Welcome to the November 2014 issue of ISnAP! IN THIS ISSUE 2014 Wings Over Waukegan John Freedman The African Aerospace and Defense Show Dylan Van Graan Hellenic Air Force: Training at Kalamata Mike Green Alan Eustace, Historic Space Jump Jim Harris Meet Our Members Adrian Romang • Andrew Krob • Andy Wolfe • Charles Burin Cristian Schrik • Damien Guarnieri • Erich Linder • Jon Davison Matt Savage • Milan Ovecka • Scott Leggo FRONT COVER PHOTO: Larry Grace The Fairey Gannet was a British carrier-borne aircraft of the postSecond World War era developed for the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA) by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was a mid-wing monoplane with a tricycle undercarriage and a crew of three, and a double turboprop engine driving two contra-rotating propellers. Our cover image is of the world’s last flying Fairey Gannet T5 anti-submarine aircraft XT752 “Janet” on display at it’s home base in New Richmond, WI. (http://www.faireygannetxt752.com) Camera: Nikon D700 Lens: 24-120mm f3.5-56D Focal Length: 35mm Shutter Speed: 1/1000 Aperture: f5.6 ISO: 100 Mode: Aperture Priority Format: RAW Post Processing: 5 images set for a HDR images into Nikon Capture NX2, then to Photomatix 5.0 then back to Photoshop CC for finishing touches and sharping. CENTERFOLD: Glenn Bloore Moroccan F-16 Viper on a training mission that originated from Edwards Air Force Base. Camera: Nikon D750 Lens: Nikon 400mm Focal Length: 400mm Shutter Speed: 1/1000 Aperture: f5 ISO: 100 Mode: Shutter Priority Format: RAW
BACK COVER: Erich Linder Taken on the morning of the last day of the 2014 Ft. Worth Alliance airshow, this image is a combination of 2 handheld photos merged to remove people in frame. Thanks to ISAP president Larry Grace, a few fellow ISAP members in addition to a local photography club had a few minutes on the flight line to take photos as well as pose for a group shot with Thunderbird #12, public affairs officer Maj. Derrick Lee. Camera: Nikon D810 Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens Focal Length: 17mm Shutter Speed: 1/200 Aperture: f/13 ISO: 400 Format: RAW Post Processing: Processed with Lightroom, Photoshop, and Nik plugins ISAP’s goal is to bring together our members who share a love of aviation, and want to preserve its history through their images. Through our organization, members can seek to enhance their artistic quality, advance technical knowledge, and improve safety for all areas of aviation photography while fostering professionalism, high ethical standards, and camaraderie. ISAP continues to help our members to better their photography skills, workflow, and set up resources to help with business questions that our members have. Updates are being made to the ISAP website and member portfolio section, and we are showcasing ISAP members’ images and accomplishments on our social media pages. Update or add your portfolio to the ISAP website. ISAP has received a lot of comments on our portfolio section and a few of our members have been contacted for job opportunities and image usage because of these portfolios. In this issue we are continuing to highlight ISAP members. I’m sure you will enjoy learning how your fellow ISAP members got started, as well as seeing some of their images and learning some tips. Remember that ISnAP is your publication to share your images, stories and tips with other members and the public. We look forward to each member sharing his or her stories with all of us. Enjoy this issue of ISnAP! Sincerely, Larry Grace, President Kevin Hong, ISnAP Editor International Society for Aviation Photography www.aviationphoto.org • www.facebook.com/ISAPorg isnap@aviationphoto.org
Kevin Hong
w e l c o m e
n e w
a n d
r e t u r n i n g
i s a p
m e m b e r s
Albert Ross
John Ross
Alan Brian Nilsen
Andrew Krob
John Maene, Jr
John Freedman
Mike Young
Jeff Lamros
James Raycroft
Erich Linder
Manuel Martinez
Dennis Manske
Cristian Schrik
Bryn Forbes
Stanley Parker
Richard Spolar
John Slemp
Debra Hale
Darrick Lee
Alec Walker
Frank Crebas
John P McNee
Angelo Bufalino
Jason Pineau
Drew Hendrix
Michael Mainiero
Joe Copalman
Mark Kettenhofen
James Cavanaugh
Dylan Van Graan
Virginia Harris
Timothy Pruitt
Mike Green
Stephen Mclninch
Edward Faith
Mike Gagarin
The ISnAP is a periodic publication of the International Society for Aviation Photography and is used to communicate news, functions, convention information, and other information of interest on the local, regional, and national scenes. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and should not be construed as the views or opinions of the International Society for Aviation Photography.
2014 Wings Over Waukegan By John Freedman
The 2014 Wings Over Waukegan airshow was held on the 6th September. It is a great show based around the Warbird Heritage Collection based in the airport. The flying included the Warbird Heritage Foundation A-4, F-86, P-51D, A-37, as well as the Trojan Horsemen in their T-28s, Jeff Kaney in his Mig-17, the Aerostars in their Yak-52TW, F4U-5 Corsair, three L-39s, and a T-33. There were a few airshow acts with Dave Dacy in his Super Stearman, Michael Vaknin in his Extra 300, and a wing-walking act with Dave Dacy and Tony Kazion. Photographers that attend the show are given access to a Photo Pit, and for a few of us, we are given even better access to the show. With that access comes the responsibility of following directions and acting in a professional and attentive way.
The crowd line is quite close to the action, so everybody who attends can get good pictures, and the sun angles are OK. There are statics that the spectators are able to photograph, and the active aircraft start and end in front of the crowd. So next year if you are looking for a great way to spend a Saturday in September, look out for the Warbirds Over Waukegan airshow. If you have not seen Vlado Lenoch fly a Mustang, it is worth the trip alone for that! Details are available at their website www.wingsoverwaukegan.com
The African Aerospace and Defense Show By Dylan Van Graan
Every 2 years AAD - The African Aerospace and Defense show - graces the South African air show calendar and this year, again saw the show coming to Waterkloof Air Force base in the country’s capital. Being hosted for some time in Cape Town while repairs and upgrades were being made at Waterkloof, the last 6 years have seen the return of this popular show with 2 prior events in 2010 and 2012, and 2014 promising to be bigger and better than ever before. It’s usually with great levels of expectation that I await the early days of spring and the promise of screaming jets, rumbling radials and the smell of jet A1 along with a varying diet of aviation fodder being offered up during the air-show weekend and the 3 trade days before. However this time around it took a passing comment from a colleague about getting tickets for the show that woke this photographer with a start to the fact that it was that time of the year again. I mean between traveling a lot more than usual for my day job and barely having touched my images from the Swartkop air-show earlier in May, who can blame me for still being stuck in July!
Well, the reality was that plans needed to be made and arrangements finalized for arguably the biggest air-show event of the year. In 2010 I was fortunate enough to be a member of a local aviation photography club which allowed a bit of preferential access to the show. An article in this publication in 2010 tells that story in more detail. During the show in 2012 I was no longer a member of the club but I was able to get access during the trade days which provided un-crowded access to the flight line for flying practice and validations. On the air-show day I was left to queue in front of a gate at 5 am with a friend of mine and had to rush the flight line like teenagers at a rock concert to get an unobstructed position as umbrellas and canvas gazebos mushroom in a blink of an eye the moment the sun peaks over the horizon at local air-shows.
2014 however brought its own challenges and I was unable to acquire access via the same channels as 2012 and it seemed that applying for press credentials would be the way to go. This would have two main advantages, access to trade days and dedicated press boxes, yes, no gazebos! Enter ISAP President, Larry Grace and ISnAP Editor, Kevin Hong, having an understanding ear to my pleas made by mail referred me the necessary referral letter that would allow me to apply for that special badge. Letter in hand and lock of hair submitted for ID verification I applied for my press pass and was noticeably relieved to be invited to the press briefing the week prior to the start of the “festivities”. Badge in hand I was now rearing to go, but the following week I was due to be in Namibia on a business trip and this would not allow any visits to the show during the trade days, a minor setback, as the air-show would be on both the Saturday and Sunday following the trade days allowing ample time to get a decent body of images together. Well as things sometimes happen in my line of work, Namibia was cut to only two days but a crisis in Kimberly still ensured that I would only be able to attend the air-show itself. As a member of the press we were privy to announcements and deals by major players in the aerospace and defense industry and mails inviting us to press briefings and cocktail parties frequented my inbox. Alas I was unable to honor any invites and I experienced a strange sense of being “left out”. At least I could look forward to getting up later than usual on show days, to get decent spots. Ah, press boxes.
Saturday came and after cleaning and sorting gear on the Friday evening I managed to have breakfast with my wife after sunrise on Saturday morning. I happily left home at a decent time, and almost at my destination ran into, show traffic! Bummer. After crawling through the access gates to the airbase I found a parking in the allocated area and made my way to the press center and was warmly greeted by the good people from Canon Professional Service who promptly furnished us with cool, branded, high vis vests as well as a very useful utility pouch that can be attached to any camera bag, containing a Canon branded SD card wallet. Woohoo, the morning was looking up. Gifts received, vests donned and hands shaken we headed out to the flight line. One of my fellow members of the media suggested we avoid the crowds by heading towards the right of the runway and we found a spot completely free of visual and human obstacles. The added advantage of this spot was that we had an unique view when aircraft came down the runway and took to the air just before they reached us as well as the fact that being close to the edge of the display box many aircraft turned into our position and we were privy to some unusual angles, so to speak. Thanks to quality time spent in traffic we only managed to catch the very end of the Tiger Moth display and not having many particularly decent images of this aircraft in spite of attending various shows where this aircraft was displayed, this one became the first item on my “to do” list for Sunday.
As usual with airshows during this time of year the atmosphere was decidedly hazy both due to heat and particulate matter and many images appeared soft and without punch. Shooting well above the horizon helped but an uninteresting sky didn’t. Can’t have it all our way can we? At least the company was good and after a late lunch the sun moved to in front and to the right of us and late afternoon provided the opportunity to catch cool silhouettes set in a beautiful backdrop of golden lined clouds. If I could only get the exposures correct. The end of the day and almost 2000 images later I made my way home to a hot shower and time in front of the Apple, downloading images and backing up. To be very honest I have never taken this many images on a single show day, but it seems that my new Canon 70D is causing me to develop some bad habits in the spray and pray department. I even ran out of space on my SD cards and had to rely on my trusty 20D for a bit in the middle of the day just to ensure that I had enough capacity on the newer body during the trickier shooting conditions later in the day. I mention the above, because even though I upgraded from the 20D to the 70D I was very surprised to see that some images from the older body were indeed sharper and better focused than the latter. I don’t know why I was so surprised, as the 20D has served me very well in the past and one really needs to understand that the latest and greatest is no replacement for practice and good technique. Images saved and backed up it was off to a good night’s rest. Way too late by the way! Up again early on Sunday it was completely overcast as a result of rainy weather that moved in during the night and the prospect of better lighting helped me get ready for an earlier departure. Traffic remember?
Checklist for Sunday read as follow, Get decent material of: 1. Tiger Moth 2. Mustang Sally - P51D that I find to be a notoriously difficult subject 3. T-28 Trojan - nowhere near enough images of this brute in my collection 4. The Gannets - new air force display team 5. Focus on composition and timing rather than just fire the shutter. Hope that: 1. AHRLAC will fly 2. Sling world record attempt will fly Happy to report that my early start meant less traffic, a good start. After arrival and a visit to the press centre to catch up with everybody I headed out to the previous day’s spot. I agreed with my companion of the previous day that we would meet at the same spot but he was nowhere to be found and I had the area to myself for most of the day. Sometimes I prefer my own company so I relished working alone for a bit and being the only photographer around meant that I got exclusive images of the Sling’s ground and taxi runs. More on this a bit later, but ticking items on my checklist started as I managed to get some worthwhile images during the Tiger Moth display, but with a solid cloud base quite low, flying was placed on hold until the weather improved. As the day heated up the clouds were burnt off and flying commenced in short order. The break in the clouds provided soft light to illuminate one of my favorite subjects of the weekend, namely the SA Navy Super Lynx flown very capably by members of 22 Squadron. Having never seen one in the flesh so to speak I watched it perform beautifully both in solo display as well as playing its role in the mini war enactment. Definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.
As the day progressed I had some company arrive at my spot and as socializing commenced I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow member of this society in the form of Paul Job! While comparing notes as photographers often do we were treated by the take off and departure of AHRLAC (The Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft) a proudly South African product developed locally and destined for both the military and civilian market. An aircraft I am personally hoping to see a lot more of. Back to the Sling now as it successfully took off from Waterkloof on its maiden flight just before the departure of AHRLAC and returned again shortly after the departure of the latter. The Sling has an interesting story. Developed and built in South Africa by the The Airplane Factory an example circumnavigated the globe in 2009. Obviously not averse to a challenge, a world record attempt was made during the air-show to build a Sling and fly it before the end of the show. Work commenced at the start of the show on Wednesday and completed in time for its first flight on Sunday. I’m happy to report that the guys from The Airplane Factory successfully completed the task and the aircraft safely returned to the air base after a short circuit. So, with photos in the bag of the Sling and AHRLAC in flight my checklist was coming along nicely. I was so excited to report on the Sling and AHRLAC that I completely forgot to mention that I also managed to get nice images of both the Mustang and the T-28. The Mustang, on this occasion being flown in a particularly aggressive fashion by its owner Menno Parsons, who performed beautifully fast and low passes to the delight of the spectators, and this lover of warbirds. Apart from the highlights mentioned above, Saturday and Sunday saw a procession of the usual air-show suspects which included many of the old favorites. These ranged from the Air Force SAAB Gripen to displays from various teams using an array of other aircraft types.
A display that really got my attention on Saturday and which I especially looked forward to on Sunday was by a 4 ship team from the air force, flying the BAE Hawk. Display teams flying jets aren’t anything new in the world of aviation but these guys have special significance for me because it is possibly the first South African aerobatic display team using jets since the Silver Falcons stopped using the Impala (Aermacchi MB-326), at least as far as I’m aware of. Although I did manage to get some reasonable images of their display on Saturday, I wanted more and it seems that this item on the checklist can also be removed. The latter display was followed by the last displays of the day done expertly by, first the Gripen and then followed by the Silver Falcons, bringing an end to another exciting AAD. Well, not the end exactly. As I walked to my car I ran into a mongoose scrounging around for tidbits amongst the cars, there was actually more than one around so I simply had no choice in the matter, the camera simply had to come back out. Thus I completed AAD 2014 looking very funny stalking mongeese amongst the cars in the hope of getting a decent shot of the little critter to end of a great weekend. I got ONE and after a quick search it seems that the little guy/gal in question was a Yellow Mongoose. After my surprise find I headed home tired, content, and looking forward to seeing the results of another full day’s shooting. During a show like this too much takes place to put it all on paper and my hope is that the images included will help to tell the story of AAD 2014. See you in 2016
E C R O F R I A C I N E HELL
TRAINING
AT KALAMATA By Mike Green
Major Anastasios Kapogiannis puts a T-6 Texan through its paces above Kalamata air base in preparation for the upcoming Archangel open days in October. Along with Capt Leonidas Dimitriou, Maj Kapogiannis forms the Hellenic Air Force T-6 display team known as Team Daedalus.
A Beechcraft T-6NTA banks onto finals at Kalamata air base. A total of 45 Texans are operated by 120 PEA, a mix of 25 T-6As and 20 T-6NTA versions, the latter of which have six underwing hard-points enabling them to carry external fuel tanks and/or air to ground weapons.
This T-6NTA was painted in this scheme to celebrate 50 years of 361 MEA (Air Training Squadron) in 2013. As part of 120 PEA (Air Training Wing), 361 MEA operates a pool of 45 Beechcraft T-6 Texan IIs in conjunction with 364 MEA at Kalamata. The aircraft is seen outside the wing’s maintenance facility on September 12, 2014.
The Instructor Pilot (IP) in the rear seat of this T-6 looks on as his student taxis out for a morning mission at Kalamata. Missions are flown from 7.30 in the morning until as late as 21.00 Monday to Thursday, with Friday’s only seeing missions flown until around 13.00. As the Hellenic Air Force’s (HAF) primary training base Kalamata sees more aircraft movements than all of the other HAF bases combined.
The Hellenic Air Force’s initial pilot training commences at Tatoi-Dekelia with 360 MEA on the Cessna T-41D Mescalero, where the young pilots complete their basic training, which is fundamentally a flight screening course to establish whether the prospective candidates ‘have what it takes’. The pilots then move to 120 PEA at Kalamata for Phase 2 of the training course
with 361 MEA & 364 MEA flying the Beechcraft T-6A Texan II. Split into the Initial Stage and Basic Stages, the students will complete a total of 125 hours and 98 sorties over the two stages. During this time the students also complete 524 hours of ground training, which incorporates some computer based training studies (CBTS) and around 25 sorties flown in the simulator.
Without doubt the ‘star attraction’ at Kalamata air base is this Rockwell T-2E Buckeye known simply as ‘Danaos’. Painted in this striking scheme in 2013 to celebrate 40 years of 363 MEA, the scheme depicts the mythical Greek King on the vertical fin of the aircraft. It is seen here taxying out for a mission on
September 12, 2014 with Col Alexandros Kefalas, the Director of Operations & Training at Kalamata in the rear seat. A former F-4 Phantom pilot with over 3000 hours under his belt, Col Kefalas took up his role at Kalamata in June of this year and still maintains his competency as an instructor on the T-2.
The T-2 Buckeye has been in service with the HAF since 1976 and over 30 are still in active service with 120 Air Training Wing. Spares are of course becoming much harder to source, with a number of redundant airframes on the ramps at Kalamata,
some of which are ex-US Navy aircraft taken from AMARG specifically for the purpose of providing a spares source. Despite this the maintenance personnel continue to maintain a high availability level amongst the fleet.
The two General-Electric J85-GE-4A turbojet engines provide more than enough power for the young ‘Icarus’ pilots of 362 and 363 MEA. As is the case with the T-6 fleet, the Buckeyes are ‘pooled’ between the two Air Training Squadrons. This T-2E is seen powering away from Runway 35 at Kalamata on a morning training mission.
Having completed their training on the T-6, the student pilots move to either 362 MEA or 363 MEA for Phase 3 (Advanced) and Phase 4 (Operational) training. Here the students learn the art of flying a high performance jet aircraft. As with the two T-6 squadrons, the T-2 units share the responsibility for both phases of the training syllabus. Prior to moving onto Phase 4,
pilots are ‘screened’ and some selected to fly transport aircraft or helicopters. Those selected for the fighter community move on to complete Phase 4 before moving to a frontline unit where they fly either the F-4E Phantom, Mirage 2000 or in the vast majority of cases the F-16C Fighting Falcon.
Seen taking off from Kalamata in perfect weather conditions, this T-2 Buckeye belies its age. With both T-2 squadrons running courses simultaneously there are around 40 students currently
flying the T-2 at Kalamata; and with approximately 24 Instructor Pilots on strength it provides lots of opportunity for the students to hone their skills in the air.
ALAN EUSTACE,
HISTORIC SPACE JUMP By Jim Harris
On August 16, 1960, Joseph Kittinger made history with his near-space jump from the Excelsior III, after reaching an altitude of 102,800 feet over New Mexico. Kittinger’s record stood for 52 years…until Felix Baumgartner shattered Kittinger’s altitude by staging a very highly promoted, and anticipated, jump from 128,100 feet on October 14, 2012. Enter Google Sr. VP, Alan Eustace. In VERY high contrast to Baumgartner’s campaign, under a shroud of secrecy, and nearly 3 years of ground-up testing, in concert with Paragaon Space Development of Tucson, AZ, he was not to be outdone. Alan had been offered financial backing by Google, but refused, citing that he didn’t want it to become just another publicity stunt. The entire project, start to finish, was funded by Alan himself! Among my many ventures through the years, one has been steadfast…ownership of a Tucson-based tech company, Equilution, LLC, all the while developing my professional photography more or less as a footnote. As the owner of a small tech company, I had become
very much acquainted with many of Tucson’s best and brightest in the tech community. Surround yourself with people smarter than yourself (not a difficult task for me!), and you can’t help but succeed. Through much networking around southern Arizona, this led to my accepting a position as the Director of the Arizona Technology Council --- an organization committed to furthering scientific research and development in the community, as well as promoting Arizona as THE place to move your technology-driven business. It was time spent that I will forever remember, if only for the amazing people that I was fortunate enough to keep the company of. During my tenure with the Arizona Technology Council, I facilitated a CEO networking group, whose exclusive membership included Paragon Space Development CEO, Taber MacCallum. If his name sounds familiar, it should! Google it, and you’ll find he was one of the original founding members of the high-profile 1991 Biosphere 2 experiment.
As my photography business began to get traction, so too did my reputation among many of the AZ Tech Council’s membership as a “more than capable” photographer, as Paul Bellows, CEO of Bellows Consulting put it. After the project was well under way, unbeknownst to me, AND the rest of the world, the time came for flight testing. Without being too descript, this basically involved the high-altitude ascent of an unmanned helium balloon to test all navigation, guidance, communication, and life-support systems. It was at this time in August of 2014 that I got “the” call. Paragon president, Jane Poynter, also of Biosphere 2 fame, called me and asked me if I would be interested in taking on a photographic project in Roswell, New Mexico. Given what I knew about Paragon’s other endeavor’s related to life support systems designed for space, I knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime…and, of course, after thinking about it for half a millisecond, I answered with a resounding, “Yes!” Long story short, I spent 3 days in the New Mexico desert shooting the preparation, launch, and recovery of the refrigerator-sized test apparatus. The final day was, to say the least, epic. After being awake for 42 hours straight, which included an 8-hour post-landing search-and-recovery effort for the parafoil on the Chase 4 team, I came away with some of the greatest images to date for my portfolio ---- and Paragon had a very well-documented chronology of their highly-successful test launch. Mission accomplished on all fronts! During this trip, I had heard very vague references to another project that was running in parallel. However, of course, it has all been very secret, and at this time, I hadn’t put two-and-two together yet. After delivering the images I had collected, I had a discussion with the CEO and President of Paragon at that time and expressed to them my inter-
est in future projects and that if anything “of other significance” had been coming down the pike, please keep me in mind. Fast forward to October, 2014. I got another call from Paragon, once again, asking if I was interested in taking on another photographic project, and “Are you available?” Again, their request was met with wholehearted excitement and anticipation. However, THIS time, the discussion involved a statement to the effect of, “…among the other shots we just discussed, we’d also like to get some of his landing.” I was somewhat taken aback. With a stunned rebuttal, I uttered these words: “I’m sorry….what? What do you mean, “Him???” A 1000w light bulb had just gone off in my head. It finally dawned on me the magnitude of the event that was about to take place, and that I had gotten the call of a lifetime. I had been chosen to document a worldrecord breaking feat, to be attempted by Google’s Sr. VP, Alan Eustace. Mr. Eustace was about to go down in history as one of only 3 people to have ever successfully jumped from near-space. Others have tried since Kittinger’s jump in 1960. However, the end results, while not highly publicized, were catastrophic. I rolled into Roswell about 4pm, the evening before Alan was to jump. Much like the test flight a couple months earlier, I knew we were in for a long sleepless night. Our team made its way to Roswell Airport around 1am, on Oct 24th. Once we arrived, I was given instructions about where and where NOT to be, how close I could get, and to make sure that no flash was used in or around Alan as he prepared for his trip. I knew this was going to be a difficult shoot, being the middle of the night. The launch pad and surrounding areas were illuminated by
portable generator lights. Fortunately, the spectrum of light that was used was close to perfect and required little to no white balance correction in post! The biggest challenge for me was trying to maneuver myself into the right position at the right time, which proved to be difficult all night. It was a very dynamic atmosphere, and I found myself running around quite a bit. The other challenge was due to very low light levels and contrast in most places, and having to use ISO settings much high than I was comfortable with. However, I had a great deal of faith in my gear, and my post-processing skills. Here’s what I had in my bag: -Two Nikon D4 bodies, each carrying 48g worth of XQD and CF cards -Nikkor 24-70, f/2.8 (shooting mostly around 3200iso until the sun came up) -Nikkor 70-200, f/2.8 -Nikkor 85, f/1.4 (this lens was great for shooting this time of night!!) -Nikkor 105 micro, f/2.8 (it didn’t see much use, as many of the pics I DID take with it showed too much detail and were not available for public viewing) Throughout the night, various dignitaries arrived to view the event. Alan’s sisters came to view and give their support. Astronaut Mark Kelly also made an appearance and was making his rounds with family and crew members. At sunrise, Alan was released from his earthbound shackles, making is 2.5 hour journey to the stratosphere. Right after he was released, I was able to capture some pretty stunning images as he began his
ascent. The early morning sky made for a magnificent backdrop. Once he was above all visible obstacles, and with a very vibrant sunrise sky, I snapped the one picture that would later be used by the New York Times to announce to the world what Alan Eustace had just done. I had received full photographic credit in the Times! Additionally, later that morning, I received a call from CBS’ World News Tonight asking for permission to use the photo on air, of course with full photographic credit. The settings for this image: Aperture Priority, f/3.2, iso4000, 1/8000th sec, EV +.7 The background was nicely exposed, yielding a very vibrant background. However, Alan appeared a little dark. Since I had no post-processing means onsite, the images given to the media were straight out of the camera shortlyafter Alan began his ascent. I have since edited the image, lightening some of the shadows, resulting in the image you see here, as Alan waves to his family and crew 100 feet below. Throughout the morning, this picture showed up on over 100 websites telling of the news from Roswell, NM. Flying Magazine has since also published several pictures on their site. This was the experience of a lifetime…one which I will never forget, and I consider it to be the pinnacle of my nearly 30-year photographic career! My relationship with Paragon, StratEx, and WorldView continues, having received follow-on phone calls for additional services. I can’t wait to see what’s in store next!
Photo by Glenn Bloore
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MEET OUR MEMBERS
MEET THE MEMBERS
Surfing the internet, I came across ISAP and kind of liked the idea behind it. I specially like the “Code of Ethics”, something I often miss in todays mass production digital photography, much of it being published in forums and sites of questionable quality and integrity. I also like the idea about ISAP being a community where each member counts and is appreciated. I am also member of an aviation group in Berne where high quality aviation photography and interaction has a top priority. We often have public lectures and presentations on various aviation topics, and I have done quite a few myself.
Adrian Romang I am a swiss helicopter pilot and mechanic living close to Thun in the Bernese Oberland / Switzerland, in the same village I grew some 40 years ago. I have, however, travelled the world quite a bit and have actually spent 10 years in Africa, together with my wife and three sons. We lived in Cameroon and Madagascar, where I was working for Helimission, a christian non profit organization based in Switzerland. All our helicopters are operated in Africa and Asia for humanitarian purposes. Upon returning to Switzerland in 2005, I took on the position of Technical Manager for Helimission, and as such, still travel a lot all over the world. Needless to say that my cameras are always part of the travel gear. I’m hooked to aviation since the age of 10, when I was invited for a ride in an Aerospatiale SA315 Lama helicopter, doing aerial work in the swiss mountains. As a result, rotorcrafts are my favourite flying machines, although many other aircraft are equally fascinating to me. I’m particularly interested in C-130’s, followed by military jets such as the F-4, F-16 and all Sukhoi fighter, to name a few. African Aviation has a high priority too. My background is slides, which I have been shooting since almost 30 years now and still do every now and then. Since some years however, I also shoot digital. I’m using Nikon equipment, a D300 with an 80-400mm lens for moving targets plus the more simple D90 combined with an 18-105mm for static shots. The slides are shot with an F100 and two lenses of 24-105 and 70-300mm. I’m thinking about switching to Canon though, not an easy decision in any case so I’m still eager to receive advise and feedbacks from fellow photographers. I shoot both RAW and JPG, simply to have uncompressed data available if need be. I’m also a freelance journalist and sometimes RAW data comes handy. I have to admit that I’m not very good at editing and optimizing pictures, mainly since I have no time to “play” around on the PC. If my pictures are published in printed or online media, I let the corresponding editors do the editing. I do use Nikon’s Capture NX-D software if needed but I still have to learn a lot. I look forward to hear from others. In any case, coming from the “slide” age I still aim at doing it right from the beginning, as much as possible.
Yes, I often discuss techniques and settings with my fellow photographers. My advice to newcomers: Listen to guys who have been around in the business but also play around yourself with new ideas, with light and shadows, etc. Also, paying attention to the background is very important in my opinion. Use one body per lens (if you can afford it) so that you do not have to switch and separate lenses and bodies. I found that very helpful to avoid dust on the sensors.
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MEET THE MEMBERS
Andrew Krob
I am located in a suburb of Kansas City called Lenexa. I would consider myself an advanced amateur with hopes of being a professional someday. I do not have any formal training in photography. I have learned from online tutorials, books, as well as local photographers. My desire to get into aviation photography stems from my childhood. I grew up in Wichita, KS, and have been around aircraft for a long time. At one point I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. Life took a different turn, and I ended up in I.T. We, my wife and I, got a dSLR 5 years ago for our wedding. This allowed me to explore something I’ve always wanted to do, Photography. Once I figured out that I could combine aviation and photography, I was in love. Seeing beautiful aircraft, and seeing people’s reaction to my photography is amazing. When I am at an airfield my heart pounds, and my knees become weak, and I want to portray that in my photographs. I am a Canon guy. I use a Canon 6D. I mainly shoot with a 24-105mm F/4 or a 100-400 F/4-F5.6.
I shoot RAW because I like to adjust the photograph to be as perfect as I can make it. My preferred application is Lightroom, due to the cost as I was starting out and I am more familiar with it than Photoshop. I joined ISAP in September 2014 after doing an internet search for aviation photographers. I figured it was the best way to network with other photographers, build relationships, and to advance my skill in photography. I am currently not a member of any other groups. I am always learning about photography. One of the best ways to re-enforce what you learn is by teaching. I have taught other people what I have learned and encouraged them. I am still fairly new to the world of aviation photography, so I am still learning the tips and tricks. The one tip I have is to get involved. Not just in using your camera at an airshow, but get involved in local groups. This will help your photography, but also build long lasting relationships. Photography is about people, not just about aircraft.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Andy Wolfe
I’m currently working at NAS Patuxent River, MD but I call Fort Worth, TX home as I am back there on a regular basis. I am a full time professional photographer working for Lockheed Martin on the F-35 flight test program. My desire to photograph aviation traces back to my teens when I was very interested in aviation and photography became a way of documenting what I saw. My passion for photography grew and I eventually decided to study photography formally and I attended the University of Texas at Arlington and received a BA in Communication (Photojournalism track) in 2000. I’m a tried and true Nikon shooter but I shot with a Canon system for about 5 years when I worked at Edwards AFB. I believe that both systems are great but since I learned on a Nikon system, it has always been what I am most comfortable with. My favorite long lens combo is the Nikon D4 and the Nikkor 200-400/F4 super zoom lens. I shoot all imagery in RAW and process from Adobe Bridge to Adobe Photoshop through Adobe Camera Raw. I like to have the most complete capture possible to work with in post so I have my cameras to set capture RAW imagery at the maximum bit depth and in uncompressed files. I joined ISAP in 2001 before the very first ISAP symposium in Fort Worth, TX. I don’t currently belong to any other photography groups but the community of aerial photographers we have at Fort Worth, Pax River and Edwards are closely associated and we frequently exchange ideas and communicate between the sites. I love having the ability to impart knowledge I have learned over the years to others that are up and coming in the field. I am a believer in continuous learning and improvement so I would advise to always seek out guidance and critique from those around you no matter how experienced you might become.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Charles Burin I’m Chuck Burin from Apple Valley, MN. I guess you would say that I am an advanced amateur. I retired in 2003 after 40 years of Federal service including 11 years as a USMC pilot and 29 years with the US Department of Labor/OSHA. I had some photography training in the Marines as well OSHA. The training was job related and included air to ground, accident investigation techniques and inspection documentation. I took my first aircraft photos with my father’s AGFA 126 camera in 1954 at an open house at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport Air Force Reserve base which just happened to be a mile behind our house. I moved on to using a newer 35 mm camera while attending the University of Kansas from 1958-63. I took aircraft photos, mostly from the ground, on several NROTC trips each year. I was away from aviation between 1974 and 1992 and took very few photos or video during that time. In 1992 I attended a CAF show in St. Paul, MN and did mostly video for a few years before getting back into the photo game. Over the years I have used a number of different cameras including Minolta SRT-101, Topcon RE Super, a series of various 35 mm cameras and on into the digital age with a Panasonic and finally on to Canon. I currently use a Canon T3i with the standard lens plus the 75 to 300mm zoom and a 55 to 250mm IS zoom. For ground to air I prefer the 300. I am looking at moving up to the next level of camera equipment sometime in the next year. I use both RAW and/or jpg depending on what I am shooting at the time. I have Photo Shop Elements 12 and Light Room 5.6 on my pc but use Elements the majority of the time for post processing. I need to learn more and experiment with LR before making any commitment to using it on a regular basis. I have known the current president of ISAP for many years as well as past president thru a museum I work with in Fort Worth, Texas. I met a number of members at Oshkosh in 2010 and joined ISAP in 2012. I am always in the learning mode and try to assist others to the extent I can whenever I am involved in taking aviation photographs.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF24-105 f/4L IS USM, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100
Cristian Schrik I started with aviation photography around 1995 when I got a Canon 500N camera for my birthday from my parents. When the digital revolution did his entrance I bought a second hand Canon 20D digital camera. Although I had “basic” knowledge of photography, I wanted to get to learn more and more. By reading various magazines, online articles and viewing tutorials, my interest in (aviation) photography started to grow. In 2012 I started a two year education in photography where I graduated as best of my class in July 2014. I learned many aspects and types of photography which in most cases during my study I relayed into aviation photography. During portrait photography classes I photographed a fight pilot for example.
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 250
The experiences and knowledge I have gained over the years performing Air-to-Air photography makes me a professional. To create such type of images need a lot of dedication, passion, an eye for detail, experience, time and effort. I think into detail before making a photo-brief so that everything is well planned to get the best results out of expensive flight time with flight safety being priority number one. With the help of two model planes that are on my desk, I visualize a shot that I want to capture and put this in my photo-brief. Afterwards I perform a de-brief to exclude mistakes and to learn how I could do better the next time. Also do I still examine images from other photographers on how they created the images. This also give me a good learning curve.
I see myself as a professional aviation photographer. I will explain why I see my work as professional. Before 2010, I was shooting “basic” aviation images during base visits, air shows and exercises around the globe as a tail spotter. You know, the standard images were the entire aircraft needs to fill the image frame, preferably with serial number readable. Images were directly from the side or obliquely from the front with no photographic aspects in mind. Air-to-Air photography was only a (wet)dream of mine, until I got the change to try it out myself in July 2010 during the Fighter Weapon Instructor Training (FWIT) at Leeuwarden Air Base. From the ramp of a Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules that participated as slow mover, I shot my first Air-to-Air images of a Dutch, Belgian and Norwegian F-16. Since than... I have a passion for Air-toAIr photography. It just gives such a thrill!
For shooting I always rely on my Canon equipment. I use a 1D Mark IV body, EF 17-40 f/4L USM, EF 24-105 f/4L IS USM and a EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM. For shooting helicopters I use my 70-200 and for others I use the 24-105. Shooting .RAW format images give so much more advantages to get the maximum out of your image. The ability to control light and color in almost every way is just phenomenal. It may take time, but in the end the results can be just as you want.
It is not an average day question to fly a military fighter jet, transport/ tanker or helicopter. And with all the Defense budget cuts around the globe, it does not make it easier at all. After many setbacks I got the opportunity to perform an Air-to-Air photo-shoot with the Norwegian Air Force flying school at Bardufoss Air Base, flying the MFI-15 Safari, during the creating of an article about the flight school and their aircraft.
The reason I joined ISAP was purely for sharing knowledge and to share tips & tricks on aviation photography. I have been in contact with ISAP members sharing knowledge that I later tried myself to see if it would work for me to. Sharing knowledge is important to me as a learning curve in photography. That is why I came up with the idea for a ISAP Symposium European edition. Together with fellow member Mike Green I am trying to find out the possibilities. There are many ISAP members that are from Europe and are not in the opportunity to attend the ISAP Symposium in the United States.
I started to examine Air-to-Air images from aviation photographers on how they took the shot. What were the aircraft positions, sun position etc. My first photo-briefing looked really cool, but had big mistakes while briefing with the pilots. During that briefing I learned one very important one. Think as an aviator by keeping photographic aspects in mind to get results. For me this was a huge learning curve and eye opener. From here I started to learn more and more about Air-to-Air photography and the way it is performed. Great help came from my buddy and fellow aviation photographer Frank Crébas, who kindly shared his knowledge with me who I am still thankful for that.
My .RAW images are being processed in Adobe Lightroom where I do my selection and most editing. Afterwards I continue to edit my images in Adobe Photoshop CC where I make some final adjustments. I love working with Niksoftware plugin filters, especially Color Efex Pro that can give just that extra little touch to an image.
If you want to connect, send me an E-mail at Cristian@aimhigh.nl or by social media on Facebook.com/Aimhighaviation or @CristianSchrik. Looking forward hearing from you. www.aimhigh.nl
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF24-105 f/4L IS USM, 1/400 sec, f/11, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.III, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, 1/80 sec, f/10, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.III, EF70-200 f/2.8L IS USM, 1/125 sec, f/14, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.III, EF24-105 f/4L IS USM, 1/200 sec, f/18, ISO 200
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM, 1/60 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF24-105 f/4L IS USM, 1/160 sec, f/13, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF24-105 f/4L IS USM, 1/320 sec, f/10, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM, 1/100 sec, f/18, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 250
Canon EOS-1D Mk.IV, EF70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM, 1/125 sec, f/18, ISO 100
Canon EOS-1D Mk.III, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, 1/800 sec, f/14, ISO 320
MEET THE MEMBERS
Damien Guarnieri I am the Photo Coordinator for the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company at the Marietta, Georgia plant location. I’ve been with LM for 7 years as a photographer/photo coordinator. Prior to that, I was the Chief Photographer for the Marietta Daily Journal Newspaper for 10 years. I’ve been a professional photographer for 20 years, beginning my career while getting my BA in Journalism at The Ohio State University. After I graduated OSU, I moved to Savannah, Georgia and studied photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Since I was a child, I always loved anything that had to do with space or airplanes. When I was growing up in Ohio, my dad had a farm that we would tend on the weekend and C-130s from the local airbase in Youngstown would do really low fly-bys and I loved seeing them fly so close. When I moved to Marietta, the paper I shot for is literally across the street from Lockheed Martin, and when I found out there was an opening for a photographer at the plant, I jumped at the opportunity and was lucky enough to get hired. I really love having the opportunity to photograph all the cool planes we have here at the plant. It is really fascinating to see the planes being built from the ground up, and to be able to photograph that process from beginning to delivery flight is just a real treat. I’ve always been a Canon shooter. Currently I shoot with a Canon EOS 5D MkIII. I use my long lenses to shoot action in the air, but I carry around my whole kit including wide angle lenses because there are just as many interesting things to shoot on the ground are there are in the air. I always shoot RAW because you can get all the information in the digital image. The only time I shoot JPG is with my phone’s camera. I also process my images in Photoshop. I don’t have any familiarity with any other program. I found out about and joined ISAP through work at Lockheed Martin. I am also a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I used to teach intro to photography as a side gig back in the film days, and I am more than happy to talk to aspiring photographers about my job and the business. As for advice for photographers new to aviation: be safe and be aware of your surroundings when you are around aircraft; don’t be afraid to try different angles; don’t worry about having the latest and greatest gear because it is more important to have a creative eye than a camera with all the bells and whistles; if you are going to freelance, make sure you take lots of business classes.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Erich Linder My name is Erich Linder, and I am from Cleveland, Ohio. I consider myself an advanced amateur photographer, although I am beginning to step into the semi-pro category as I do more sports photography, primarily equestrian events. I have not done formal photographic training. I am mostly self taught, with a large amount of help learning from several online forums. I do have a degree in computer graphics and visual effects, and I find a lot of the concepts such as visualizing angles and lighting help a great deal with my photography. Having used quite a few different computer programs also helps me pick up using new software fairly easily. Aviation and spaceflight has always interested me, starting as far back as watching the Apollo missions while I was growing up. As soon as I was able to, I started flying myself. My first solo was in a sailplane, then I moved to fixed wing airplanes, and then into helicopters. I’ve also dabbled in aerobatics and warbird formation flying. In that respect, flying is like photography; the more I did it the more expensive the equipment became! I was always interested in photography, starting with a Minolta Maxxum film camera, but I didn’t really become serious about it until I bought my first digital camera, a Nikon D80. I’ve been a Nikon shooter ever since. I recently upgraded most of my equipment, so I am currently using a D4s and D810. At air shows my main lens is a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 prime either by itself or with a 1.4x, 1.7x, or 2.0x teleconverter. For sports I find the versatility of my 200-400mm f/4 lens can’t be beat, but for air shows and aviation I find it not quite sharp enough, not to mention too heavy. I always shoot RAW+JPG, each to a separate card for redundancy, in as high a bit depth and highest quality as available. I’d rather take a slight hit in frame rate and buffer depth and have the better quality for processing. The JPG also gives me a reference when processing the RAW files, as there are times I like the Nikon processing better than I can get with Adobe Camera Raw. I was an Apple Aperture user, but have moved to Lightroom and Photoshop, along with the Google Nik plugins.
I learned about ISAP when I discovered the Mustang Air to Air thread on the Fredmiranda.com forum. There are a lot of great aviation photographers there, and as I grew to know some of them online I learned more about ISAP. I joined not only to learn from others, but to meet photographers with similar interests. I’m still learning a lot, and hope to be able to pass on what I’ve gained to others. Photography can at times be a solitary endeavor, but it becomes so much richer when shared with others. That is the main tip I give someone just starting out. Airplanes are cool, but it’s the people behind the controls, the people who maintain them, and the people who dedicate their lives to them that truly bring them to life.
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Jon Davison I am located in Perth, Western Australia and operate as a professional, full time photographer specializing in aviation and defence type contracts. I also operate as a Photoshop artist. Main clients are; Pilatus Aircraft, BAE Systems, L3, Raytheon, Royal Australian Navy and others. I have been a working photographer all my working life, from the darkroom days, labs etc. I moved to a digital workflow in 1999. Growing up in New Zealand, the countryside was littered with ex-WWII aircraft awaiting the smelters pot. Many were converted for agriculture, others were installed in children’s playgrounds. Aircraft abandoned when I grew up were; F4U Corsairs, P40 Kittyhawks, TMB Avengers, T6 Texans, DH Tiger Moths, Lockheed Venturas, Hudsons and Lodestars, Douglas DC3’s, Mosquitos, P51 Mustangs and others. Nikon D800/D3, Nikon 70-200mm 2.8, Nikon 14 - 24mm, CamRanger WiFi system with iPad. Raw once in a while if the lighting is mixed, or the requirement is complex. But generally I use jpeg files. With 36 Megapixels these days, image deterioration is not an issue really. Photoshop is the tool of choice. I have been teaching Photoshop here in Perth for 10 years. I joined ISAP to be part of a greater and like-minded community. Yes I always try and give help or advice to new kids on the block, hence my teaching here in Western Australia. Focke-Wulf FW44, Western Australia. BAE Harrier GR.5’s, North Sea. RAAF F/A-18 Hornets, Western Australia. P51D Mustang, Western Australia. Robinson R22 Beta II mustering cattle, Western Australia. Pilatus PC12 NG’s of the Northern Territory Police Air Wing, Darwin. Robinson R44 Raven II, Alaska. Victor tanker and C130 Hercules, Kuwait. Mustang, L39 and T6, Western Australia. Jon has been a photographer for over 25 years, shooting for books, magazines, advertising, collectors and museums. He specializes in aviation and defence under his company Eye in the Sky Productions, offering a visual promotional service to the Asia Pacific aviation industry. His clients include; The Royal Air Force, Austal Ships, L3 Communications, SAAB Defence, PLC school, Christ Church College, Scotch College, Pilatus Aircraft, BAE Systems, Raytheon, private owners, Royal Australian Navy, Virgin Books and many more. He was born in New Zealand, lived in the UK for 17 years, and Australia for 25 years. He is an Australian citizen, plus holds a defence security clearance.
As a book developer and publisher, he has produced over 20 books on a diverse range of subjects, from submarines, police, aircraft, cities, guide books, and celebration type coffee table books. Prior to aviation work, he worked as a travel photographer where he illustrated over 100 books for publishers like Berlitz, AA Guides and Lonely Planet on an exclusive basis. His aviation style tends to favour Saturated colors, shot at around dawn or dusk, either in the air-to-air environment, or on the ground. He tries to include the environment around which the aircraft operates as his trademark. Jon is also a digital creation and restoration artist, where he is commissioned by companies to create scenarios of projects in development, or past or future environments. He has been running courses in Photoshop though the UWA Extension program for 9 years. Jon is the photographer in residence at the Nedlands based Tresillian Centre. As a visual consultant, he operates on a number of related levels, including, photography, graphic design for print and web, publishing, digital creation, training, copywriting and image leasing. Jon brings a wealth of experience to any project he undertakes.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Matthew Savage I am an advanced amateur photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. I am slowly plucking up the courage to jump into the deep end and start making a career out of photography. In addition to aviation photography I like to shoot glamour and landscapes. I have always enjoyed the art of Photography, a gift from my father. I used his darkroom to process my B/W work from when I was 12 and love the look of it. I have not completed any formal photography training or schooling. I tend to prefer to get out and learn in the field and learn by doing it. I am a member of our local camera club in Frankston. My first camera was a fully-manual Praktica 35mm SLR; the best way to learn the art of photography. I had a hiatus of several years from photography in my 20’s but the bug was always there. I entered the Digital world around 3 years ago with the purchase of a Nikon D200 DLSR and a couple of kit lenses. I still have this camera as a backup, now shooting with a D7100. I primarily shoot with a Sigma 50-500mm with OS or a Tamron 17-50 f2.8. I love the flexibility of the Sigma lens and it rarely leaves my D7100. I have always loved aviation. Ever since I was a toddler I would look to the skies whenever an aeroplane flew over. I went on to do my PPL in my early 20’s but have not done much flying since then. My main aviation love is for antiques and warbirds. I am fortunate enough to live very close to Tyabb airport, which has a very active population of these types. Among them are several Harvards, CAC Mustang, and a rare Merlin-powered P-40F Kittyhawk. My family connection to aviation is my Great-Uncle Sir Hughie Edwards. He flew for the RAF during the war and rose through the ranks to become an Air Commodore (1-Star equivalent). He flew Blenheims and Mosquitoes mostly during the war, and was the CO of 105 Squadron RAF. He was also awarded the Victoria Cross. I always shoot in RAW so I have much greater flexibility when processing my images. I do the majority of my work in Lightroom, with more complex work being done in Photoshop. I love the ease at which processing can be done within Lightroom, and the seamless integration it has with other software. I also use onOne Software and Nik Software for additional editing work. I joined ISAP 2 years ago as I was looking to find a group of like-minded people from whom I can learn. I love the work that created by fellow members and try to emulate this in mine. There is a great diversity of people and skills within the group and they are willing to share their knowledge and experience. My only wish was to be on the other side of “the pond” & be closer to the great events organized by ISAP.
I am happy to pass on advise to others who will listen. I also know that photography, like most things, is a subject where you will never stop learning about it. My advice to somebody new to aviation photography would be to get a thorough understanding of your gear and the basics, and practice, practice and practice!!
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Milan Ovecka I was born and grew up in Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia). I’m a scientist by education with a degree in molecular biology. After spending about 5 years in the US my job brought me to Cambridge, England where I have been living last 8 years. I am an advanced amateur with no formal photography training. My interest in photography started in my teenage years. At that time it was mainly some landscape and family black and white film photography. Although I have always been interested in aviation in general, and WWII millitary aviation history especially, I have not started with aviation photography until one day about six years ago. This special day I finally took my family to a day trip just few kilometers south of Cambridge to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. It was just a normal quiet weekend day at the museum (no airshow) and as I was standing there and watching the usual sightseeing flights taking off and landing suddenly a small dot showed up low on the east horizon and slowly grew bigger and bigger. As she approached I could recognise the familiar shape of B-17. It was “Sally B”, the only airworthy Flying Fortress in Europe. When I squinted my eyes I could almost imagine how it would look when the B-17s where returning home from the bombing raids over continental Europe. She landed just in front of my eyes and taxied to it’s parking position. This was followed shortly by a practice display by one of the Duxford based Spitfires. I couldn’t believe my eyes (and ears for that matter too), it was very emotional moment for me. Not just one but two of my childhood dreams suddenly became reality. I knew what I wanted to do with my camera from that moment on. My aviation photography interests have expanded since then to all military aviation (including cold war era and modern jets). Since then I try to attend all the Duxford air shows every year and also the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, England. Although my first camera was a Russian made SMENA-8M I got as child, I have been Canon shooter since I bought my first “real” film camera with interchangeable lenses, and didn’t have reason to change that when I switched to digital. I currently use Canon EOS 7D .The lens of choice for me for ground to air shots on airshows is Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM L lens. Main advantages for me are the relative small size and weight as well as excellent image quality. Both the camera and the lens are “weather sealed” which is always a plus when visiting an airshow here in England. My other lenses include 17-40mm f/4 L and the EF 50mm f/1.8 II, both from Canon as well as the excellent Zeiss 50mm f1.4 T* Planar. I shoot RAW because the of the increased flexibility I have when postpocessing my pictures. Aperture used to be (and still mostly is) my main software when it comes to organizing and selecting my images. For processing I am in the process of switching to Lightroom but I’m also experimenting with Capture One Pro from Phase One (currently being part of beta testing program for their upcoming version 8.0). Although
I’m currently more proficient with Lightroom, I like the ability to customize the user interface and the excellent image rendering results coming from the Capture One. I have not made the final decision as to which software to fully adopt. I have joined the ISAP in summer of 2012 after coming across of some of the excellent and for me very inspirational work of it’s members on social media sites. I simply want to learn from the best! Currently I do not belong to any other professional association. I mainly share tips and tricks I have learned in with other aspiring aviation photographers mainly informally online or in person with people I meet. An advice for anyone starting with aviation, especially airshow, photography at an amateur level would be: don’t get discouraged with the lack of long lenses, shoot with what you have, be creative with static and taxing airplanes, experiment a lot with different settings and learn to know your camera well.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Scott Leggo I am an Australian wilderness, landscape and aviation photographer and recognise I’m probably a little different from the norm in regards to this combination of genres I shoot. I’d characterise myself as someone who has had a love of aviation from a young age yet am also driven by a love of travel and the adventure of exploring great locations and sharing the beauty of nature with others. My work is a mix between the ‘retail’ side of the business where I sell prints and calendars etc, and then assignments for commercial clients. The commercial side is the largest aspect of the business. For me, it’s necessary to have both aspects of the business as they are mutually beneficial. I win commercial assignments and corporate clients because they have seen my calendar or my prints. That gives them confidence to engage me as they already understand the style of work and how this could support their promotion, advertising or marketing efforts. This commercial work then in turn allows for opportunities to capture images for my print collection and so forth. Thus from a business perspective it’s a symbiotic relationship as one supports the other and so on. I’m very selective about my commercial or assignment work. I sometimes get approached for more ‘general’ commercial photography needs, but I certainly don’t do headshots. I stick to what I’m good at and what I like (why I took up photography in the first place). For me it is important that people understand I don’t try to be all things to everyone. There’s a lot of generalists out there and while there’s nothing wrong with that approach I’ve chosen to be more of a specialist and increasingly my commercial clients recognise and appreciate that, and engage me accordingly. Ultimately they have a higher degree of trust in what I will produce for them as they want that extra ‘wow’ factor over and above what a more generalist could potentially provide. My clients usually engage me because they’ve seen my work and want similar landscape or aviation photos of their business, whether that be a restored warbird, private aircraft, winery, golf course or multi billion property development turning farm land into new residential developments. In that case, if they’re spending billions of dollars, they can afford to be selective and get someone just right for their needs who is a specialist and that’s what I look to provide. I started in photography as I was in desperate need of an improved worklife balance and was looking for an ‘excuse’ to get out and about and get back to doing things I enjoyed rather than having my life dominated by work. Growing up I used to love the time I spent outdoors and over the years grew to love travel, but I had reached a point where much of what I enjoyed doing had disappeared from my life as I had been taken over by work. Over a number years a lot had fallen out of my life in terms what I actually enjoyed, replaced by work that increasingly offered little reward other than long hours and hectic travel. In 2006 I decided that landscape and aviation photography would be a great opportunity for me to focus on reintroducing to my life the outdoor adventure activities and interest in
aviation I enjoyed as well as travel on my terms not that of my employer. Ultimately I thought, wouldn’t it be awesome if I could travel around to spectacular locations and photograph them and come back with great images that would look great on people’s walls. That was the genesis of the idea, and I guess why in many ways I’m not traditional in how I came to photography with no formal training or ‘art’ background and why I’ve never been interested in shooting weddings or portraits etc. As time has gone on, another aspect that has continued to draw me to photography is the business aspects. As someone who has previously worked in Government and Defence, I now thoroughly enjoy the freedom and flexibility of effectively being my own boss and being unconstrained by the frustrating processes and bureaucracy that is Government decision making. I also get a lot of satisfaction from the challenges that are inherent in trying to grow a business along the path to achieving the vision I have set for myself. There were however gasps of horror from many of my former colleagues over why I’d leave behind a successful career to follow a dream with no guarantees compared to the security that surrounds a Government job. Undoubtedly I’m now much more relaxed and happier than I was when I set out on this photography journey, so in that regard I think I’ve definitely made the right decision in pursuing photography and what drew me to it in the first place. On the camera front, I currently shoot with Canon’s EOS 5DMKII, with a good range of L series lenses as well as Nikon’s D800e fitted with Carl Ziess lenses. I predominantly use the longer focal lengths for much of my aviation work. Medium format is possibly next for me given what I want to be able to offer my clients going forward, but I think there’s some big changes coming between the likes of Canon and Nikon competing with the Phase One and Hasselblad’s of the world, so we’ll see how this plays out. To carry my gear I use Lowepro backpacks. I’ve used Sandisk Extreme Cards since I started and these cards have never failed and I’ve shot in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in Northern China during winter. And last but of course not least, I use Apple products for all my computing needs. On the processing front, I use Phase One’s Capture One for my RAW processing and then Adobe Photoshop as required. I always shoot in RAW. For me it’s an easy choice to deliver the best quality images for my clients and allow the maximum possibilities in post processing. I happily acknowledge that in this digital age I fully embrace the power of technology and the digital darkroom — turning the raw captured camera data into the emotional impact that existed for me at the time of capture. Generally my digital post production is similar to what was always done in traditional darkrooms, to make my photos represent the scene as I saw it. But digital technology increasingly allows much more than that too, open-
ing up opportunities for photographers like myself to capture images that far more accurately convey what the human eye sees than film ever could. Ever improving technology is constantly pushing photography boundaries, opening up new possibilities and empowering me as a photographer to overcome many of the limitations that existed with photography in the past. For me, these new advances mean I am now able to produce photographs that far more accurately match the colours, tonality, depth of field and dynamic range that we see for real — something old cameras and film simply could not do. I am therefore thankful to technology, and what RAW capture allows. I am a firm believer in professional development and am constantly seeking to improve my photography and business skills. I see ISAP as way to further my professional development around aviation photography. The industry is quite small in Australia compared to Europe and North America, so joining ISAP provides me with access to greater professional opportunities than I can get in Australia alone. In Australia I belong to the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP). Since joining that organization the value to me has been immense, despite the fact that there’s very few dedicated aviation photographers as members of the AIPP. From my association with that body I have seen the clear benefit in belonging to a professional body and my photography skills and business has benefitted enormously from being part of a leading professional photography association. Equally, for me the likes of ISAP’s membership base is testament to ISAPs ability to bring together talented people who share a love of aviation and are seeking to build their professional mastery in the field of aviation photography. This is a good advertisement for the quality and value others in the industry see in the ISAP. This is a tough question as I think there are so many critical elements. One key bit of advice is to be committed. I don’t think you can achieve the success many aviation photographers desire without a high degree of commitment. This covers many aspects, but ultimately comes down to personal drive and motivation. Just like many businesses, it’s a constant learning process so don’t give up. I’ve had lots of things not work and learnt some very hard lessons along way, such as some marketing efforts that were ineffective. I could have easily given in a few times, so I’d say to others, stick with it when things don’t go right. Sit back, assess, de-brief, ask advice, learn from others and then re attack. A strong commitment to what you want to achieve in the long run will help in this regard. When I started I leveraged everything and everyone I knew. I didn’t have a lot of business experience nor photography understanding so I really pushed myself to learn a lot in a short period of time, and of course I’m still constantly learning. I guess how I started was by seeking as much advice as I could and letting lots of people know what I was planning on doing and tried to get my work out there for people to see. A big lesson I have learnt is that if no one has seen your photos, they won’t even know you exist and so can’t buy your photos. So I think it’s important to get your work out there. I think word of mouth is often underrated for its value in this regard – it’s still the best marketing tool around. With a military background, I’ve always believed in the value in prior preparation and planning. Getting started in this business was no different and I spent (and still do) plenty of time on business planning. This was just as important to building success as learning photography and capturing images. With my background another big benefit I’ve found is that l wasn’t constrained by traditional ways of thinking about how
to market my business, who my clients could be or how a ‘traditional’ photography business should be structured. All that said it’s still been a lot of really hard work, and a lot of trial and error. I’m still learning and making mistakes, so as long that’s happening the business should continue to grow and so will my photography skills!
Mirrorless Mover series
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ISAP Chairman
Larry Grace
ISAP Vice Chairman
Jim Wilson
ISAP Secretary
Mike Collins
ISAP Treasurer
Bonnie Kratz
ISAP Board Member
George Kounis
ISAP Lawyer
J.R. Wilson Jr.
ISAP Chairman Emeritus
Jay Miller
ISnAP Editor
Kevin Hong
ISnAP International Editor
Mike Green
ISAP Code of Ethics I agree to abide by the ISAP Code of Ethics and pledge to honor the highest level of professionalism and conduct, with honesty and integrity at all times. I will familiarize myself with the rules and regulations of any facility that I visit and abide by them to uphold and dignify the reputation of ISAP and refrain from conduct that could harm any future opportunities for other members. I will treat others with courtesy and exercise good judgment in my actions. I agree to share my knowledge and skills with my fellow ISAP members to help increase the level of ISAP’s reputable knowledge base. If I breach any part of the ISAP Code of Ethics, my membership may be restricted or terminated by the ISAP Board of Directors. Contact us ISAP President / Board members • isapboard@aviationphoto.org General questions • info@aviationphoto.org or admin@aviationphoto.org Membership • membership@aviationphoto.org Website / Members forum • webmaster@aviationphoto.org Please submit photos as a jpg file, sized at 4x6 (1800 x 1200 ) or 5x7 (2100 x 1500) at 300 dpi, and text as a Microsoft Word file as attachments or in a folder as a zip file via email to ISnAP@aviationphoto.org International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP) presents contest information as a service to its members. Read the rules of any contest very carefully; unfortunately, many contests today are simply rights grabs, requiring entrants to grant royaltyfree perpetual licenses. Enter contests only when you believe the potential benefit equals or exceeds the rights surrendered. www.aviationphoto.org • www.facebook.com/ISAPorg www.facebook.com/groups/83013491465/ (members only)