I have a gray subject against a gray sky on a gray tarmac with “gray” light lighting the whole scene. The only blacks were inside the Chinook and there were no whites. Looking at this, my what if experiment was, could the new masking in ACR bring out something of this gray scene in a B&W photo. The answer, not so much. The Chinook does have some shape from the highlights but texture is lost. The sky, it was a gray marine layer which I knew would yield little likeable. The tarmac was the surprise that was my take away. It’s a small detail but the stance of the Chinook comes from the tarmac. So, 20% of the photo was a positive lesson to put in the creative bank. The other 80% went in the “don’t do again” bin. And that’s how it often goes for me when the viewfinder is empty.

The background sets is the stage for our star and setting it goes a long ways to telling the star’s story. In this case, breaking out of the winter hangar and flying in the glory of spring. And while this sounds so simple to do, and it is, the window to do it is really small. This is a gentle prod that if you are thinking about making this magic, get a move on! If this something you wanna do but don’t know where to start, simply talk to a pilot. Most know where the color is blooming and when you ask about this, it will click with them it’s a great photo op. You might not get the information about the flowers but pick up the air-to-air at the same time. Remember, just show up and in this case, look for the gold!

The first thing I saw as we walked into Mike’s office (the creator and CEO of Metro Aviation) is a Kingfisher print and below it the portrait of a naval aviator. The portrait of his father and his aircraft, I new I was going to like Mike! After our day at the Metro Aviation, I could write a book and not cover all this Shreveport business has accomplished and is doing to make our world a better place. In a nutshell, saving more lives is at the heart of this impressive business. If you’ve ever seen a MediVac flying about, more than likely it was born right here at Metro Aviation. They receive the helos from Airbus in crates and months later send them out ready to deploy to hospitals around the US completely fitted out and in many cases, with gear invented and proven at Metro Aviation. In this process, they have a “command center” (another of Mike’s inovations found nowhere else in the world) where the 100+ helos they help owners operate with hardware / software they invented, one of a kind saving lives.

Mike is quite the southern gentleman taking hours from his day sharing every aspect of Metro Aviation with me. For an aviation restoration geek like me, it was heaven! Ended putting in 6000 step learning about Metro. And it all comes for a medical student forty years ago wanting to do more and following his passion to make that happen. Wow, just wow!

The other commonality was the light. Starting with these two benchmarks is a challenge in itself then comes the additional challenge of “improving.” Making this come together means working the connections, obtaining access and the most important element, time, to make it all come together. I wrap that all up in a favorite phrase of mine, planned luck. If I do it right and the stars align, I’ll be looking forward to some one on one time!