Jul 7, 2014 | Aviation
“What does Sharon do while I’m shooting planes?” Had a bunch of emails just come in asking this question. What she does is, FLY!!! That beautiful blond in the back for that gorgeous Harvard and in the front seat (with them crazy chrome eyes) in the magical Waco is Sharon. I’m working, shooting with the D4s / 24-70AFS while she has the great fortune to fly and take it all in. We are very fortunate to have the friends we do with the great planes making amazing opportunities available to us. So unlike what some asked, Sharon is not on the ground but flying more than I!
Jul 7, 2014 | Aviation
Sharon and I flew up to Minot, ND to spend the 4th with our dear friends as we did last year. It was to be a “quiet” 4th with perhaps a little flying. Well, it turned out to be an amazing busy, massive blast of a time goofing off. We no sooner had boots on the ground and we were up in a Mooney 231 scouting for an air to air the next day. Then we did some more flying, then we did some more flying and then some more. Finally got my dream flight in a TBM Avenger doing bombing and straffing runs. Unbelievable!. Then we spent that day at a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior project with a great group of folks. Meet a great military photog Arron and was treated to seeing some truly amazing images. We never got back to our room before 2AM for two nights! Some of the flights I shot just video so much so filled the 32GB Lexar XQD twice, really cool video which at this point along with 7k images have just been dumbed on the hard drive. I have been so busy, not even had a chance to go through them and if you know me, that’s radical!
All of this and I only came planning on one shoot, the next in my pilot portrait project. I brought along the Profoto Kit (Logistics Manager 30 – Rolling Gear Case, B1 500 AirTTL Battery Powered Flash,Lithium-ion Battery for B1 500 AirTTL,Fast Battery Charger,Air Remote Transceiver,50 Degree Magnum Reflector,Honeycomb Grid, 10 Degrees,Air-cushioned Light Stand) with me for it (you can see the basic set above). I ended up doing portraits and even a senior portrait. Spent a fair amount of time at the airport which included working some with the Texas Flying Legends aircraft getting ready and heading out to an airshow this coming weekend. I came light shooting mostly with the D4s, 24-70AFS, Df, 24f1.4 and 85f1.8. While the plan was for a quiet 4th, it turned out to be stuffed full. I’m behind in my storytelling so stay tuned the next few weeks as I get you all caught up on our adventures and the lessons learned behind the lens.
Jun 27, 2014 | Aviation
It started as just an article, it then evolved into a series of articles and now it’s an upcoming book. The book is all about pilots across the country who do more than just fly. These pilots are all about preserving, sharing and living the dream of flight while preserving our heritage of flight. The BTS time lapse I posted earlier (seen below) was from one of these shoots this last weekend in Wichita, KS. What you see above is the photo (prototype of the new Cessna 750+) after I kicked the pilot out of it because, well, it was cool without him (yes, I’m brutal but said it with a smile).
The book is more than a collection of portraits. There will be a whole bunch of sexy plane photos along with the text further telling the pilot’s story. It will also have a section on how the photos were made. I travel the county doing these on my own and the gear I have (listed below) makes a one man band successful. Won’t be out for another 18 months but wanted to answer the question what’s up with the time lapse. Here’s the gear that was used in making the photo and time lapse:
Jun 24, 2014 | Aviation
Keeping up with the subject, that’s one of our main tasks. It kept me jumping all this last weekend. Mentally watching the subject is part of it. Mentally thinking of how you want to tell its story visually is part of it. And in this case, keeping the film plane up with the subject is my point. What otherwise is called panning, it still seems to be a puzzle to many how it actually is a technique that works. Understand panning is a technique to “freeze” a moving subject by moving with the subject. That is, the film plane moves with the subject. When done correctly, the subject is frozen because as far as the film plane (sensor) is concerned, the subject isn’t moving. As along as the movement is moving parallel with the film plane at the exact same pace, it works perfectly.
Here are two different ways of keeping up with the subject to render a moving subject sharp. The top image is the most common. We move with the subject by twisting at the trunk so the sensor is keeping pace with the subject. Shooting with the D4s / 80-400VR3, I panned with the B-17F “Memphis Belle” as it flew past the clouds. Now the background is not blurred because it is so far away from the subject. But the props blur because they are turning perpendicular to the film plane. That movement can be effected visually by using a slow shutter speed. The bottom photo using the same gear, the prop is blurred for the same reason but the plane itself is sharp from a different technique. In the air to air photo, the forward motion of the plane from which the photo is being taken, is the same speed as the plane being photographed. In both cases, you can be shooting at a shutter speed of 1sec and still get a very sharp image IF you keep the film plane moving perfectly in sync with the subject. That IF is a biggie in all of that and you remove the IF from the equation with lots and lots of practice. This photography thing is all aspects is all about keeping up with the subject.
Jun 23, 2014 | Aviation
Spent the last couple of days in Wichita with my good buds working on some aviation projects. This little time lapse is from our Saturday morning shoot which started at 04:30. What you’re seeing is the new Cessna 750+ with its test pilot Scott Foster having their portrait made. Here’s the gear that was used in making the photo and time lapse:
Jun 6, 2014 | Aviation
Charlie was 22 when he made the jump on 6 June, 1944 into France. Part of the 101st, he had volunteered like most of his friends to be a paratrooper. The extra pay was attractive to them. I’ve not meet Charlie yet, we have a long distance friendship comprised of phone calls. When I asked about the jump that morning, Charlie simply said, “A day I’ll never forget.” Most of the paratroopers missed their drop zones that early morning and Charlie’s C-47 squad of 18 was no different. They came down in a grove of trees into a hail of bullets. When the sun rose, Charlie found he was the only one of his squad still alive. All his friends hung in their chute lines from the trees, dead.
Now in their nineties, fewer and fewer of the surviving WWII vets are with us. Those who still are share their stories with a passion often with their eyes misting and a lump in their throat. Those kids changed the world and their stories and contributions must live on! On this day, take a moment to learn a little more about this important moment in time that has forever changed our world. And with that new knowledge, share it with someone expanding their world. And if you happen to meet a WWII vet, take a moment to listen to their story. It might just be you who ends up with the mist in your eyes, lump in your throat. And remember to say, thanks.
