It’s been just a whirlwind of getting caught up over the weekend and thankfully I haven’t missed too much shooting in the process. Over the last several days we have just incredibly smokey skies in the valley and they aren’t even the good kind that provide color, these are just grey. Well this got me thinking about Minot back in June and one of the smokey mornings we had there shooting the B-25J Betty’s Dream static against a red sun. Now this of course isn’t Betty, this is the Texas Flying Legends Museum A6M2 Model 21 Zero, Last Samurai, but it got me thinking about light.
One of the greatest challenges with working with planes is the light. Due to the incredibly reflective nature of the metal surfaces it’s real easy to get images that reflect a lot of color and light. One thing that I have noticed is that the lack of direct light on the aircraft can actually make for some of the most natural looking shots. Direct light can make the image really contrasty and thus a lot less appealing. Using just the natural cool temperatures of sunrise before the sun comes up, give a more historic feel to the aircraft being on an airstrip in the Pacific Islands. Trying to recreate these historic shots can be difficult but ultimately rewarding.
Images Captured with Nikon D4, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film