change the background just isn’t a good idea. You can wait until you change position in your orbit but often the gesture in the plane is lost. You cannot just take the photo. Yeah, right, ignore that plane?! I really don’t have an answer that’s perfect. I took the photo but they aren’t my favorite but I didn’t delete them. It’s a dilemma!
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Mar 1, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp75821.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
We were once again incredibly fortunate to have Bob Odegaard & his son Casey flying in their Stang and Cripes A’Mighty for us again. These P-51Ds are amazing aircraft and the skill of the Odegaards at the stick make for some really great shooting!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp76241.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
The first challenge for me is the background. As you can see in the top photo, while Bob looks great in Cripes, they are both lost in the business of the background. If it were the first time to photograph either of these aircraft air to air, you click like a made man giving no never mind to that background. As you shoot them more and more, you get picker as you look for the shot to speak about these planes.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp76161.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
You can look at these three images and see exactly what I’m referring to. As the background gets cleaner and cleaner, the elegance and power of the Mustang becomes more and more distinct. No matter the subject, always strive to find the best background to let you subject free while still telling its story.
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Mar 1, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp75681.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
On the edge of the field just before you land, you fly over this great orange orchard. It’s a great background and I always make sure my buffer is clear to capture the two or three clicks you can make before it’s gone.
Mar 1, 2011 | Aviation
Our gorgeous morning light and clouds came together in the afternoon to create dark clouds, flat light and really strong winds. Just because you have the planes standing by and cameras loaded doesn’t mean everything falls into place. No matter, we hit the skies with the B-17G Sentimental Journey.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp73591.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
When we open up the door of the sky van and our participants see her staring right back at them, their faces say it all. It’s a powerful and magical moment that nothing can prepare you for. You see the hesitation in the shooting as the aw factor overwhelms them, every single one. Then it’s time to get down to the business of recording the moment.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp73661.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
The air was amazingly rough, my right knee taking a pounding against the side of the sky van as I was bounced around. Stabilizing myself was only part of the battle, it was such that I even turned my VR on to Active from Normal. The biggest challenge was the flat light. The real saving grace was the polished bird out the back door. Sentimental Journey is in great shape for a 70yrs lady, just as graceful as ever.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp75011.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
I determined for myself right from the get go that trying to capture overall wide shots of her wasn’t my goal. I wanted to go in tight and ended up shooting the entire flight with her tight. I wanted to capture the concentration on Reed’s face (the pilot) as he worked to fly in the wind and work with us to get the shot. You can’t see it readily in these small thumbnails but I was able to achieve my goal. I’ve been amazingly fortunate to photograph Sentimental Journey a few times now with a few more shoots yet to come this year. I was grateful for this shoot even though the light was less then perfect, to work on some other aspects of photographing the old lady.
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Mar 1, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp31141.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Dragging down the runway, Air2Air’s closing favorite move brought to us by our amazing instructor Doug Rozendaal. How we normally end a Air2Air shoot is how we started our Saturday evening shoot, and with Sentimental Journey no less. If only we hadn’t that strong cross wind. Wow!
Feb 28, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dpazcaf1857.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Practice, Practice, Practice, I do it all the time because it’s the only way I know of keeping sharp at my panning skills. Getting a sharp image throwing the 200-400VR2 around at 1/90 demands constant practice. Once again the field provided us access (which is everything in aviation) to the taxi way for the group to learn, practice and refine their handholding and panning, We had Sentimental Journey and some other cool aircraft including the Lancair Evolution, one of only three around. The sky wasn’t the best but no matter, I was just practicing. I selected the 1/90 not only to show visually how good my technique (in case I needed more practuce), not just to blur the prop, but to blur out the background as much as possible. I was glad the images came out sharp, hate to think my practice went for not. Great start to Air2Air and only a hint of things to come!
Photo captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
