Blackhawk over Hawaii
Oct, 2019Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo over the Hawaiian Island of Oahu while working as a Visual Information Specialist for the U.S. Army out of Ft Hood, Texas. I was a Videographer in the Marine Corps and I used to fly a lot when I was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, when I got out of the Marine Corps I never expected that as a civilian that I would have the opportunity to fly in military aircraft again.Time
This photo was taken in the early afternoon, right after another bout of rain. This was the second time we had been up in the air that day and I was sitting by the door, I saw something over the back left of my shoulder and brought up my work camera and played wheel of fortune with the settings and started shooting away.Lighting
I took about 50 photos and bracketed the exposure on each F Stop, and each shutter speed until I found out what worked best, it was challenging because in Hawaii it rains a lot, there are clouds, then it’s full blown daylight, the afternoon is the worst time of day for lighting. Whats more is that I was a brand new photographer, I have been doing video for over 20 years but I landed this new gig as a photographer where my boss took a chance on me and had about three months to teach me the basics before he was able to send me out on my own.Equipment
I used a Nikon D3x, a 24-120 mm lens at 58mm, f22 and 1/80th for this shot, it was handheld no flash.Inspiration
This shot had nothing to do with the reason I was out on the assignment, I was riding in the helicopter and enjoying the scenery, I was looking out at the clouds and the landscape and taking photos of that, when I saw the other helicopter flying with us to the rear. I actually wanted to zoom in more but only had the 24-120 lens, but then I decided to capture more of the landscape and clouds as well and I am glad I did! This photo was one of my first great photos as a beginner and I don’t know that I have taken a better one since!Editing
I didn’t do much post processing at first behind basic cropping and hitting the “auto” button in Camera Raw, but I went back a year later after I had got some experience and played with the gradient brush in Camera Raw and lowered the exposure on the clouds, made another gradient for the water and changed the exposure and saturation levels on it, then increased the hue and saturation level for the green. I don’t usually do anything beyond Camera Raw, but recently I have taken to Adobe Lightroom and discovering the power of presets, maybe it is time to revisit this photo? I am glad I listened to my mentor, my old boss Tad Browing and because of him I always shoot RAW.In my camera bag
I don’t work at my old job anymore, so I don’t have access to the great lenses that I used to use to train on, but I have built up a decent kit, right now I am using a Nikon D850, an SB600 flash, travel tripod nothing fancy, a nice Lowel Pro Backpack, and a 24-120 mm lens, I am working on getting some more added to my kit, I recently moved to Germany and I am expanding my kit to include a nice wide angle lens for landscapes and architecture, the castles out here are wonderful! I am open to suggestions! Wanting to get this new lens so that when the world re opens I can get back to it.Feedback
Well this is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity for most, unless you join the military and can get into one of these helicopters or can work for the military, or maybe become a journalist? I don’t know how anyone else could get this particular opportunity, you could book a helicopter and tour around the Hawaiian Islands and take some great photos, if you want to spend the money on a flight I guarantee you wont regret it!!!
