Green Light Go
I'll stay up front and drive, however it's great out there on the edge...but you will still have to push me!!!
I'll stay up front and drive, however it's great out there on the edge...but you will still have to push me!!!
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Aug, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken 12,000 feet in the air above Fort Hunter Liggett, California from inside of C-130J Super Hercules.Time
I don't think there is any time better for photographing soldiers and while hanging out the back of an airplane. Early one afternoon I was requested to ride along with the Special Air Service (S.A.S.), United Kingdom, to photograph training jumps they were performing. The sun was almost directly above this time a day so even with the plane canting and pitching, the sun was mostly out of the way to take a clean photo.Lighting
This image, taken from the inside of a plane showing the open door, had a lot of challenges when it came to exposing the photo properly. The outside was very bright and the inside was very dark. My goal with the completed image was to show both of the inside and outside exposed correctly to show as much detail from each setting. To do this I exposed the photo to have the inside partially under-exposed and the outside partially over-exposed. That way, I could use post processing to bring the two settings together with minimal loss of detail.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon 7D with an 18-55mm lens. No other equipment was used, other than the airplane and "monkey-strap" that kept me from flying out the back!Inspiration
As a military photographer I get to see many things and tell the stories of our service members. This particular assignment was unique because I got to photograph the United Kingdom's troops training at my home station in California. It isn't everyday I get to hang out of the back of a C-130J and photograph troops conducting training jumps so I was very determined to get the best photo possible I could out of the series.Editing
The difference in the amount of light between the inside and outside of the aircraft made exposing both scenes correctly challenging within the camera, therefore I opted to post-process the RAW file to bring them both together. This required bringing down the over exposed outside area using white sliders and some anti-haze settings. At the same time, I had to bring the shadow slider up to create a detailed image of the inside of the airplane to show the details without affecting the outside exposure. This does cause some loss in colors so a small saturation boost was used to put them back to what they looked like initially.In my camera bag
My equipment consists of my Canon 7D Mark II, 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8, 18-105mm f/3.5 lenses. My flash unit, tripod, remote and many filters for my lenses. For this particular photo I was using my issued Canon 7D with an 18-55mm f/3.5 lens.Feedback
Never be afraid to do something outside of your comfort zone. Personally, I have a fear of flying and when I initially was told about this assignment, was hesitant to go. Then I said, "Why would I let fear stop myself from taking a potentially amazing photo?" So I grit my teeth, climbed into the C-130J and even though my heart was pounding looking down 12,000 feet to the ground below, I had fun.
