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”?

Access vs. Trespassing

(or how to straddle the barbed wire fence) 

by Ed Simmons

Ever since seeing the "Omega Man" with my folks at the drive in the 70s, I've been fascinated with dark themed/ abandoned locations. I like to shoot old buildings/ abandoned warehouses, and basically anything that looks like it belongs in the zombie apocalypse.  There are lots of cool pages and venues for this type of photography, and most of them share a common set of ground rules, one being "Don't ask the photographer for the location or for their access" (if it's not a well known spot.)

In other words, get your own access / find your own shoots.

The Great Yellow Vest Deception

A few days ago, some comments were traded on social media that led to the Vice President of the International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP) publically asking me "what about the yellow vest offends your sensibilities?"  What a great question - assuming that it is the vest which offends me instead of the conduct of those wearing the yellow vests.

ISAP photographers at NAF El Centro behind the "Line of Death"

The Return of the Blog

If I was going to subtitle this post (as I do in my other blogs) it would be:

Hold onto your (floppy) hats, photographers!  We're in for a bumpy ride!

a pyrotechnics specialist pauses to record the event for posterity

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!

Data Loss and Backups (Part 2) - Operational Test

Having evacuated from the South Carolina coast earlier in the week for Hurricane Matthew, I thought it would be appropriate to share some more about my data loss and backup strategies!

Image Courtesy of National Hurricane Center

ISAP and friendships

  When I posted my thoughts about possibly leaving ISAP, I thought I knew the response it would bring.

I was wrong.

  First, I was very surprised by the former ISAP members who I had never met that contacted me to relate some of their experiences and issues with ISAP.  Many related a feeling of being isolated, shut out and not welcomed into the organization by a clique of people “at the top”.

  Second, I was disappointed and quite frankly saddened by the series of responses I received from former ISAP members who said that they saw no value in the organization in its past or current form.

 The reasons ranged from the cynical to the absurd, and cover such a wide range of ideas and perceptions that I’ll have to save those for yet another post.

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.