Nov 21, 2012 | Aviation
Sharon & I took what, at least as of this moment, is our last commercial flight for 2012 up to WA to spend Thanksgiving with the family at Brent’s. This, after 21,433 air miles just in the last 3 months just in the US (doesn’t include all the driving). Now I’m told I’m on vacation since I don’t have a teaching, speaking, shooting gig but the computer is humming and the cameras have been clicking. I brought all my gear up in the Think Tank Airstream, which rocks because it holds the D4, 200-400, 70-200VR2, 24-70, 24f1.4, 18f2.8 & SB-900 with accessories and still fits under the seat of the small Dash 80s we flew in. Ya, they wanted to take it from me to put in ALa Cart but with a smile and reassurance that it fits under the seat, I was good to go. (D600 was in the Disguise 60)
Oh, no, we didn’t fly up in this DC-3 nor do I include the air to air shoots coming up as part of my “flying” since air to air is fun, travel commercial isn’t always fun. This photo is from one of the many air to air shoots I did a week ago. While I’m on “vacation,” I’m getting all the images processed from those shoots. The DC-3 was a quick 23min flight but I have 100 cool images to send off to the client. I would have loved to have puffies in the background but the desert dust at the bottom of the frame works OK, better than bald blue sky. My good friends Dale & Brian are at the stick and shooting this old bird was a hoot! This was a quick “ID” shoot, have plans for some others with this great old plane. This photo was a simple click, D4 / 70-200VR2.
Nov 19, 2012 | Aviation
Jeff has this great, authentic radio operator uniform that we normally have him don once the light starts to get hard. We then typically get out the light modifiers, flash and other “stuff” to deal with the light. I simply wasn’t in the mood this morning so I started to look around at my options for shooting without working hard (what a horrible attitude!). Jeff was over by the door to “Sentimental Journey” when I asked the AZ CAF folks if the hatch could be opened so Jeff could hop in.
Shooting with the D4 / 70-200VR2, when I put the camera to my eye, I wanted to tell the story of a young officer getting on board and ready for a flight. With the DC-3 / C-47 in the background, to me is seems like a believable recreation of a 1940’s airfield occurrence. So I worked Jeff in the hatch doorway along with the DC-3 in the background to make the shot. I asked Jeff if he was OK holding himself in this awkward position because I just had a what if moment. I says to myself, “I wonder if while I’m here I should shoot tight?” I wanted to tell the visual story of a time gone by, but then the light though hard was not so bad for just the portrait. So then I started to physically move in closer.
As it turns out, I kinda like them all. But it leaves me with a problem for the further. Do I set up for the story or for tight? If I had brought in flash, set up for the story would have been different from tight. And could always for with no flash like this time but I know that more times then not, I need flash. It could be argued, and I wouldn’t disagree, that flash inside the belly of Sentimental Journey would have helped this photo series. This is not my strong suit when it comes to photography, so I keep shooting, thinking, shooting and working towards finding a solution for my style that, well, is simply the easiest for when I’m shooting on the move.
Nov 18, 2012 | Aviation
I have one fatal flaw, I’m real lazy when it comes to flash. I mean, if it’s a critter I’m all over flash if I need it but otherwise, I just can’t get with the program. While I had it all in the truck, I prefer to find the light that works and use it instead of doing what I really should do and that’s get the lighting gear out. So a week ago when worings with my buds from the AZ Grnd Crew, when I saw the light in front of Maid in the Shade, with D4 / 70-200VR2 (@f/2.8), I grabbed Murph and did the whole nine yards. For those who do not know where the saying “The Whole Nine Yards” comes from, it’s WWII term. When the fighter pilots wanted to know if their ammo was loaded, they would ask, “Do I have the whole nine yards” because that’s how long the entire belt of 50cal happened to be. They could have asked, “Do I have the whole 80lbs” because that’s how much the belt weighs, but that doesn’t sound as good. As for Murph, he was two inches shorter after this shoot, but it turned out good, even if no flash was used.
Nov 15, 2012 | Aviation
Dale is simply a great friend. Dale is a great friend with great toys! And Dale loves to fly so I know that when I’m with him, I’m going to have fun and this morning was no exception. What you see here is an example of what I’m talking about. The Churchills (Dale & Brian) installed a new feature in one of their T-6s and wanted me to give it a test run. I was more than happy to going flying to test a new photographic platform so off we went!
What was new was our ability to shoot basically straight down, literally, shooting with the D4 / 70-200VR2. Now it’s really hard on the pilot of the subject aircraft since they are really cranking their neck skyward to watch the photo platform. The photo platform pilot has to fly the brief because they cannot see the subject aircraft. Then I have to watch the best I can the subject aircraft and report its position to the photo platform pilot while taking photos. And as photographer, the biggest challenge is not being able to see anything since I’m basically looking through a tunnel. I have no idea of what backgrounds are coming up until they are gone. And flying doubled over in a fuselage is anything but comfortable. And with all of that said, the shoot went off without a hitch as you can see. Dale wanted two photo, the “glory” shot of him flying and the “far away” speedster shot. Now they aren’t perfect, the light is hard, background for the glory shot sucks but we learned a lot, got some shots and landed safely. It’s just a crying shame that we’ll have to go back up and work on making it perfect!
What do I want to perfect? The symmetry in this photo is off…while you can see our photo platform in the cone, the subject aircraft isn’t perfectly centered. But you sure can see Dale’s smile and if you look hard in that reflection on the cone, mine!
Nov 14, 2012 | Aviation
The art of panning, it’s simple something I’ve gotta practice over and over again. Whenever I get the opportunity, not matter whether I think I will keep the images or not, I will simply shoot as long as I can.
Even if I don’t think I will keep the images, I work on making them perfect. This means watching the background, position of the subject in the frame and most importantly, the panning technique. In this case, shooting the D4 / 200-400VR2 handheld @ 1/50 (Shutter Speed Priority), using proper handholding, I pushed myself shooting at the slow shutter speed. Since the props wasn’t being lit with front light, prop blur wasn’t the priority. Practicing my panning and getting a sharp image at a slow shutter speed was.
I was disappointed that my keeper rate dropped to 72% for this practice session. One of my own personal issues is to remember to pull the camera tight against my forehead and assume it as the same this session. That’s because the next day I went out and reminding myself to pull the camera back, my keeper rate went up to 89%. That’s why I practice and recommend others do the same. There is nothing worse then to have that great action shot on your monitor and it not being sharp!
Nov 13, 2012 | Aviation
It’s all about storytelling! I’ve got this great friend Dale who loves aircraft and the romance of flight more than me. When I say we’re coming down, he always rearranges his schedule (and his brother Brian’s as well who is also a huge inspiration!) so we can play with planes. Well the two brothers have this crazy DC-3, the exterior I still don’t understand but the interior is from the days when this plane was the corporate sled for the Hoover Vacuum corp. I’ve been working on this series of aviation images so a bit more of their historical romance comes out. Many a DC-3 served as C-47s in the Pacific taking off with important personal in bigtime storms. How do you do say all of that visually?
Well, first you start with a piece of the airport that you can operate in and thankfully, I have the support of the AZ Wing of the CAF. Next, I have Dale & Brian, great friends who have the planes and knowledge. Lastly, I have the Mesa Fire Dept, great guys!!! The first time we did this earlier this year, we had just the captain in the truck, Dale & Rick with the plane and me at the camera. This time Dale, Brian, Rick & Chris were in the plane, the Capt came with not just 1 truck but TWO and with the whole dept! And a heck of a lot of the Wing was present to watch the show because it is simply just FUN! The process once all is in place is pretty simple, the fire dept puts down 1500 gallons of water, the engines turn and I shoot. This is a simple click, D4 / 24-70AFS @f/11 3sec. The fun comes not only from the DC-3 but all the friends that make it happen. To all, I thank you for the fun and friendship! And hopefully in the process, there’s a little storytelling going on.
