Apr 23, 2013 | Aviation
We were incredibly fortunate to have the guys from the Florida Historical Preservation Group or as their Facebook page states, the Florida Flyboys. They were simply amazing adding to the Precon a great level of authenticity to the WWII scene created by the folks at Fantasy of Flight with their aircraft. Between the planes, the guys and the jeep, we had hundreds of possible set ups we could shoot and have fun with. Here they are out with the Stinson L-1, first time the L-1 had been out after many years of complete restoration. Everything in this frame could have easily been seen exactly the same way 70yrs ago during WWII!
Since I was working the field helping the students so I didn’t have much time working any particular situation the Florida Flyboys would set themselves up in. So when I saw this scene in the shade of the wing of the C-47, I ran over before they could move. Shooting with the D4 and 18-35, I got up close shooting at 18mm (notice how little distortion there is at 18mm). Then shooting on the fly with only moments, I made the three clicks you see moving them slightly in the corner to make the selection which one I liked best back at the computer. Because after these three clicks, I was out helping a student.
Now shooting on the fly, I didn’t have flash out (should have!). So finishing was done in post with ACR used to open up the shadows which should have been done with flash. The only other thing done in post besides ACR was using Pro Contrast in Nik’s Color Efex. I want to thank the Guys for being not only great sports, but for helping preserve and share our history!
Apr 22, 2013 | Aviation
At our Precon for Photoshop World last week, we were at Fantasy of Flight where they had pulled out a number of aircraft for us to photograph. One of them was the B-26 Marauder, a rare bird indeed! The B-26 is normally in the back corner of the hangar with all these other tugged in under its wings. I’ve never gotten a clean shot of it, not even one I could clean up in post. I check it out every time I’m there, but I had no photos of it. So when I saw it on the line, I was really excited to spend some time shooting it on a gorgeous Florida day!
I had the D4 with 18-35AFS (fabulously sharp lens!) and went to work. I shot knowing that I was going to remove much of the distracting background in post. That is key! I selected my angle for the shot, raising the camera up and down to maximize the background while minimizing by post removal.
Apr 18, 2013 | Aviation
Nope, I’m not sleeping on the job like our guy at the Photoshop World Precon, just jumping, running, smiling, exhausted and exhilarated here at Photoshop World to get blog done. What our reinactor is acting at sleeping under (he said he was acting) is the only airworthy, flying L-1 in the world. My bud Paul rolled it out for the first time on the grass for me to photograph and as it turned out, our whole group was able to enjoy this great aircraft and experience of a rollout. It’s a real simple click made with D4, 18-35AFS using a SB-900 on a SC-28. Well, gotta jump back into the mix and the fun here at PSW!!!
Apr 17, 2013 | Aviation
Talkin light, I put one of our GREAT reinactors under the wing of the L-1 and the other, well he just kept sleeping. The set up was not meant to be a simple, easy shoot. It was set it up basically like what you typically find at an airshow and how to solve the lighting problem by yourself with a single flash set up. We started by learning how to use the camera to tell us the range of light (more than 8 stops here) and then using the camera and flash to compact it. What you see here is the before and after. If this is a lesson you which you could participate in, well you need to get yourself to Photoshop World :-)
Apr 17, 2013 | Aviation, WRP Ed Zone
Today was the start of Photoshop World, for many at least because this was Precon day. This is when workshops with small groups explore a whole lot of topics, mine today was light and aircraft. After a classroom session, we headed out to Fantasy of Flight for an epic afternoon. We had GREAT folks join us in the field and the GREAT folks at Fantasy brought out a dozen aircraft for us to work with. They weren’t just any old airplane, oh no! Here’s the gorgeous P-51C “Red Tail” that like many of the aircraft was out on the grass just like during WWII. This is a simple click taken with D4 / 18-35AFS and finished using the techniques taught in class. It was just a marvelous day and want to thank ALL who made it so memorable!
