Simple Click – Sunset Flight
The plan was to have the gorgeous sunset reflecting off this great polished Cessna 140. It started perfectly and then the cloud went down to the horizon and, no more sun. Still was a sweet flight!
Airport Hangin
Sharon and I have been in a favorite locale of ours, Minot, ND for a marvelous week. It started with a great air to air for a client. Then we had three great days with our K&M Air Adventures, then I had to go to work! Argh …. Na, it’s really pretty darn fun but not having done big sets for quite some time, the old brain took a little time to kick into gear. Thankfully, once the big sets were done and quite well I might say, it was time for some old fashion airport hangin. Part of the job are what I call “pick up shots.” These are no more than photos that just happen without any planning that if I’m Johnny on the spot, fill the criteria of the job. Like the one above. Heard it was coming in, saw it on approach and because it was a handsome plane, put myself in the right place to make the shot. Now the flying dust spot, I like when I can combine my photographic passions but for this client, it will disappear :-)
Then there are the other rewards of airport hangin. At the end of the day, the question was asked, “want to go flyin?” The answer is of course, quite obvious. Off we went for a gorgeous sunset flight and shoot with this gorgeous Monocoupe 110. It was our typical flight length, just 20min but the three of us, photo platform pilot, subject pilot and I have worked so much together, we’re so efficient in doing the job that it’s just a ton of fun. Both photos taken with my favorite photo rig, D4s / 80-400VR3, the FPS and focal length being perfect tools for my storytelling. What you see here is what is called a Section Take Off. The Monocoupe taxis downs and takes off beside us. We climb faster and it stayed lower so I could shoot down on it. Yes, I am leaning and outside the plane when I’m taking this photo. No, it’s not scary and nothing falls out. And yes, I really like the photos that comes from this. Now the first time we did this long ago, the results weren’t as sweet as this. But just like anything in photography, practice makes perfect. Right now, we’re still airport hangin, waiting for the ground fog to lift to do a big set shoot with a hovering helicopter over the jet. Fingers crossed!
Smile!
Back up in Minot, ND shooting today. Had a sunset air to air project which was a lot of fun. You know it’s going great when the pilot pulls out his iPhone and says SMILE! These are simple clicks, D4s / 80-400VR3 with some really skilled pilots. Thanks for the great evening flight!
Happy 100th Dick Cole!
Dick Cole, Col Jimmy Doolittle’s right seat on the Doolittle Raid in WWII just turned 100! He is a fascinating gentleman, living history and still goin! We were very fortunate to have him in part of our Warbirds and The Men Who Flew them film. Dick is still on the tour circuit so if you have the opportunity to hear him and meet him, be sure you do. Happy Bday Dick!
Helluva Weekend!
Sharon & I were invited to spend the weekend with some really nice folks and their “fresh” out of restoration ’37 Stinson SR-9F. It was two great days with the Woods and their gorgeous plane in a part of California we’d never done an photo mission over. I was hired to tell their story. I’m still getting through the 5600 images taken during the air to air portion (shot a ton of statics & details shots as well). As usual, my primary gear was the D4s / 80-400VR3 which is killer for this. It was a first to have a Cessna 185 as the photo platform. It’s owner / pilot, Steve rocked it! A F4 vet, Steve was marvelous and key in making the main component of the A2A mission come true. The body of water you see here is San Francisco Bay as we’re heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve worked beautifully with ATC who cleared the skies for our photo mission so we could circle the GGB a couple of times to get the shot I wanted of the ’37 Stinson with the ’34 GGB. Well, I’ve got images to get back to, article to write.
Nat’l Aviation Day
In 1926, the Ford Trimotor changed aviation as we know it. Prior to that, folks flew but only a handful as air transport was not only scary, but no fun. There were many reasons for this and in order to introduce the public to the idea of flying from destination to destination, Henry Ford and others came up with the Ford Reliability Tour in 1925. The Ford Trimotor, the first plane with a co-pilot, stewardess and inflight restroom ushered in what we take for granted today (and complain about). In 1939, Roosevelt established the National Aviation Day to celebrate our rich aviation heritage on Orville Wright’s birthday.
The magic that is flight is still evolving. The Ford Trimotor (top image) opened the doors to flight to everyone. It along with a couple of other aircraft sparked the imagination of many a WWII pilot who took their aircraft on dangerous missions so we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. Right after the war, the battle were put aside and air racing picked pack up. The two Super Corsairs (middle image) were part of a new romance that rocketed aircraft design forward for all types of applications. And today, aircraft like the F-22 Raptor (below) and others still protect our skies. Aircraft make is possible for us photographers to follow our passion with our cameras to all parts of the world. Next time you get on a flight that might be late, delayed or is on time, count your blessings we have the system we do, imperfect as it might seem at times. You see a plane fly overheard today, wave and say thanks as they make it possible for us to follow our dreams!
