Nov 16, 2017 | Aviation
Stan Whalley
captured by D5 / 105f1.4 screen capture
I first meet Stanley Whalley a few years back at my good friend’s hangar in AZ. Stan was one of the hundreds of English pilot that came to the US for training during WWII. Stan was at Falcon Field to finish his flight training in their Stearman and T6 trainers. From there he went back to England to fly in defense of England and the retaking of Europe. He is now 93 and the last surviving veteran from England to have trained at Falcon Field. He comes to Falcon each year around Veteran’s Day to participate in the ceremonies honoring all that came to Falcon Field to train by were lost in accidents while in training.
I’ve stayed in touch with Stan since meeting him. Tried to meet up with him when we were in England this past summer to get his story recorded. Weren’t able to make that happen. Talking to him this past weekend, found out he had time on Tuesday for being in front of the camera so instantly booked my flight and went down for the day and then flew back home. What you see here are the screen captures from the filming. The top photo is from the 2nd camera (D5 / 105f1.4). The main camera with the D850 / 24-70VR (frame capture below). The other photo is a frame capture from the Keymission 170 BTS camera.
It was a crazy two hours capturing a great story. Stan ended up with quite an audience who kept flowing in and at the end was able to ask Stan questions that he was very happy to answer. Stan was great being able to provide us 42 minutes of amazing stories. When all done, he signed prints I had brought which he gave to folks there and then went back to his room to rest. In the short term, I can share this much of the event with you. What I’d love is to instantly post a finished video like I can instantly post a finished still. But the reality is I have about two hours of edit time for every minute of video shot. So it will take some time to share all of Stan’s story with you. Stan is amazing, the last of his class.
Oct 24, 2017 | Aviation
Stinson SR-9F
captured by D5 / 70-200f4
Ask yourself when you share your photographs this simple question. “What emotion do I want to invoke?” I often see subjects where the photographer selects the best photographs being the ones with the bright sun over ones with great mood. The main difference between these two photos of the Stinson is the light. One is very moody and the other, it’s bloody blah! Yes, one has brighter color but the other has a killer mood. One says it was a nice day to fly. The other says it was a helluva great flight! How do you want your photograph to reach out to viewers because you have complete control over that impact!
Stinson SR-9F
captured by D5 / 70-200f4
Probably the hardest thing to learn and apply is the power of light to reach the heartstring. This is especially true with objects that don’t naturally seem cuddly. One way you might think of it that might help is, does the light bring a mystery to the subject? Generally, the shape of the subject informs the viewer what it is so you can use the light to create a little mystery about what the subject is doing. Playing on the imagination rather than outright saying the punchline taps emotions and with that, storytelling success. The difference between these two is the light. And seeing this in your own photographs takes time. So when selecting the photo to share just ask yourself the simple question “What emotion do I want to invoke?”
Oct 5, 2017 | Aviation
One of the challenges with seasonal photography is, bringing in the season into our photographs. This is especially true when your subject resides somewhere where the seasons might not ever appear. With most aircraft spending most of their time at airports, getting statics shots is typically impossible. Ya, some airfields are where this is fall color. Some even are in the snow and if that’s the case, making the seasonal shot is a slam dunk. For over a decade I’ve been searching for those seasonal aviation photos just because they are unique. Making the common, uncommon.
The way I’ve found the most success is getting the aircraft in the air and then getting them over a patch of fall color. It’s taking the subject to the background. I’ve had limited success because typically patches of fall color are physically small and filling the background with it goes by really, really fast. One of the keys to this is using a longer lens and letting its narrow-angle of view capture that small slice. In this case, I used a 70-200 at 200mm and a 200-400 at 400mm to do just that. Plan in advance your goals, use the right gear and concentrate on the background to bring in the fall.
Sep 7, 2017 | Aviation
Lt Col Dick Cole
An American hero, last remaining Doolittle Raider and a good friend and really great guy. All the best!!!
Sep 6, 2017 | Aviation
Hawker Hurricane Mk XIIa
captured by D5 / 24-70VR
When we work with inanimate objects, rocks, buildings, planes, the life they take on in our photograph comes from us. We can opt for the simple, “it was here, I saw, you see” photograph. From those words, is that what you want to say in your photograph? Or you can strive for the “oh man was it here, I took it in and now YOU see” kind of photograph? How can you take these simple words and make them powerful words in light and pixels? That is the challenge every genre of photography presents us every time we pick up a camera. My favorite way to break the ho-hum barrier is storytelling.
Hawker Hurricane Mk XIIa
captured by D5 / 24-70VR
I understand many have a visual, conceptual, mental and emotional difficulty with this idea let alone executing it at the camera. In getting through this challenge you’ve got ask yourself what it is you want to say? If you were writing a story about the one subject, how would you describe it in 1500 words? Could then cut that down to just one paragraph? Could you then shorten it to just one sentence? How about to just one word? You might simply do that exercise because it will help you tell that visual story. There is really only one thing different between these two photographs and that’s the sky. Oh, it’s the same sky other than one communicates a better day and the other an ominous day is coming. And that change in the story is simply a color. Since the subject is a weapon of war, the power of that color or lack there of is pretty powerful in the story to be told. Moving your photography forward takes so much from deep down inside of us, you might start by simply asking yourself, what do you want to say?
Aug 21, 2017 | Aviation
One of the many highlights of our adventure in the UK was visiting and spending time at the Battle of Britain Memorial in Dover! Without the sacrifice of these many men and women of Britain, doubt we’d be able to enjoy all that we do including our freedoms.
Inside the memorial is a fantastic presentation about the battle that lasted July-October 1940. It does a marvelous job setting the stage for your moments of silence outside.
