It’s no secret I love clouds, it seems my head is always lost in them! But sharing them requires more than just the frame being filled with puffies. This past weekend, our skies were angry and dropped a lot of needed moisture. Their character grabbed me, but I could not find anything to put with them. That’s when I heard the whirl of turbines and launching in front of me, the perfect star for the stage that was set in the viewfinder. It’s exactly what the clouds needed, a dash of color!

It was one of those great hangar days. What are those? When you’re all set to fly, but Mother Nature has other plans. You simply enjoy the company of others, eat and drink a little, and tell stories. As the thunderstorms passed by, I had hopes they might provide a little bit of a shot. I could see the handwriting on the clouds and asked if a particular aircraft, a bright yellow Staggerwing could be pushed out onto the ramp. Within seconds, it was in place, just in time for the heavens to put on a show. I’ve never seen so many iPhones get whipped out so fast! While I was clicking away, I found myself providing iPhone lessons so everyone could capture the memory. It was gorgeous! One just can’t have enough gold!

“Where can I crop in on a plane?” It’s a common question, and it’s kinda like the same as where can one crop in on big game? There is no hard and fast rule, background and light play as much into the answer as well as the particular aircraft. If there’s one place it’s safe to crop off a plane is its wing tips. Like with this Kingcobra, there is nothing really out there that is unique. The wing tanks help here, kinda visually giving an “ending” point to the wing. So tight can work.

At times, I’m all wet, for sure! But when I hear the news that the airshow might be canceled because of rain, I run for show center. There are times when, yeah, the gear and I get wet, and we come prepared to deal with it. But more times than not, the storm passes by, and the show goes on. That’s when the heavens provide a magical, powerful background for the aerial artists. My suggestion is, support the airshow and improve your photography by attending when there is a prediction of rain. I love to say, airshow rain … great!

Background is everything in photography! This is very true in aviation, especially when on an A2A mission. You have two ways to control the background briefly behind a plane, focal length and angle. I prefer to use longer lenses for this reason. And constantly moving a plane up or down to incorporate the background I want. It’s pretty simplistic, moving the subject below you is the way to see earthl.

Missing those sleek lines, loud engine, fast flight, the Stinson 10A gets passed by in its little corner of the hangar. Except by its owner, who took a moment to learn its history and fall in love with this little warbird. Warbird? Heck yeah! Look closely at the cowling, and you see a sub and a bomb painted on it. With the start of WWII, the coastline of the US was the haunt of German U-Boats. The Stinson 10A served primarily as a coastal patrol and liaison aircraft. Flown mostly by civilian volunteers in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), this “little engine that could” aided in the sinking of one by spotting and staying on station. One just never knows, but we can’t forget the unknown vets.