Is my pilot safe? - Part 3

The last two blog posts have passed along my perspective on how important the pre-flight briefing is for both the pilot and photographer.  Nothing less than a commitment to flying as a team will provide a baseline for safe execution when airborne.  But there are a lot of things that can still go wrong, even with the best of briefs!

As aviation photographers, we should be prepared to sit through, and if asked, participate in the post-flight debrief.

Is my pilot safe? - Part 2

My previous post passed along a way to evaluate your prospective air to air pilot via their brief.  For all of my 20+ years in aviation, the flight brief has been my most critical point of evaluation, and often a last point before engine start where everyone concerned could say "I don't think we're ready for this flight, today."

a cold day photographing the Movie Memphis Belle air-to-air

But aviation photography is different than regular formation flying, and as a result the airborne team has an additional member - YOU, the photographer!

Is my pilot safe? - Part 1

I often get frustrated with "big-name" aviation photographers who talk about securing that "first air-to-air" and give advice without actually passing along anything concrete in their blog posts.  Recently one of these individuals decided to pontificate on how to secure that first air to air photo mission safely.

Let me paraphrase what he said:

“Take some ground photos - make a print – give it to a pilot – because of that you will meet and get to know them – then you can determine if they are safe to fly with.”

Sadly, that leaves a lot up to interpretation.  If we are assuming that you are new to aviation, and specifically air-to-air photography, how will you evaluate this prospective air-to-air photo pilot as you “get to know them”?

Why Watermark?

Over the past few months I’ve been blessed to have several individuals message me concerning “hot-button” issues that fellow photographers gave them conflicting advice about.   I’ll tackle Watermarking first – as I’ve picked on several photographer friends of mine recently for their watermarking strategies.

CAF P-51 "Red Nose" at Sunset in Atlanta, GA.

One thing we all know about photographers – they are passionate about their beliefs regarding their photographic endeavors.  I know that many will take issue with what I put forward here – but remember these are just MY techniques that satisfy MY aims for MY photography.

Where has 2017 gone?

It seems like just yesterday I was thinking - "it is now 2017, I need to put up a blog post or two."  And now it is almost mid-May!

So let's get to it!

Why I am considering leaving ISAP

Now is the time for change

   I had a great time at the El Centro Photocall with the members of the International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP). It was a bittersweet event for me, as I had intentionally distanced myself from ISAP and its events after my short stint on the staff in 2012-2013.  I only attended parts of the Tampa Symposium, with my convenient excuse of “it conflicts with my flying at SUN-n-FUN.”  As I remembered, there are some great people in ISAP, and there are always new, eager members who want to soak up as much as they can about aviation photography.  But sadly, it was also a reminder of all that is wrong with the organization.

El Centro - Naval Aviation up close and personal

  I have been witness to several El Centro Photocalls during my life. As a former F/A-18 Weapons Systems Officer for the U.S. Marine Corps, I had watched the “herd of photographers” deploying from the vans near the LSO shack many times. With an opportunity to request a spot on the other side of the lens, I jumped at it in order to experience the El Centro Photocall I had so often witnessed.