Aug 23, 2013 | Aviation, B&W Photography
I called out the directions and Kevin being Kevin, just followed them. I kept telling the group we were going to see Ms. Piggy. Now if in Hollywood, such an adventure wouldn’t be thought of as odd. Up in the tundra of Churchill, Canada, odd is putting it mildly! We’re there in May to photograph birds, not some Muppet character. We make the turn and leave the main road (which is dirt) and take another dirt road. We “run” through the snow patch on the road, get past the junkyard dog, we bumped down the rock strewn road and barely make the left that brings us up to a semi “parking” area. They look around and then I point up the boulder ridge and there is a gasp in the car. That’s because one wouldn’t think a C-46 Commando could “blend” in the tundra. Ms Piggy as it’s been called as long as I’ve been heading up to Churchill is an old cargo plane that landed a tad short of the runway.
There are many things that are very cool about Ms Piggy, one being is you can see it from the road and at quite some distance. But someone has to point it out the first time otherwise, this big “bird” does just blend in. Another thing is when you walk the wreckage, it appears like the plane was just “dropped” in place and didn’t “crash land.” Here’s the story of the crash:
This is a crashed C-46 aircraft that was operated by Lamb Air. She is found on the scenic route road along Hudson Bay shortly before it ends, close to the Institute of Arctic Ecophysiology. She is called Miss Piggy because she was able to hold so much freight and once did have pigs on board. On Nov 13, 1979 she was flying a cargo of 1 ski-doo and many cases of pop for the Arctic Co-op from Churchill to Chesterfield inlet. She lost oil pressure in her left engine shortly after departing Churchill. The crew of 3 tried to return the aircraft to the Churchill airport. They clipped hydro poles with one wing just before the IAEP lab and crash landed on the rocks there. 2 of the 3 crew were seriously injured. Investigation of the failed engine only revealed small metal chips through out. Her original paint of white and red with the Lamb Air markings has been painted over with gray for a movie
I really don’t know how many hundreds of photos I have of Ms Piggy, but I have more now. The clouds were perfect when I first said, “Let’s go photograph Ms Piggy” (wish I had a picture of the faces in the van when I said that) but once we arrived, well, you see them. But I was thinking B&W the entire time which is also partly why I picked the time of day. Shooting was really straight forward, D4 / 18-35AFS. The metering was straight forward as well since the D4 does so well in these situations. Then in the DD, it was ACR and Perfect B&W using the InFrared moving the Blue and Yellow sliders to modify the default. And in case your were wondering, yes, I was dying to do some stupid post about this was the plane we took, rough landing and the like but hey…
Aug 21, 2013 | Aviation
With that smile, how could you not want to go up and meet Clancy. He sucked me in instantly and we became fast friends from the first hand shake! He was one of the featured vets the Texas Flying Legends Museum brought in to speak at Warbird Alley at Oshkosh. Clancy has one helluva life story and he’s not shy about telling you it if you want to listen. I couldn’t get enough of his stories because he not only is a WWII Vet, flew in the TBM a lot (a favorite plane) but was also a navy photographer. Many of the iconic WWII Pacific photographs we see today are Clancy’s. When we were setting up this portrait, Clancy was telling me stories the entire time (you really can’t stop him). In fact, he didn’t stop talking while I was shooting which was a hoot. When I finished a few seconds later, I went up to him to thank him. He said, “nice light, you worked the nice light well.” Clancy and I became fast friends, talking a lot over the next few days. And whenever he saw me shooting, we would light up and acknowledge my shooting. You’ll be hearing a lot more about Clancy from me in the future, there are lots of stories to tell. Working with vets and recording their stories and getting them out has been one of the great joys photography has brought!
On the photo side, because of the environmental factors, it’s a simple click. Shooting with the D4 / 18-35ASFS, I took advantage of the clouds floating by. We are standing on a bright, white cement pad which is a giant bounce card. Being 92 years young, I brought Clancy to the front of the TBM (his plane) when I saw the clouds floating between the sun and us. Then with the cement acting as a fill card, I went click without the need of flash. It’s fast, simple and works great for not just Clancy but the whole scene. In post, just removed a person on the left and done. Except for the stories, we talked for another 45min until he went back on stage to address the audience.
Aug 21, 2013 | Aviation
After posting the photo of the P-40 flying in front of the Wall of Fire, a whole bunch of comments came flying at me. The main one being, “What the hell is the wall of fire?” The last night of Oshkosh, Jake & I found ourselves in the Airshow Performers show center box watching the amazing Night Show. The closing act was the Wall of Fire. So I put the D4 / 18-35 up, hit the video record button and shooting at 18mm, this is what we saw. The Wall of Fire is at the END of the video. Enjoy!
Aug 19, 2013 | Aviation
As Jake puts it, “Small Bragging Rights” but it is really much more than that for me today. There are many rewards photography has brought to me, I’ve been incredibly fortunate. One was the ability to spend so much time with my boys as they grew up, it was a priority of ours. Next, photography provided us the ability to share so much of our natural world with our boys in very personal and unique ways. And lastly, photography has provided a vehicle for Sharon & I to continue to be with our boys now that they are no longer boys but men. The current issue of Dispatch Magazine is a one – two – three Peterson punch as we dominate the page real estate (the two page pano assembled for me by Brent as part of our cockpit pano series). Having our boys in the business and part of our business was never the plan but there is no doubt, it is the BEST reward photography has ever brought! Proud of you boys!
Aug 14, 2013 | Aviation
It’s no secret I’m really into backgrounds. Nor a secret I’m really into clouds (as my bud McNally calls me, Dances with Clouds). When you combine those two thoughts to aviation, you then not only give the subject a place in space, but influence the story you’re telling with your photos. Here are two examples of what I’m talking about, taken literally just seconds apart as the B-17 made a pass during the recent Oshkosh airshow. It was part of one of the Tora Tora Tora shows, representing the flight of B-17s coming into Pearl as the Japanese attacked. Shooting with the D4 / 80-400VR3, I just let the shutter fly as it made its pass.
The top photo, the B-17 is starting to make its run. The background is full of smoke from the “Zeros” that made the pass before it. While you can’t really identify what’s going on, it still leaves one with the feeling that something isn’t right. Then as the B-17 continues it’s run, it’s in front of simply pretty clouds and that relates a totally different feeling telling a totally different story. And finally it comes up to the infamous Tora Tora Tora “wall of fire” smoke and than there is not question a battle is going on. The plane is the same, the time is only seconds apart but with the total change of the background, you change the story. Paying attention to backgrounds, even to the slightest change can totally influence your story!
Aug 12, 2013 | Aviation
Photog Shuffle
(You need to click on link to see video)
I’m real fortunate and get to work with some of the best. It’s not only rewarding, but a ton of fun! On my flight to photograph Texas Flying Legends Museum’s C-53, I had the great fun of working with Adam White of Hemolock Film and Xavier Meal, a great, crazy French photographer.
The marvelous time lapse you see here Adam created. When I saw him attach the Silver Hero3, I was thinking video since, he’s a video guy (really good one!). But Adam like I said is good, he set the Hero3 to do a time lapse which was genius in action! What you see above is that time lapse and a great demonstration of professionals in action. Adam & I had the job of photographing the TFLM C-53, Xavier was to photograph the FG-1 Corsair. We all needed to do this through the escape hatch that was opened on the side of the TFLM B-25J “Betty’s Dream.”
To accomplish that, we had to take turns shooting out the port when the subject we needed was at the right place in our orbit. Being all professionals, you can see how without any effort, we all moved through the port to get our shots, working together to get the shots we needed. Now “moving through” is a relative term, probably better put by Adam as the Photographer Shuffle. It was a great flight, great images, a lot of laughs and the simple pleasure of working with professionals. I want to thank Adam for providing the video. Simply genius!
On a photography note, what you see me shooting with is the D4, 80-400VR3, Hero3 (in the shot shoe) and Vulture Strap. And all that video I shot during Oshkosh? It’s filed and backed up but definitely edited and ready to post. Maybe by Christmas? :-)
