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.

Time is precious! When I have time with Thunderbird, a spectacular P-51c, I want to make the most of it. If that opportunity, like a week ago, comes with shooting in a 30knt wind, making the cabin a bouncy house, so be it. It was a low percentage proposition, and some great frames were lost like this one, when all the elements are clean lines, well, I get a bit depressed. It’s from this that I learn and put in the back of my mind to improve next time. Because I just can’t get enough of Thinderbird.

I love that shine! Along with the historically accurate construction, and “Bonnie’s’ paint scheme, the shine grabs your attention nearly as quickly as Bernie’s flying of this great warbird. I’ve been fortunate to spend some “lone” time with Bonnie and contemplate each opportunity how to bring that shine to a single click. This past weekend, the bald skies and tarmac helped me along. The combination of the two, along with shooting at 600mm, the P-47 shape, Bonnie’s shine and power comes through with her still on the ground. While not perfect, I feel I’m going in the right direction for shinny, shinny, shinny.

It was the classic case of a day late and a dollar short! I had come to know and become good friends with the Boeing 40, just after he had sold it to WAAAM. And amazing aircraft, one of a kind and a unique piece of our history as well as aviation history, I really wanted to photograph it in every way. I did an A2A photo mission with it early that morning and needed to finish up with statics. When it was parked on the grass, it was facing the wrong direction with the worst background with bald skies. I was toast! As the day wore on, I kept checking on it, hoping for the best. Late that afternoon, many of the public had left for the day. All of the aircraft parked around it had flown off. And the skies finally started to fill with the evening overcast. I finally was able to make some clicks, and I finished the piece. It was one for the books, truly accomplished on a hope and a prayer.