Feb 28, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dpazcaf1581.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Our 2nd Air2Air Workshop began under a cloud, the cloud of bad weather shutting us down. While weather in landscape photography is a great thing, when planes are involved it’s not so good. None the less before sunrise we were on the tarmac with one of my favorite subject, B-17G Sentimental Journey. And we were in place before the sun peaked out from under the clouds lighting up the storm front. Yummy!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dpazcaf1597.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
There is one thing you need to think about when shooting aviation and that’s distorting the wings. Those large lifting bodies have a distinct shape that makes the plane, the plane so I really prefer not to redesign them with my lens.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dpazcaf1606.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
It is really a small matter but you can see here that just by closing in a little physically shooting at the same focal length, 18mm, the distortion I’m talking about. Photography can be that way, little details that most might not ever notice but you know about. Take the time to deal with those little details you notice in your photography and you can’t help but improve it!
Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 25, 2011 | Aviation, B&W Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPAZCAF1515.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
We’re down in Phoenix getting ready for our Air2Air workshop which is based out of the AZ Wing of the CAF. These great folks open up their doors and hearts and make us feel right at home. This is the home base for the B-17G Sentimental Journey and the B-25 Made in the Shade you see here.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPAZCAF1536.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
The AZ CAF does an amazing job putting people together with our history which I personally think is so important. I wasn’t able to photograph it, but today a WWII B-17 radioman who was shot down and was a POW was flying in Sentimental Journey. When if got back down he was nothing but smiles. That’s an aspect of aviation photography I truly enjoy. I’ll be blogging through out the weekend, give you something to do as the weather is looking to keep many in.
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 24, 2011 | Aviation, Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/A36_DPA2AA360023.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
I wasn’t really into GA (General Aviation) photography until I meet this lovely A36 Bonanza one gorgeous Sunday morning in the Phoenix skies last fall. It wasn’t old (warbird old) and not really that rare so photographing it at first just didn’t put lift under my wings. While my lovely wife is second seat, I didn’t think I would comeback with much until I saw the light! The soft morning light wrapped itself around everything and gave it that desert morning freshness that you just can’t pass up. You’ve gotta embrace it and make it yours. You do that by how you assemble the elements within your viewfinder to make the image. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, a rock, horse, rocking chair, weed, stick, all these elements and more can come to life in this kind of light. In this case, this photo has become a favorite for many reasons. #1 – it opened my eyes that GA photography can be rewarding to me. #2 – the light on the golfers make them a very important part of the image which is why I framed it the way I did (they have great shadows stretching across the green). #3 – the light on the sand trap makes for a killer background for everything. And that’s all because of the light!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/A36_DPA2AA360254.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Then just heartbeats later the background changed but that sweet light was still with us. The background went into shadow of the mountains we were passing while the morning light literally wrapped itself around the A-36. You can see from the prop we were flying into the light and that makes it all work. The all white fuselage can be a very unforgiving form in the wrong light as we experienced just minutes later as the sun rose in the sky. I have a very well earned reputation from my workshop participants for getting up and going at o’dark thirty. That’s because so often that sweet magic of light comes and goes so very quickly. It makes or breaks a photograph and I personally like the make part a whole lot more then the break part. And in this case, light taught me another very important lesson, this time about aviation photography and myself. I love chasing light, I love more when I catch it!
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR (handheld 1/60) on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 4, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA0120.swf, 595, 482 [/swf]
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA0129.swf, 595, 482 [/swf]
It was only a short visit, but the photography was fun and that’s what it’s all about.So with a few quick grab shots on the ramp, it was time to take to the air. The vid has a few little surprises and at the end, you might see a totaly different angle to an old subject. Enjoy!
01.01.2013 Pages are in the process of being updated. In the meantime you can watch our videos on our YouTube Channel as well as all Videos are available on iTunes as Podcasts!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA0385.swf, 595, 482 [/swf]
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA0690.swf, 595, 482 [/swf]
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR / 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Video captured by D7000, 10.5 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 4, 2011 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA0029.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Have you ever used in flight WiFi? if you have, it’s because of this plane! Inside this Albatross is the most amazing array of flying computer, internet, radar, wifi, cable stuff, a gear hear would think they’d died and gone to heaven. This is the first time, ever, I’ve sat down in a seat in a plane and a notebook lapboard comes standard! And silly us, we only brought cameras for the ride.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA0070.swf, 595, 482 [/swf]
We’re racking up the miles knocking out the projects and this was our little reward for this week. Jake & I headed down to Boulder City with an invite from our dear friend Dennis for a really cool meetup of multi engine float planes pilots getting their annual check rides and paperwork. There were pilots from Guam, AK, MI, WI, TX, FL just to mention a few. And this morning, the star was this gorgeous Albatross B. One pilot, a great guy, Peter, has been flying since ’57 and flew the Connie for TWA! Like usual, it was the people and not the planes that were the stars.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DPBCMA00921.swf, 595, 482 [/swf]
After a pilot’s breakfast, Jake & I were on the field early to shoot some statics. After awhile it was time to hope aboard, goggle over the computer network on board and get a thorough walk through of the system and how it’s installed on 37 & 67, it was time for taxi and a 90min flight on Lake Mead. I’ve not processed all the stills or edited the 16GB of vid yet and the night is getting catching up to me. So, I’ll have to get it finished and up over the weekend since we’ll be spending the next couple of weeks in Yellowstone and I wanna be caught up before them.
Photos captured by D3x, 16Fish on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 3, 2011 | Aviation
This past weekend at the museum, we went back out at noon to the flight line. It might be just me but here were these amazing subjects and the worst possible light. I knew better but I shot anyways. My thought process was simple, arrange the elements in the frame to make them interesting and then see if in post, I could make something from nothing. So that’s what I did. What you see here are two images, the “before” and the after. The before though is not straight out of the camera but rather, a one images HDR. The first one was done in Nik HDR Efex and the last three done in Photomatix Pro. What the two? Both programs have strengths I think, you can see here visually what I liked. After that the images where finished in PS using Nik Color Efex filters, Bleach Bypass, Tonal Contrast, to name a few with selective masks. And the final images? Well, ah, sorta…na, shoulda gone with my gut and not shoot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
