Winter with its colder temps and gray skies are the natural time to be in the hangar working on projects. Many pilots do the annuals on their planes this time of year. Others pull projects out from the corner of the hangar where they are stored during the warmer flying months and go back to wrenching on them. Either case, it’s a great opportunity for the photographer wanting / needing to get involved. This is a the time to find these hangar rats and be apart of something great. What you see here is just that, the continuing N3N-3 on floats restoration project. I’ve been involved with this project for a year now documenting all the stages. How do you do the same thing?
Addison working on installing upper wing strut captured by Z 9 / Z14-24f2.8 w/Profoto A10 & Click Octa
You start by finding the project. How do you do that? You’ll find that information by looking at AOPA, EAA or CAF newletters, websites and meetings. You kinda just invite yourself to start, you have to go find them. They are there and finding them is a whole lot easier then you think. Next, realize you might be starting at the bottom, as in sweeping the floors. Don’t go expecting you’re going to get paid, quite the opposite. You’re putting in your time to just show up and take photographs. The sad truth you are more than likely not the first photographer to come along and you have no clue is the last photographer did it right, or wrong. While you’re sweeping the floors be thinking photography as you ask questions, lots of questions! Have your camera in your car at the ready. Have techniques up your sleeve like what I did in these two. I have a Profoto A10 on a click Octa nine feet up on a SmallRig stand to bring cleaned up light to the subject. Then when the time comes, make that one, solid photo to show your stuff. I guarantee if you stick with the project you won’t regret it and in the end, be in the air with the plane! Winter project are a gold mine!