Willie at the stick of his Beaver, Kodiak, AK captured by Z 6II / Z14-24f2.8
Willie is just an amazing pilot, period! Such a good soul and friend with unbelievable knowledge of Kodiak. His flying skills are one thing, his knowledge of the terrain below is exceptional making every flight a once in a lifetime event. How do you sum that up in one click? I wanted to show his office, the cockpit of the Beaver. I wanted to show his home, outside the cockpit, Kodiak. He is such a romantic, that had to be part of the photo as well. That’s a lot to put into a story! The lens choice, there was just one choice, the Z14-24f2.8 at 14mm. This is such an amazing lens! The body, ain’t much room up front with the two of us so I went small, the Z 6II. In pushing myself as far back and in the corner as I could, I couldn’t step on any peddles, push on the stick. With all of that in mind, I asked Willie about our flyout. When he told me we’d be going to climb out to the north and them turn east to go up and over, I knew that’s when I had my moment. With the Beaver in a bank, I could get the sun and some light on Willie. I asked him to sit a little forward, pull is head back into his neck as much as comfortable and still able to fly, I closed the aperture down all the way for a starburst and watch the light. Just before it started to reach Willie, I started to click. The rest, well the story is in the click. That’s how I made the click and dealing with the wide effect.