P-51 Mustang on the ramp
Eddie Andreini's P-51 Mustang "Primo Branco" on the ramp at night at the 2012 California Capital Airshow in Sacramento, CA
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Eddie Andreini's P-51 Mustang "Primo Branco" on the ramp at night at the 2012 California Capital Airshow in Sacramento, CA
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Purchase prints here:
http:--markeloperphotography.imagekind.com-
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rickallenmathews
June 12, 2016
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the ramp at Mather Airport in Sacramento County California. We have a crew of professional aircraft movers called the Airdales that assist us position aircraft where we want them.Time
Just when the sun goes down and when we can drag everyone back to the airport after dinner, we start the movement of aircraft in to position. These shots are a team effort. We always have to have the aircraft owner's permission to move and photograph these priceless pieces of history. Even a smudge on the plane after a shoot is unacceptable for any of us involved. It is our standard of operation giving us the privilege of doing more of these shots with other aircraft and aircraft owners.Lighting
This shot is a long exposure using two Speedlite like flashes handheld. Painting with light is the photographers' term for it. We call it "sneaker flash".Equipment
There are two of us when we shoot like this in Sacramento. The other photographer uses Nikon and the high end flash for his camera. I use a Canon 5D with the 430EX II flash with a Manfortto tripod. Remote triggers with locking capability were using to keep the shutter open.Inspiration
Today, everyone with a cell phone can take great photos. It is all about timing and location. In order to stand out from all the other photographers out there, you have to have that "WOW" shot. A shot that inflicts the most amount of emotion with the 1000 words these images speak. For aviation photography, access is king to get shots the rest of the air show crowd can not get. Access to places the crowd can not get, access to aircraft, and access to pilots and support crew make a huge difference when getting something others don't. Once you get all that access, it is what you do with it that takes you to a whole new level. This technique may not be new, but many of the young photographers, many old, have not mastered this technique. I was taught by a master of aviation night shot named Tyson Rininger, who is the second photographer on this shoot.Editing
Post processing is done in Adobe Lightroom. Not much is done other than a little saturation, sharpening, highlights and shadows with exposure adjustments. Nothing too far to the extremes. Maybe a few dust spots removed but nothing else. It literally takes me less than 5 minutes of custom post processing for each of my images without any presets. I am more about WYSIWYG in my photography. Do it right in the beginning so you don't have to fix it later.In my camera bag
Aside from the Canon 5D and the 24-105mm and Speedlite that were used in this shot, I carry a 100-400mm for air shows, a 17-40mm for wide shots, and a 14mm for super wide shots, typically for astrophotography. Usually a few GoPros for mounting on aircraft and all the mounts and gadgets are in the bag. Remote trigger switch, extra batteries and cards, a few radios for communicating to pilots, and a number of other little things to make photography fun.Feedback
Capturing these types of images require a lot of trial and error. Try new things and see how it looks on camera. Fortunately for me, the master has thins down and we can usually get these shots in 2-3 takes and about 30 minutes of work from setup to beer at the end.
