The other day I put up a blog about changing positions and shooting from the tail as well as the nose of the plane. Well today it’s the importance of looking down as well as looking up at the plane. No matter what the subject matter is it’s always important to capture your basic shots as well as those ones that aren’t always seen. Getting low and shooting up with a wide angle lens, like a D4 and a 24-70 or 18-35, is a great way to show the size of the aircraft. These planes are big and showing off that size is important. Also shooting up can exaggerate the curvature of the wings.
This is not always an option but when it is shooting down is a great way to show off the details of the plane. This SBD has a very unique feature to it that most planes do not have, dive breaks. Each wing is equipped with dive breaks underneath the flaps. They are basically panels with holes in them that come down in when the plane is in a dive slowing the plane down during the bomb run while still allowing the plane to recover from a 45 degree dive. They are an incredibly important feature to these planes that makes them unique.
Just like when shooting up at a plane, shooting down on top of it makes them look smaller. Keep in mind that the background changes dramatically from looking down to looking up. Depending on how good the skies are or how good the airfield is, can influence your decision on how to shoot. The idea is at the end of the day is to change your perspective from the straight on level shot that is done all the time.