And of course, for me, no visit is complete without a shot of the Blackbird. Heard lots of OOOOO's and AHH'ssssss behind me as I was setting this up with Liveview on the D3
I never get tired of seeing pics of the Blackbirds. The only bad thing about the new lighting in the museum is that now they'll have to seriously increase the frequency of dusting the exhibits!
Jim, holy smokes, no wonder you had trouble finding that target! Awesome!
ELinder wrote:
I never get tired of seeing pics of the Blackbirds. The only bad thing about the new lighting in the museum is that now they'll have to seriously increase the frequency of dusting the exhibits!
Jim, holy smokes, no wonder you had trouble finding that target! Awesome!
Erich
Hi Erich,
Picking it up wasn't the problem so much, but the 250kt closing speed and our minimal maneuverability really had us working overtime. We did get the shot, and it matches my concept perfectly. I'd love to take credit for the skill, and 40 years of experience helped me pull it off, but humbly I'll tell you it was about 90% The Grace of God because we were banking, spinning around the rotor, trying to track The Buff and get it over the target in a split second, it's all a blur. I knew this shot (if captured) would end up as a 6' print, so I chose the slower frame rate/larger sensor 5DSR as my weapon, fully knowing that I'd get less than 1/3 of the frames that the 1DXII would provide. Shooting to duplicate cards for safety slows the SR even more, but this isn't a place where you want to see a "corrupt card" message.
Jim, I ended up renting a 5DSR for the Houston show last year, and I have to say I was quite impressed with how it performed in an airshow environment. Your shots require a little more planning, versus blasting away, but I came out with some nice stuff. To be honest, I've always enjoyed shooting with some thought behind it, and blasting away seemed like taking the easy way out, so the slower frame rate of the 5DSR didn't bother me. I loved the camera and now I want one! Now if I could just get my editing down to something less of a science with my new Mac I would be happy...
I hope Chandler enjoyed the TA-4 from the ground, and got some nice shots. My dad happened to be in the backseat.
Picking it up wasn't the problem so much, but the 250kt closing speed and our minimal maneuverability really had us working overtime. We did get the shot, and it matches my concept perfectly. I'd love to take credit for the skill, and 40 years of experience helped me pull it off, but humbly I'll tell you it was about 90% The Grace of God because we were banking, spinning around the rotor, trying to track The Buff and get it over the target in a split second, it's all a blur. I knew this shot (if captured) would end up as a 6' print, so I chose the slower frame rate/larger sensor 5DSR as my weapon, fully knowing that I'd get less than 1/3 of the frames that the 1DXII would provide. Shooting to duplicate cards for safety slows the SR even more, but this isn't a place where you want to see a "corrupt card" message. ...Show more →
love shoots like that! (after they're done of course!)
Yes, I agree completely! The imager quality is wonderful. Being able to bring a file up to 300% and still see something other than RGB dots really spoils you in post. I can hardly wait for the 5DSRII! Chandler hit it out of the park as far as his assigned imagery which was the Buff overhead with the POW’s and the ranch in the foreground. I warned him about how difficult the A4 would be. And, from his position, much was directly into the sun.
While I was out in California on assignment, I spent some time at LAX on Sunday afternoon and the MGM Grand Hotels E-190 (Embraer Lineage) took off, I assume for Las Vegas with one of their "whales" on board, or maybe they just dropped a "whale" back into LAX.
Glad you did, and thanks Joe! Yes, these cameras are pretty amazing, especially considering the G's involved. I just ordered four more for a project we're planning with the T38.
That T-38 footage is very nice. You can see him breathing hard a few times, especially setting up for the low pass. . How much fun would that be....the un-prepared in Keller must have sh*t a brick!
Thanks Zane! Yes, don’t you know some phones were ringing Friday afternoon! Sounded like Freedom to me, although for most of it all I could hear was the smooth whine of an Allison turbine
From what I was told, the airspace used to reposition the jets for each pass was very tight. The T-38 isn't the greatest turning airplane, so I imagine he was pulling on it pretty good to get it back around. They originally wanted us to send the F-4, but after flying the area in the A-4 it was determined that there was no way the F-4 could've made the turns and stayed within the space given.
Thank you Ryan! Yes, the briefs prior to flying the event were interesting to say the least. Watching incredulity morph into "I think we can make that work......" was kind of fun.
Here is a shot of the G-IV that I photographed in Carlsbad, CA last Saturday.
The highlight of the trip was that the jet needed to go on a test flight, and the pilots let me sit in the jump seat as we flew from Carlsbad, CA to Long Beach, CA and back. What an enjoyable experience that was!
I think an A-10 could have handled the turns, but wouldn't be quite so much fun
Ryan Harris wrote:
From what I was told, the airspace used to reposition the jets for each pass was very tight. The T-38 isn't the greatest turning airplane, so I imagine he was pulling on it pretty good to get it back around. They originally wanted us to send the F-4, but after flying the area in the A-4 it was determined that there was no way the F-4 could've made the turns and stayed within the space given.
