Apr 2, 2019 | Aviation
Telling visual stories, weather (wx) is a huge factor that when understood can make the telling simpler and cleaner. If you hadn’t noticed, I use it a lot. I was very, very fortunate to have a father who was trained by the USAF about wx that he passed along to me. But a common question I get is, “How do you get that fog, you have a fog machine?” The ground fog you see in my photographs all comes from Mother Nature and whenever it’s possible, I’ll be out at the crack of dawn to incorporate it in my story. “Hit or Miss” resides outside Tampa, FL but her true home and heart are in England, Spanhoe to be exact. How can I bring her home when it’s 4000 miles away? Wx or fog is one quick and easy way! How do you know if it’s possible though?
Ground fog occurs usually (no guarantee as it can be regional) when the dew point and air temp are the same. In Florida, when there has been a good rain and these to numbers match up, there is a good chance you’ll get that magic. I had seen the numbers the day before so asked that “Hit or Miss” get tugged out into the grass the night before. That increased the odds of ground fog enveloping it the next morning. Sure enough, when we arrived before sun up the next day, the fog was there but as the sun slowly rose, it disappeared. I wasn’t going to stop the shooting so I got the Z6 / Z24-70, set the WB to 9k and walked over. No sooner than I got in place then the ground fog formed again. Like a mad man I ran about shooting cause I knew it wouldn’t last long. The two shots you see here were taken minutes apart from opposite sides of the plane. Within ten minutes, the fog was gone but that was OK, it was there long enough to make the images I wanted. Though I was 4k miles away I put “Hit or Miss” back at her home in the UK and it was all in the dew point.
Mar 13, 2019 | Aviation
4E Speedmail
captured by Z6 / Z24-70 / Larson Light
“I’d like a photo of the Speedmail in front of the old terminal at night.” A simple enough request from my client (who is simply the nicest guy) which we had talked about before and which I had scoped out a few years ago. Easy peezy I thought, what could go wrong? I’ve light painted for decades but I’ve done very little if none in the last five or so years so I thought I should brush up. I headed to KelbyOne and watched my buddy Dave Black’s lighting Painting classes to get my mind thinking about light painting. Then I contacted Dave (such a great guy) and told him what I was thinking and what light recommendation did he have. “The Larson Electronics 5″ should do the job nicely” (he was right, it did). With my homework and notes and light in hand, off I went to work.
What could go wrong? We had checked out the terminal the previous night and that’s when I found that they had installed new “bright as the sun” lamps to illuminate the new fueling terminal. Egads! It was nice and romantically dark in front of the old terminal previously with this neon “Welcome” dude all in red that was going to be part of my background. Now I had EVERYTHING in the background lite up like daylight. “Not to worry, I can block the actual light fixtures with the plane,” I told the client. After 19:00 the 4E Speedmail taxied over to the terminal and with little trouble getting it parked where it blocked those horrible lights. One of the things I like to do is get the “base” exposure when working with extra lights, be it flash or a Larson Electronics. Shooting with the Z6 / Z24-70 on the Robus / BH-55, it took a bit of time to get it just right to block those lights. It was 24 degrees so the client saw the first exposure (the bottom one) and thought that was pretty cool. Then he hopped back in the car to stay warm. After about 40min and many exposures later, I got the top photo which was the best I was going to get this time out. It is by no means the best possible as those bright background lights made a long exposure and good light painting painful. The client though when he emerged from the warmth of the car to see the final photos was ecstatic and that’s what matters. I’m already planning the reshoot, I will do better next time.
Mar 6, 2019 | Aviation
Sept Fate
captured by D3x / 24-70f2.8
It was one of those deals where the wife of the pilot of the plane talked with my wife wanting a Moose Peterson plane portrait of his plane for a BDay present. At the same time, I was to “come up with the idea” of taking their portrait as well. Sounds simple enough, not like I hadn’t done all of that before. But here’s the rub, this plane is so small and so low that a simple portrait wasn’t going to be simple. You could put the plane in the back of a pickup truck and so low I couldn’t get my fist under the plane. And to top that off, it’s highly reflective surface was, highly reflective! And if that wasn’t enough, it has a very unique gull-wing design. How I love challenges!
Sept Fate
captured by D3x / 24-70f2.8
My biggest challenge and it’s all mental, is I have to LIE on the tarmac to make all the shots. That means when I go down, it has to be the right place because otherwise, I have to get back up (the challenge) and move to reposition. What is the right or perfect angle for a plane portrait? And with that reflective fuselage and bald skies, what do I do for backgrounds? The answer to the first question is, whatever you feel shows off the lines the best. From the standing position, I would put myself where I wanted to be for that angle and distance for a tight 70mm shot. Then when I laid down, I would shoot from 70mm down to 24mm. That took care of the main portrait. But what about the background?
Sept Fate
captured by D3x / 24-70f2.8
That gradation in the sky was all done in post and when I made the shot, I knew I was going to do that. At the same time, I knew I would tint the gradation according to the time of the shoot and the reflection on Sept Fate. The tint, for the most part, matches the predominant color of the fuselage in that particular view. And here’s the deal, the formula I used for Sept Fate doesn’t work for any other aircraft. That’s because all the elements are unique requiring unique solutions to the questions. That’s why I tell shooters, there is no plain plane portrait.
Feb 21, 2019 | Aviation
Do you have time for a window? When you’re pushing the clock or the light, there are times when you have to make the call, go for perfect or Photoshop? Such was the case last week when at 22:00 putting in the last new window would take the mechanics way into the wee hours to install a window. When I knew I could replace the window in less than a minute in post, I said leave it out and go to bed. While not my preferred option, it was the practical and right one. But just “Photoshopping” is not the answer either, you still gotta look at the light even at the computer.
First, I got the shot right in the camera, shooting with the Z7 / Z24-70f4 at zero comp to keep the effect of the ground fog. Then in post, I created a empty layer, then selected the window frame of the missing window. Then I simply used the Stamp Tool to clone the reflection from the window to the Left into the selected space. The window to the right is at a different angle so its light is wrong for my missing window. If I didn’t point it out, you might not have noticed the window is missing in the first place but I knew and that was enough. There are lots of tools we must know and master in photography. Time management, ours and our clients is definitely one of them. Having skills with Photoshop can at times permit your client to have more time and that’s something they never forget!
zoom in on “replaced” window
Feb 12, 2019 | Aviation
Spitfire MkIX
captured by D5 / 24-70VR
What was the story I wanted to tell when I saw this scene? That for me is always the challenge. “What’s the subject” is a really common question I ask other photographers when I look at their photographs. That’s not a good thing. In this case, there is that magnificent Spitfire arse and then there is that killer cloud above it. If you’re writing a sentence, there can only be one subject. To me, that is true for a photograph. So then with that amazing cloud, how do you have just one subject when you include the Spitfire? By getting down low and having the Spitfire pointed at that cloud, then the Spitfire is the subject and the cloud what it desires. The cloud to the viewer could be the clouds of war or perhaps, the vastness to explore in a gorgeous plane. When you tap the viewer’s imagination, then you’ve been successful, you’ve told a story about your subject!
Jan 31, 2019 | Aviation
It’s really hard for us to realize the Documentary is coming up, fast, on two years! Even more, that we take to the air in just three months to Normandy!!! We have been really bad at keeping the Normandy Bound website up to date but it’s now up to Oct ’18. A new trailer will be posted shortly as well. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to the filming, the response was really, overwhelming. Thank You!!!
We have started a Facebook Page for the C-47B, “Hit or Miss” that we are posting to daily starting with the start of the project and bringing it current by the end of Feb. I’d love it if you Like It, Share It and participate in the adventure that takes to the skies shortly and then starts flying to the UK in May. It’s your history we feel honored to share with you all!
