With every subject comes multiple ways to capture the splendor of that subject. Using the features of the subject greatly determines what to shoot. The exhaust on this particular jet was intriguing to me. I love symmetry, especially with aircraft. Everything on a plane is designed for perfection for that aircraft so why not use that attribute. The exhaust on this sucker are two giant round tubes while the rest of the plane is one giant straight line. The combination creates a contrast that i like to show off. It didn’t take much to capture. Early morning, got down low to eliminate background junk and shot tight. As you can probably tell the depth of field is rather shallow as much of the fuselage is blurred.
Now when i started shooting aviation i was told never to shoot just the wide angle shots. That the shots that editors always prefer are tighter showing off details of the plane like the armaments, cockpit, and nose art if it’s there. But I got to tell you that the shots i like the most are the wide shots, because those are the hardest. Tight shots are rather simplistic in the idea that the only thing needed is depth and a subject. The background can be eliminated depending how on tight you go. Where as anything wide immediately draws in the background clutter which at airshows can be a nightmare. The challenge comes to finding those shots that have the clean backgrounds which is difficult but very rewarding when found.
It’s one of those personal preferences that i always keep in mind to make my photography mine something i suggest every one does.
Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S 70-300 Vr, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film