#74 Hits the Course
This is the closest we’ll ever get to racing at Reno. In Sept, 2011, my dear friends permitted me to place a GoPro in the cockpit of #74 Super Corsair to create an amazing video. What I have here is just 15min of the 208min process of getting an Unlimited up on the course and back down again.
Just what are you seeing here? The video starts with my bud Casey turning on the GoPro just at the start of the process of getting #74 ready for racing. You see Brady getting in #74, #74 being pulled out, gassed and placed on the ramp prior to the race (in the skies is a L-39 show). You’ll then see Robert Odegaard, one of the best pilots out there, get in #74, do the preflight and then taxi. #74 will take to the skies (you can see the GoPro in the still capture above and me taking the photo on take off in the video) and get in place with the other Unlimiteds prior to jumping on the course. You’ll see a T-33 Jet, that’s the pace plane. You’ll see the Unlimiteds jump on the course and then Robert take #74 around on three laps. You’re watching one of the best behind the stick. It’s a great show! Enjoy!
And if you’re wondering why I’m just posting this now, it’s because I’m behind! I have 980GB of video shot during the last year that I’ve not edited and posted. This 15min comes from 5.98GB, 208min of video and even though I edited it in Photoshop CS6, still took 2hr to get done. But I think you’ll find it worth the wait.
Got Clouds?
If you do, then run! Run to find a great foreground and subject to put with them. Clouds have the magic to transform the common into uncommon just by their very being. The key is to place your subject in the clouds but not letting the clouds overcome the subject. You want to use the clouds to give the imagination to roam and then bring the mind’s eye back down to the subject. This requires not only a great shape but also highlights and shadows that move the eye through the frame. In this process, you might have to use a split grad and the point of capture and Curves in post to manipulate those highlights and shadows. But if you have clouds, you have photographic gold!
Happy 4th!
D800 & the D3x
Doug over on my FB page said he was looking forward to my comparison between the D3x and D800. I honestly wasn’t thinking of doing one but then someone else pinged saying the same thing. Since I no longer have my faithful (and great) D3x, I’m not in the position to do a side by side photo comparison. But I can and have done 24×30 prints from both cameras with the Epson 7900 and can look at the results. Understand, this is going to magnify any pluses or minuses going to a print this large with 24×30 always being the standard I go by when making quality judgements. Both of these are megapixel cameras with the express intent of capturing great detail. They both exceed at this beautifully!
The question on the table is, which camera produces the better file? Technically, the D800 does, hands down. Now will you see that bump up in quality in a 8×10, 11×14 or even 17×22 print? You might not even see it at 24×30, especially if your shooting technique is no spot on. With that being said, looking past the file quality there are some other aspects of the D800 that put it ahead of the D3x. You can’t get past the fact the D800 out of the box is 1/3 the size, weight and cost with 3x faster FPS and buffer compared to the D3x (does better at high ISO as well).
Now personally, the D800 out of the box was not the shooting experience I’ve been use to for the last 30yrs, small camera bodies just don’t work for me. That was solved with the expensive MB-D12 which I love shooting with but have not bought yet (still renting from Borrowlenses.com). The placement of the BKT button I can’t get use to. The Multi Control Selector sticks out further on the D800 so when I shoot vertical the AF sensor dances around as my forehead depresses it. The blinking of the entire lit grid in the viewfinder when you change AF sensor position is driving me bloody nuts! So when it comes to actually taking the photo, the shooting experiences, I prefer the D3x hands down! But with the file size and 5FPS (6FPS if & when I get the MB-D12 and inset D4 battery) the D800 produces, there is no way I can go back to the D3x.
The two photos here were taken with the D800 (above) and D3x (below). These are pretty classic reasons why I want the high MP cameras, I wanna see the rivets on the aircraft. Now I shot air to air with the D3x for a few years and never missed any photos because of FPS or buffer, but I could have more and that’s a good thing. I could not do air to air with the D800 without the MB-D12, there is simply not enough mass. Now I’m personally not seeing a big difference in the metering or exposure range when comparing the two bodies. The D800 has less noise than the D3x but that’s not really saying much. It’s not a noise machine but I’ve shot it ISO 1600 with no ill effects. Now this is no scientific, fact gathered kind of comparison because I never planned on doing one. I didn’t see or don’t see a need to do one. The D800 is a tool evolving forward megapixel shooting and I’ll use it just as that, a tool. My main shooting body will remain the D4. I love the D4! But now that I’ve spent two weeks glued to the D800, I’m making it more mine and fitting it into my shooting. We’re getting along and I have no problem pulling it and making the shot. Really can’t ask much more from a tool.
BDay Evening Flight, pt2
After we lead the V-35B back to the field, we went lookin for the PT-17 Stearman that had already launched. You might think finding an all yellow plane in the sky easy to find, well it’s not! So after learning where they were by calling out landmarks on the ground, we caught up to them. Then we had to join up. The Cessna 172 we were in goes a little faster than the Stearman so we had to approach and over take with care or we’d waste time and gas rejoining. This top shot I really like for one main reason, it’s not one you get very often. If you look at Scottie in the front seat, he is really craning his neck to see us. The pilot just can’t do that very long and keeping a visual of the aircraft is kinda safety rule #1. So as we approached, D800 with MB-D12 attached along with the 70-200VR2 cranking. At 5fps, it did a good job capturing the moment.
So the flight out as you can see, the Stearman (a WWII trainer) was backlit. Many have issues with this lighting pattern and understandably, you can loose detail in the shadows. I though kinda embrace it. First, the plane I’m in is all white and it reflects some light into the Stearman. Next, the Stearman being yellow helps alot. Lastly, I use the Shadow slider in ACR to open up the shadows some. This combination was used to make the top two images.
Then there was the flight back to field when the Stearman was frontlit. The shadows I looked for and embraced are those on the ground. Air to air photography I treat in my mind as really two types of photographs at once, wildlife and landscape. The flying aspect of the aircraft is the wildlife and the background, good ol earth is the landscape part. I’m looking for gesture in the wildlife and the drama in the landscape. I don’t know if that makes any sense to anyone else by me, but that’s what’s going through my mind as I shoot. These two disciplines in photography are very familiar to me so thinking about them while shooting I think permits me to bring out more character, romance in my air to air images.
This wasn’t the climax of our flyin bday party, we had bonfires and s’mores, beer (once the flying was done) and great friendship and conversation. I gotta thank the great, great pilots I had the opportunity to work with. My pilot in the 172, Steve, in the V-35B, Arron & John and in the Stearman, Kevin and Scottie. We had flown earlier that day down to Ponca City for lunch with our dear friend Kevin and ended up the day flying low and fast over the KS landscape. Life simply gets no better but then as the bday boy would say, “That’s how we roll.”