Jake Peterson’s Blog

For the last few days i have been playing with one of the images i took of the Albatross, among other things going on. These type of static shots i tend to get drawn to because of the seeming mystery left to the plane. I can recall watching movies where all they show is that front view and nothing of the tail or fuselage. With this particular plane the one thing stuck out in mind when shooting was nothing actually nothing about the plane itself but about The Rime of the Ancient Mariner i had to memorize and recite in high school. Where 200 sailors were cursed for shooting an albatross and the journey it took for them to get home. As we skimmed the water of Lake Tahoe, looking down at the plane’s reflection and the water that flew inside from the touch and goes, i kept that rime in my head.

Image captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S Vr, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Wow! Yesterday was one of those days when i was glad i had my eyes open and my trigger figure at the ready. For a long time Dad and I have been pursuing aviation photography, and our good friend Denis has a lovely HU16A Albatross that was dying to be photographed. This thing is massive, huge, and is designed for search and rescue to replace the PBY’s after WWII. Well we thought we were just going to go up and see it take off and set down, but o no we got to ride it in! Wow! Up to Lake Tahoe to scare the locals it was a blast, especially hanging out the “shooting window” as they call it.

We set down on the lake on it’s gorgeous blue water and no sooner then we do, we take off and do it all over again. We were doing touch and goes about 4 or 5 times for practice for Peter another great pilot. Dad and I are just hanging out the back blasting away with our wide angles on, he’s got the 16 and I’m using the 14-24. Of course the two of us are holding on to the camera bodies with dear life because we were unaware of this and had no straps on. That would’ve been sad fall…the card with all the images would’ve gone too. It was probably one of the best flights i have ever been on and all i did was look out the window.

Dad and I made a rather fast and painful run to the Planes of Fame Museum to photograph a rare and truly awesome looking plane, the Grumman TBM Avenger. We saw the plane at the museum at the beginning of summer in a hanger and wanted to see it fly but it was nothing like what we thought. This plane was designed for offshore bombing along with ship to ship bombing. It could carry a number of arsenals including bombs and torpedoes. For such duty, it’s wings folded up and down for transport on carriers. This plane has a lot of history to it, more than i have knowledge of and it was great to hear the stories that some of these pilots carried with them.

Saturday morning when we got to the museum the skies were the usual grey that southern California brought with it, nothing great but not too bad. Didn’t stop us in the least, we photographed that plane in as many ways on the ground as we could. A little before 11 Dad got his Iphone out and said the sky will clear up, i looked behind me at the grey mess and said sure. At noon we had blue skies, i hate when he does that. I swear he has a blue sky button on there. I won’t complain the planes always look better with blue skies and i couldn’t wait to see the wings unfolded. I was excited about that plane, but was shocked to see how slow it flew across the sky. It makes sense considering it is a bomber but still. We didn’t get much time with it since it only made 4 passes but that was all it took to get a few a good shots. It was big, loud, and great to photograph.

Images captured with D3, top 70-300 AF-S VR, bottom 200-400 VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

One of our favorite pylons is number four because it has this terrific ridge that we can stand on to photograph the planes that come over it. This particular L39 Jet was flying low one afternoon and decided to fly a little to inside the course, it happens that’s what PRS is for getting used to the course, and went right over the road that marks the boundary. It’s great to see and even better to get a shot of but boy is it hard to get a good shot of. He came over that hill so fast that he was gone in seconds.

Then there are those truly great days when we get the clouds that make the planes shine. Without the clouds the planes just don’t look the same. They look like models against a blue wall. The great thing about June is we get some of those clouds. The pockets are the best part, seeing a plane come whizzing out of one or going into one. Just makes the whole day of standing out there worth while.

Images captured with D3, 200-400 VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

The biggest challenge has always been, and probably will always be the production of blurring the blades on prop planes. Since the only class that this doesn’t apply to is the jet class it is an important matter to consider. The easy part is being in Shutter priority and being under 1/250 of second to get the blur. But depending on the plane; the amount of RPM’s to the amount of blades, completely changes the shutter to get a full rotation blur. It is a really cool shot but is really hard to get. I keep trying but keep throwing away shots because of it. When you get it, o boy is it great.

Both of these were taken at 1/125 of a second and although they aren’t the full rotation they still produce enough rotation to get that blurred feeling that is desired. Another important aspect, as I’m sure is noticed is the angle of the plane. In some instances full rotation won’t be noticed even if achieved due to the angle of the plane to the shooter. More to play with and fun to be had, i can’t wait.

Images captured with D3, 200-400 VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

The races are over already but that doesn’t mean that the images are gone. Between the images, the planes and the great people the whole event was spectacular. The transition from Texas birds to metal planes was a huge switch but great practice, flying caracara’s isn’t quite the same as Mustang’s going 300mph. The T6′s are always a favorite just the straight lines and motion of the plane that makes them so alluring. For this particular plane and its partner 2 numbers 43 and 94 the matching paint jobs definitely made them stand out. It’s the checkers.

Jets this year were enormous. The amount of rookies that came in were huge compared to last year. In total for the event there was 29 rookies, and some of those flew the jets. It might be my imagination but it definitely felt like the best event so far that i have been to for jets, which isn’t saying much since i haven’t been too to many but is interesting.

Images capture with D3, 200-400 VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

For the last year i have been fortunate enough to be included in my my Dad’s adventures in aviation photography. This past weekend we took a trip to Chino, California to a place were the planes fly high and still shine like new, the Planes of Fame Museum. It was a whole new experience. The amount of flying restored aircraft was enormous compared to most places which was quite impressive. One of the highlights of going when we did was seeing the F86 Sabre Jet in flight. Which when not in flight is parked in this hanger with a number of other jets, including another sabre, a Mig 17, a D-558 Skyrocket and numerous other jets. Shooting in a hanger is not real hard with the D3, just set the iso to 800, -5 exposure comp and your good.

One of the things i liked best about that hanger besides the jets, was the inside of this engine. I think this is the inside of the Skyrocket but I’m not sure. It was just awesome to see all the metal shears inside this thing designed for wind flow and then to picture that moving, spinning around, just too freakin cool. To think someone had to go around and check each of those little shears to make sure none were bent or starting to break, that would suck.

One of my favorite planes there, also one of the most hidden and tucked away, was the P38 Lightning. This twin boom fork tailed plane design by Lockheed during WWII was a successful plane in the Pacific theater. A truly beautiful aircraft that is definitely on my list to shoot, but that’s not what caught my attention. It was the artwork on the nose. This image of “23 Skidoo”. I’ve looked for the origins of this phrase but have turned up little only thing i could find was that it meant “Get Away Quick!”, needless to say it made me laugh when i saw it on the nose. It reminded me of those cartoon planes. Somehow fitting for the P38, got in got out. It was good seeing all these classic vintage planes restored to there former glory, just too much history too lose.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital FIlm

For the first time in many years i was enjoying being in an airplane. Flying high in the clouds, with 200mph of wind going by my face and the camera pixels being burned away, what better sensation is there. Dad had a rather unique project that i can’t talk about but it involved getting to go up into a T6 WWII Trainer plane and do air to air photography. Dad is in the Silver T6, you can see him in the back taking pictures of me, I’m in a yellow T6. Aviation photography takes on a whole other form in this essence. I can remember my Dad when he first took me to the Reno Air Races Pylon Racing Seminar, basically the practice runs  in June, saying to me, “if you get hooked it’s not my fault,” and now here he is getting me hooked on air to air photography. Two hours in the air and it wasn’t even close to enough!

Images captured with D3s, 70-300 AF-S VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital

Well i know i said that i was done blogging about the planes at the Air races but last week was kind of a doozy for me. I ended up getting sick, i caught the bug floating around campus on Wednesday probably in part to the lack of sleep i was getting, but that’s another story. Well the bug made me want to sleep even more so naturally i didn’t get out shooting over the weekend like i normally do and that actually bums me out cuz it’s really the only time i have to go out shooting. Unless it’s a slow week, which they aren’t from now on, i really don’t have time to shoot. That also bums me out. Starting to sound like im depressed, good thing im too tired to be.

Anyways, for one of the projects i was working on for one of my classes i used some of my shots from the races. For the project i had to turn them into Black & Whites which isn’t a big deal but it dawned on me that i hadn’t blogged any converted shots and i needed a blog so, there ya go. These are just some simple Black & Whites of the Blue Angels one morning as they were going through their routine of getting cleaned, folded and pressed.

Images captured with D3, 70-300 AF-Svr, on Lexar UDMA Digital

It’s finally that time when I’ve run out of steam on these events. I have more images but i think I’ve shown enough. Besides it’s time for me to get back to shooting the one thing I’m actually good at, wildlife. I’m hoping to get out this weekend and find some critters to play with, that is of course if this bug i caught, that seems to be moving around campus, goes away.  Before i do that i thought i would show that last class that i liked at the races more than most of the others, the T6′s. The thing i like the most is the fact that they stack up onto each far better than any of the others class’s. Unlimited will stack occasionally but these guys seem to go many laps stacked.

The straight pattern to their wings and the sleekness of the fuselage make the plane look great in a composition. It reality only the paint job makes them different, at least in the sky that is.

It ends the same way it starts, one guy in front and one guy at the end. That’s about how all things work. The week was a blast, and although I’m still playing catch up for my tardiness, i wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Can’t hardly wait till next year, and that’s say something.

Images Captured with D3, 500f4, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film