I’ve been flying with Brian since almost day one. He’s a dear friend and a great pilot. And getting him to be in front of the camera while not in a plane one of my greatest accomplishments! Now when you say “portrait,” folks take this to mean many different things, usually some type of formality in either dress, pose or both. That’s just not Brian but even with the knowledge it was casual, taking time for a portrait took over a year of convincing. I think once it sunk in he could wear his Hawaiian shirt, he was OK with it all. And have his jeep in the photo, that just made it that much better.
One of the challenges of this shoot was the background. The T-6 (plane) and jeep were placed where they were placed for two reasons. The main being the very busy background. They are visually blocking a whole bunch of junk. At the same time, the strong backlight of sunset help put other busy items in shadow. I wasn’t worried about melding the light of ambient and flash as we’re in AZ where it simply gets really hot. Brian likes that heat so it’s part of the photo. All of this went through my head before we ever left the hangar. Parking the plane just off the taxi way takes planning, quick set up and shooting. My biggest fear is a plane taxing by and the blast from the props sending the lighting gear flying across the ramps. There are simply not enough weights!
With all that in mind, the actual process of lighting and shooting is simple as it’s predetermined. The D750 / 24-70VR did the picture taking. A Profoto B1 w/Magnum w/grid was the main light over the lens axis (on a C Stand) and a B1 w/Strip Box on the stage left. You can see a Stand standing in place of Brian for set up as he kept polishing his plane. The time required for the whole shoot, from pulling out the plane of the hangar to parking back inside was 40min. The more I do, the faster we can knock ’em out. And when you have someone in front of the camera who is really not comfortable in front of the camera, that’s important!
