The Moments During the Clicks | a 7 Image Story

Aug 9, 2020 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom, 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, 7 Image Stories, AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S TC 2.0 E III Tele-converter, Aviation, B-25 Mitchell, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D300, Nikon D3x, Piper J-3 Cub, Piper PA-18 Super Cub, Spartan 7W Executive, The Moments During the Clicks, Waco YKC

The Moments During the Clicks | a 7 Image Story   Many great aviation images come from fast action.  Obviously air to air or ground to air images require panning skills no matter what type of aircraft.  Propeller planes require really good panning skills to keep the plane in focus while blurring the prop.  Even prop planes taxiing require some panning.  Jets tend to be a bit easier since there’s no prop.  Many images are required to insure a decent photo.  Clicks! Clicks! Clicks!  There’s really no calm in the moments during the clicks.  Things are moving fast.  Generally, I don’t even look at many images in camera.  I wait until the end of the day when processing them in post. Each of these images has its own back story on my journey. This post will be updated each day after the post of each image.

The Moments During the Clicks | F/A 18 Super Hornet   Capturing just the right image of a fast mover like the Super Hornet requires good panning skills and dozens of images from burst mode shooting.  It’s all about keeping the plane in the frame whiling panning and clicking as the plane zooms past.  Clicks!  Clicks!  Clicks!  It’s an exciting day with few calm moments.  Calm comes during post processing when reviewing your great images.  The Chicago Air & Water Show is a really nice venue for capturing aircraft images along the beach, particularly if you like jets.  You can’t always pick the background, but even with these bald skies, the vapor trail provides some contrast. Notice the “F/A” in the F/A-18 designation since it’s both a fighter and an attack aircraft. The Super Hornet is a twin-engine, carrier-capable, multi-role fighter and attack aircraft. It has an internal 20 mm M61 rotary cannon and can also carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. Turn & burn!

Super Cub on Floats   The Piper Super Cub, Alaska’s favorite bush plane, makes for great fun.  This Piper Super Cub is taking off by lifting one float up first then the other.  Although the waves are small, it’s excellent training.  Capturing this image on Floatplane Weekend took some planning, good technique, and more than a little luck.  The problem, of course, is getting a clear image while blurring the prop.  The plane is moving forward, the waves are moving it up and down.  The boat I’m riding is moving forward as well as up and down.  Yet, the shutter speed must be low enough to make the prop blur.  Needless to say, it’s all about keeping the plane in the frame whiling panning and clicking with the hammer down.  Clicks!  Clicks!  Clicks!  Calm comes back at the dock.

Cub & Super Cub   Two iconic airplanes flying in nice snow make for memorable images.  The Cub and Super Cub are having fun on Skiplane Weekend.  Getting just the right spacing with just the right blowing snow while the camera and I were freezing meant several hundred burst mode images.  Clicks! Clicks! Clicks!  Of course, the difficulty to capturing good airplane images in the winter with snow, is to keep the shutter speed low enough to blur the prop and pan well enough to keep the wings and fuselage in sharp focus while dealing with bright, hard mid-day light.  A 1/125s shutter speed is about as high as I like for a click like this one.  Luckily this day had bright overcast in between snow showers.

B-25 Miss Mitchell   This image was captured right after a heavy rain shower at the 70th Doolittle Raiders Reunion.  While walking near the hanger door immediately after the rain shower, I noticed Miss Mitchell’s crew looking over the plane to make sure everything was OK.  A simple click captured the moment.  During WWII, the B-25J “Miss Mitchell” completed more than 130 combat missions over North Africa and Italy without any crew fatalities.  After a 12 year restoration by the Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, “Miss Mitchell” continues to fly.  Of course, the B-25 became famous when Lieutenant Colonel “Jimmy” Doolittle took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet in April of 1942 to bomb Tokyo.  Those 16 B-25s became the first U.S. aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland.

Spartan Executive   My second year at the Blakesburg AAA Fly-in ended with a few long exposure images. This image was captured just before the last rays of sunset light faded on the first day of the fly-in.  Notice the line of sunset light reflection cutting through the fuselage.  No, it’s not a wrinkle in the aluminum; it’s light reflection on the polished aluminum plane.  For a still shot in fading light, this image required numerous clicks for getting the nice combination of light, exposure, and angle.  Click!  Click!  Click!  They were captured without a tripod, but with steady hands and the patience to capture numerous images.  Then, a slow walk along the flight line followed admiring more beautiful old flying machines.

B-25 Champaign Gal   The B-25 Champaign Gal, along with another B-25, was taxiing for takeoff at Grimes Field in Urbana, OH before the 70th Doolittle Raider Reunion.  Twenty B-25 aircraft attended the reunion the next day on 17 Apr 2013.  Luckily, I was able to get a media pass so I could get out to the end of the runway for possibly a better shot.  Champaign Gal is based at Grimes Field as part of the Champaign Air Museum.  Similar images could have easily been taken at numerous airfields around the world in 1942.

Waco   This beautiful Waco made several takeoffs and landings on Antique Field the day I was able to attend the Blakesburg AAA Fly-in.  Notice the grass runway and nice the backgrounds on images captured at Antique Field.  It’s like going back to the golden age of aviation!  The soft sepia finish adds to the old image look.  Like all propeller plane shots, the shutter speed must be low enough to make the prop blur.  Needless to say, it’s all about keeping the plane in the frame whiling panning and clicking with the hammer down.  Clicks!  Clicks!  Clicks!  Calm comes back at the end of the day.

Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category The Moments During the Clicks.

Click any image below for a slide show.