Lining up
Airshow pilots and ground crew parking up for the night ~ Omaka, Marlborough,NZ.
Airshow pilots and ground crew parking up for the night ~ Omaka, Marlborough,NZ.
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May, 2018Views
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Awards
Fall Award 2020
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken at day's end. Most of the flying was over for the day, and the aircraft were overnighting in preparation for the next days show. Taken at the Classic Fighters Airshow at Omaka Aerodrome (5Kms out of Blenheim, Marlborough, NZ.) The pilots and ground crews were standing around discussing "what else" - but flying! The aircraft in the picture are: Kittyhawk, Corsair, and Mustang. I love the colourful little acrobatic racer footing it with the "big boys"!Time
It's late afternoon, and the natural light is starting to fall off, but with the colours of the vintage aircraft, you can't help but get a good shot. So much character in these classic machines,(and they look even better when they are in the air!)Lighting
Nothing really special about the lighting, as there was cloud overhead which made the lighting a little bit flat looking, but it is really about the story that this picture tells, and the livery of the aircraft, that was the attraction, rather than the lighting. Flat lighting can sometimes be just as important as bright (or vibrant) light, and it is up to we photographers to recognise what available lighting we have to work with, and use it accordingly.Equipment
Got this great Nikon D700 (and as I have said before: "An oldie but a goodie!"), fitted with a 28mm~105mm medium zoom, and all perched on a Cullman Monopod. No flash used. As far as this camera goes, it's taken 10's of thousands of images, so don't know how much life is left in the "old girl", but it is on about its 4th rechargeable battery! (I always have back-up batteries that I take with me along with several spare camera memory cards, for an airshow like this). I never use anything bigger than 16GB memory cards, just in case there is a catastrophic failure(haven't had a failure yet, but, you never know!!)Inspiration
It's a storyteller about pilots and crew standing on the wings of planes discussing their day. The only thing missing is the beer! These guys discuss how the motor(s) are running, and how sluggish the controls are, or whether they had one or two rough landings etc.! I'll leave the rest up to your imagination!Editing
No post-processing to speak of, except a few points of colour saturation added to make up for fading light.In my camera bag
Full-Frame Camera (one of). One medium zoom lens, one 300mm Telephoto lens, Monopod, Spare camera batteries and Memory cards. For a mission like this, you need to travel light, and be ready for anything that might happen. Aircraft usually travel very fast, so you need to be ready for the action at less than a micro-second's notice. Of course, this image is more of a "Still Life", so there's not too much urgency about it!Feedback
When the show is winding down for the night, always keep your eyes open for those "opportunist" shots. Parked-up aircraft are not all that interesting, but the people that are in and around them, are! This is when the "photo-journalist" in you, should be on full alert! (even after a tiring day!)
