Blackhawk Down
I named this image based on the fact that it says Blackhawk on the side. Come to find out it's actually Sikorsky MH-53E or maybe a CH53. There is some deba...
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I named this image based on the fact that it says Blackhawk on the side. Come to find out it's actually Sikorsky MH-53E or maybe a CH53. There is some debate. Either way, I suppose the important part is that this was part of the Blackhawk squadron that was at the air show I took this at, but it is not an actual Blackhawk helicopter.
2015-09-19 Ground 29 WWM
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2015-09-19 Ground 29 WWM
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Oct, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in One Monochrome Photo Contest
Honorable Mention in Finding Numbers Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Finding Numbers Photo Contest
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ChixPixPhotography
December 26, 2015
Thanks! Online, it said the Blackhawk is a UH-60. But, I have no personal knowledge of these things. I just Googled it.
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ChixPixPhotography
December 26, 2015
What is it then? I'm not a helicopter pilot, so I don't know. I just thought it was a Blackhawk because that's what it said on the side in huge letters.
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ChixPixPhotography
December 26, 2015
I just checked with my husband. He thinks the guy there (crew member or pilot, not sure which) told u it was a Blackhawk as well.
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ChixPixPhotography
December 26, 2015
Okay, we just did some searching. Looks like this is part of the Blackhawk squadron, but it's actually a MH-53 Sea Dragon. At least that's our best guess now.
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mtraufler
March 11, 2016
It's a Sikorsky MH-53E. It's used for mine sweeping and tows a mine sweeping sled through the water. Regardless of the misidentification, it's a very nice photograph. Nicely framed and looks great in black and white.
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ChixPixPhotography
March 23, 2017
Thanks! I love "wow" comments! I consider them very flattering. :-D
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) in Virginia Beach, VA.Time
This was taken in the afternoon, probably around 4 p.m.Lighting
As you can tell, there was a good amount of interesting cloud cover.Equipment
I used a Nikon D5500 with a Tonkia ultra-wide angle lens at 11mm, handheld, no flash.Inspiration
It's an awesome helicopter and I thought that the refueling boom would make a good lead in with my ultra-wide lens. The cloud cover added lots of interest as well.Editing
I had to do more post processing on this one than usual. First, I converted it to black and white and used a black and white filter on it. That was the easy part. The hard part was due to the fact that this was taken at an air show and, though I tried waiting for a moment where no people would be in the image, there was no way. So, I waited until there were as few as possible and took the shot. This meant that I had the task of removing a few people from the image in post. Thank goodness for a decade of self taught Photoshop skills.In my camera bag
Nowadays, I carry a Nikon D5500 with 6 lenses (5 Nikon, 1 Tokina - ranging from 11mm to 300mm), a Joby Gorillapod, a Benro tripod, several filters, a wireless remote, and other misc accessories.Feedback
A lot of capturing a shot like this one is seeing it in advance, knowing it's going to work. You get that through time and experience, or by putting your eye to the viewfinder a lot checking for effective compositions until you can see them without doing so. Also, if you're trying to shoot at a location that has a lot of distractions, like an airshow, it does help to know how to work with Photoshop to remove unwanted elements in post.
