Air Supremacy Over Elkhart - Second Day of three - 13 Sep 2013*  

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Click here to go to Day 1, Friday Sept 12 Images

 

Click here to go to Day 3, Saturday Sept 14 Images

 

Mike’s Musings:

My objective in taking these pictures is to give each modeler a true-life portrait of their creation. I don’t believe any posed or studio created image of an aircraft can do justice to the real beauty of these flying works of art. Watch out for the glare... my hat’s off to you all!

My goal is to present these aircraft doing what they were designed to do. Those with lifelike pilots in the cockpits can pass for full sized aircraft in many images. While you will find some static shots in these pages, those were generally taken during times when no other aircraft were flying. Otherwise, I was on the flight-line swinging my lenses through the air trying to follow the movements of speedy artwork. Zooming in on these powered projectiles with a long lens is a bit like skeet shooting with a rifle. But that’s how you get the most detail and I’m always striving to do just that. For every image that’s posted, many more just didn’t qualify. Thanks to digital photography, no film was lost in the process. Obviously, some images are better than others but with changing light conditions, photographer fatigue and general Murphy meddling, that’s the nature of the game. Generally speaking, pilots who flew more “photo passes” had better chances of nicer images. I’ve tried to present shots of “all” the ‘craft that flew but I’ll only claim to present “most”.

Pilot notes: I also tried to get the pilots and their assistants in action. The composure of different pilots is remarkable. Some exhibit extreme concentration and focus and a few seem to go the other way, talking and appearing almost casual while maneuvering their ‘craft. I can only imagine how I would hold up under that pressure. I hope you enjoy a picture perspective of your piloting skills.

At no time did I intend to annoy or distract a pilot but if my presence was offensive to you, please accept my sincere apology. I just try to keep out  of the way but it’s a dynamic situation.  Sometimes people step in front of my (camera) shot but that’s the nature of dynamic activities and so I move on. And NO apologies to me are needed if you chased me with your airplane! That’s why I generally stay close to solid barriers. Anyway, some in the crowd enjoyed my evasive maneuvering (they told me so).

Rough images: The worst scenes I’ve presented here are of shattered props (watch those brakes). Other, sadder images will be left in my vault for now. Oh, and if anyone has pictures of any of my numerous bicycle crashes where I’m breaking bones, please let me know! I’d pay $$

Thanks for three memorable days,

Mike

 

 

Mike’s Musings at the bottom... A photographer’s perspective

Hi-Res Images