Welcome to ISnAP The International Society for Aviation Photography is pleased to announce the launch of its new, improved website. If you haven’t seen the new look, then log into the new site today at http://aviationphoto.org/ Some areas within the site are still being developed and updated. Emphasis on the site was placed on general information, photography events, Photo credit © Jay Beckman equipment, and member accomplishments on the website. Your feedback will help us to better keep you in contact with each other and with ISAP. Please bear with us as we work out the small problems that are inevitable with a site like this. All ISAP members are encouraged to submit photos for a portfolio on the site. Instructions on how to format your portfolio images are available on the new ISAP website, in the members-only section.
Remember that this is your website--I hope that all ISAP members will continue to get even more involved with the organization, and take advantage of the opportunities it offers to form, build, and strengthen subject knowledge and camaraderie. We regret that the site has been down so long--it has been as frustrating for us as it has for you. However, we think that you’ll love the new, redesigned site. I would like to extent a big thank you to R.C. Concepcion, who has done an absolutely outstanding job of completely redesigning the site. Mark your calendars! ISAP-XI is scheduled for May 17 through 19, 2012, in Virginia Beach, Va. We’re working hard to put together yet another incredible program. More updates will follow soon. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this issue of ISnAP! Larry Grace, Chairman
ISAP News / Symposium: ISAP-XI Virginia Beach, VA. May 17-19, 2012 “The Gathering of Mustang and Legends: The Final Roundup” ISnAP would like to congratulate the following ISAP photographers, as their images are featured in this upcoming book. Paul Bowen: Photographer and Photo Editor Jessica Ambats Arnold Greenwell Max Haynes David Leininger Scott Slocum Jim Wilson Cover Photo: Terry Moore The name of the soldier on our cover image is Sgt. John Wildman, who is shown kneeling on top of a fortified bunker in his camp in Konduz, Northern Afghanistan. Connect with ISAP : www.aviationphoto.org Facebook and LinkedIn (International Society for Aviation Photography) http://issuu.com/isaporg (Current and Back issues of ISnAP) Do you have any news, updates, or photos you would like to share with the ISAP membership? Email us at: ISnAP@aviationphoto.org Correction to the October Issue of ISnAP: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta by Rob Edgcumbe
Meet the Member by Terence Moore
My interests in photography go back to the mid 1980’s when I purchased my first SLR and a couple of lenses. With no formal training I learned the hard way about how to get good exposure. I knew what ISO, ASA, F-stops and shutter speeds were. However, I admit I wasn’t very good at putting them together and spent many hundreds of dollars on film and developing figuring it all out. Like playing golf, it only takes a good shot here and there and I was hooked. I spent thousands more learning how to be a photographer. Back then I took pictures of everything, with no specialty at all, and I look back at those prints and think about when I took that image and smile at some pretty cool stuff I was lucky to capture. I joined the Australian Army back in 1989 and served till 1997 as a Combat Medic. Between the Army, Marriage and family took up a lot of my time and caused me to have a hiatus from my hobby till the late 1990’s when I became a PADI Dive Instructor. My first job as an Instructor was working on the Great Barrier Reef as a professional underwater photographer & videographer. Though I was responsible for making a short movie of the trip as my primary job, I was also responsible for teaching underwater photography courses. Shooting photos underwater renewed my interest in photography and before I knew it I had shifted gears away from video to shoot only photos.
I left Australia back in 2000 and traveled the United States and the Caribbean before meeting my wife in Belize while working on a large live aboard dive vessel. We soon married and settled down in Texas. Again marriage placed my photography interests on hold, albeit a temporary one while I tried to get settled. As a new immigrant I found my Australian qualifications meant nothing in the U.S., so I went to college and became a Nationally Registered Paramedic. Now I have a skill that I can use to earn a living, even if it’s a meager one. Back in 2002 digital photography was in its infancy. My wife and I purchased a digital point and shoot camera and I was off taking pictures again. I might have been land-locked, but I still took pictures of anything that caught my fancy and I was happy. My photography was focused more on family, farm life, insects, travel and anything else I could point a camera at. Living in America was exciting and there was always something for me to take a picture of. Like many of us who have pushed themselves past the capabilities of point and shoot cameras, I knew I had to step up and buy my first digital SLR. I became a proud new owner of a Canon 20D with a couple of kit lenses. I continued my self-taught photography education and widened my experience with new subject matter when I headed to Iraq in 2005 as a Paramedic with a large U.S contracting company. Fascinated by helicopters and other military aircraft I saw flying around loaded with bombs and guns, I now had a new subject to focus on. War is serious business and I figured getting close to any airfield with my 20D was going to be a challenge. I soon figured out that all I had to do was ask a soldier “Hey, is it ok to take some pictures?” Most replied “Sure come on over and let me tell you about it.” The images started to flow into my hard drives. I became popular with all the unit commanders, and with the base commander supporting me 100%. I had the opportunity to photograph carefully choreographed battle maneuvers that allowed me to capture very unique and exciting shots. As long as copies of the images I shot flowed to the respecting commanders I had unlimited access to any flight line. It also allowed the soldiers to send some fantastic photos back to their families in the States. Eventually, my photography began to mature. In 2008 I came across Joe McNally’s work and I was stunned by his portfolio and the use offcamera lighting. I instantly became a huge fan! I read everything about his work, studied his lighting techniques, and bought all his books. My lovely wife affectionately calls him my “Crack Dealer.” If he said “All you need is…” I knew I had to get it. Soon I found myself accumulat-
ing a lot of gear and noticed how my photography was changing in a profound way. Joe McNally has been the single biggest influence on my photography since I picked up a camera. The use of small off-camera flashes and lighting has made me a far better photographer, albeit a much poorer one. My photography was getting better and better, but I wasn’t happy with the quality of my final product. I decided to step up and buy Canon’s top of the line digital SLR the 1Ds Mark III and switch to all L-series professional lenses. With new gear in hand I got out and took as many photographs as possible. During my five years in Iraq, I had many highlights. I flew in many aircraft - I have been in Ch-47s at night and had the door gunners open up on targets below; flown in an Oh-58D Kiowa doing fake rocket runs on our range; flown to Baghdad in a UH-60 and photographed the Crossed Swords, The Great Mosque and other parts of Baghdad from the air. By far the best experience was spending two hours flying in the Apache simulator from the front gunner’s seat. In 2010, I left Iraq and secured a job in Afghanistan for a change in scenery. I spent twelve months in that country but sadly couldn’t do as much photography as I would have liked due to my line of work. I was honored and privileged to be asked to photograph 14 soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, 12th CAB who were being awarded Germany’s Gold Cross Medal for bravery under fire. This is the first time foreign troops have received this medal, which is Germany’s highest award for valor. As the commander in charge of that unit and Gold Cross recipient told me, “It’s like all of us received the Medal of Honor.” My Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom images have the privilege of being displayed on many United States and Coalition forces unit walls, on the desks of Generals, in thousands of Air force, Army and Navy families’ homes, in magazines and on countless websites. I am now back home in Texas and trying very hard to adjust to being just another normal guy. My heart and mind is in aviation and underwater photography. I plan to expand my military and civilian portfolios and look forward to attending airshows and meeting with fellow ISnAP photographers. Many of my images can be found on my personal website at www.TerryMooreImages.com if you are interested in seeing more of my work. My professional photographic services are available for hire and I am available as a guest speaker upon request. My Gear Bag 1Ds Mark III, 14mm II f2.8 L, 16-35mm II f2.8 L, 100mm f2.8 L, 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM, 1.4 II Extender, 2x Extender, Pocketwizards - 5x TT5, 2xTT1,2x PlusII,1x Multimax. 2x 580EXII, 2x 580EX, and 2x 430EXII flash. And a whole range of other accessory lighting gear and for underwater I have 2 full Aquatica housing sets for the 1Ds and 20D.
A Photographic Sortie by Nir Ben-Yosef
A, flight engineer, who, today, is in charge of recording the event, like me, but on video. Next to him, on board of the Barak (F-16D), is Major A. senior test pilot, And last, the flight leader, Major O, chief test pilot, later to become FTC squadron commander, is waiting on board the Sufa (F-16I). Lieutenant colonel E and I are ready in the Zukit and are the first to take-off. Within minutes we are airborne heading for the rendezvous point with the fighter aircrafts.
It wasn’t planned. Nobody plans to find himself on board of a fighter Jet in order to shoot…photographs. Nobody plans to hear over the radio: “Attention, three o’clock down”, to find himself upside down, pressing the button…the shutter button, and realize, a few hours later, that he’s got a winner shot. At least I didn’t.
While Lieutenant colonel E is busy flying the aircraft, I am busy organizing my equipment for the picture shooting session. I change the lens to a 24-70L 2.8 in order to check distances and movement ability inside the cockpit. When Major A informs me that we are getting close to the formation, I decide to switch back to the 16-35L 2.8 with which I had planned to take wide angle shots in the first part of the session. I try to loosen the lens but it refuses to separate from the body of my camera. I try again and again with no luck, I start thinking of the consequences of the embarrassment that is about to occur, not having taken even one single shot. I inform Lieutenant colonel E on the internal radio:
12,000 FT, WITH A CAMERA IN A NARROW COCKPIT IAF base, somewhere…the time is almost seven a.m. The sentry suspiciously examines my ID, while checking the contents of my photography equipment backpack meticulously. All my entry certificates are valid, but he, on his part, checks and double checks to make sure that his orders are to admit me into the base and squadron for photographic purposes. “Approved” he hears over the radio, and lets me in. Arriving at the squadron I find everybody already busy. I linger at the door for a second, and walk straight into the briefing room, where the whole crew is already waiting for the briefing on the mission ahead. Briefing is completed within an hour as No. 1 goes over the flight details. At this point Lieutenant colonel E., senior test pilot, sits with me on a one on one briefing: Pilot - photographer, in which we go over the usual emergency procedures briefing and link the whole staff’s briefing to our mission as photographer aircraft. Some background a minute before reaching the aircraft In 2004 the IAF started receiving the Sufa (F-16I) aircrafts. As part of adjusting these aircrafts for IAF use, which is regularly done with every new platform, the Flight Testing Center is responsible for performing the preparation of the aircrafts for operational use. I was asked to record the inauguration flight for the new aircraft, from the air. I am already seated at the back seat of a Zukit (CM-170 Fuga-Magister) the technical crew helps me strap myself and make room for my equipment. The technical crew makes the final inspections. Lieutenant colonel E. is already in his front seat, last check of my equipment, canopy closed. Having secured our take-off position the crew is ready: Major S. senior test pilot is waiting on board the Ra’am (F-15I), with him on board Major
“I have a problem with my equipment”. No reply. After a last and unsuccessful try to switch the lenses and I decide to give up trying and to leave the 24-70, making sure the camera and lens are still functioning in spite of the problem.
What a relief – they work! With no other choice left I give up my plans for wide angle shots. (Since the Zukit does not have an ejection seat I was not allowed to take a second camera, which could have prevented this problem). At this point I notice that I had left the internal radio off. Lieutenant Colonel E did not hear about the problem. Maybe it’s for the best. Let’s get to work! We start off in very close formations of the fighters, with the bright sky as a background, wanting to take advantage of the early morning hours and the blue shades of the sky with its soft glow. The session includes shots of the fighters in formations and single shots of each fighter, while, over the radio, I give the pilots instructions for the angles I want to achieve, getting them as farther and as closer as possible. At the same time I ask my pilot for positions which will give me the best lighting for the photographed aircrafts. Up till now everything was relatively easy: a straight, horizontal flight, everything is relaxed. The oxygen from the mask keeps me in a happy mood and the guys joke about it over the radio… :) At this point we move on to a more intensive part, its purpose to take shots of the fighters with the desert surface underneath. It is common knowledge that fighters are painted in camouflage colors, to make them merge with the surface.
We have been flying for over thirty minutes and it’s time for the next stage of our flight: we are heading for the Dead Sea. I can say that this was the most enjoyable part of our flight, photography wise: A very low and fast flight in a close formation above familiar landscapes with three enormous aircrafts flying along and routes to our choice. The fast flight over the Dead Sea is simply hypnotizing. I shoot a few frames with the sea and the Jordanian landscape in the background as we approach our destination - Masada. Precision is imperative. We are flying at approximately 500 km/h and want a precise frame of the formation over Masada. In order not to take chances and miss the formation as it flies over Masada LC E. and I decide that I keep my eye to the camera’s eyelet, stay locked on the aircrafts, exposure - perfect, focus – perfect and in the background…not yet Masada. I stay with my head “inside”. LC E. starts the countdown: 5,4,3,2,1, Masada! Three rapid clicks, exposure locked, precisely over Masada. Checking my monitor, Bingo! That’s it. Mission accomplished and we are heading back. I take the time left till landing to have a look at the camera’s monitor, and to take some additional shots of the landscape below. LC E. lands the aircraft and as we emerge from the cockpit we see the three fighters passing over our heads in a low and deafening flight, minutes before the inauguration ceremony begins.
This was a special challenge for me: First, as a photographer, my objective was to get the photographed object appear at its best, even though the colors and the condition of the surface are “against me”.
Half an hour after landing I remembered the problem I had at the beginning of the flight, and try to remove the 24-70 lens from the camera. It comes off easily. Strange…it might have been the low temperature or the air pressure in the cockpit, who knows? Hasn’t happened before nor did it happen again.
Second, as I have to be positioned above them to acquire good frames with the surface in the background, it is LC E’s mission to position me in unusual angles which require sharp maneuvers on the part our aircraft. We start by taking some frames with moderate maneuvers, namely, moving from one side to the other with a slight wing drop.
The important thing is that the camera worked. A few hours later I go over the frames on my computer. I see the frame which was burnt in my mind during the second maneuver. It’s a winner!
A quick look at the camera’s monitor reveals that the frames are a bit flat and not quite impressive. I consult LC E. and we decide to maneuver differently: ready or not, we must roll over. This means that the fighters glide from side to side and we, from above, drop a wing respectively, to position me vertically to them in order to acquire good frames. Everything happens very fast: identify them, put them in my frame, acquire focus and correct exposure (by this time the sun is very strong and I had to take into account that no parts of the aircraft come out burnt). I almost missed the first try. I was not ready for the quick wing drop, actually I was busy browsing my camera monitor…The second maneuver found me alert, focused and ready, I think this is it. The precision in the following maneuvers was perfect, but the surface was less impressive. The frames I took on the second maneuver are ingrained in my mind, and I feel good with them.
Writer and photographer Nir Ben Yosef (xnir) www.xnir.com
Going Hot At WTI
by Ben Kristy, Aviation Curator, National Museum of the Marine Corps (including beef jerky, which is the unofficial currency for Marines in the field). After getting to the top without completely embarrassing myself, I had a little time to settled in before the ranges went hot and the Kevlar vest and helmet went on. The day’s scenario called for the WTI students to plan and execute the insertion of a Marine company, which would assault the targeted bad guy airfield (roughly 2 miles to the west of the FOP). The students were required to integrate in supporting fire from 81mm and 120mm mortars and both fixed and rotary wing air support. The students had planned well and the initial airlift wave (a mixture of CH-46Es, CH-53s, and MV-22Bs) arrived on schedule – a rarity for WTI students on their first day of the exercise. Overhead, a pair of AH-1W orbited while the first of the afternoon’s F/A-18 bomb runs were made. At that moment, I was truly feeling job satisfaction! Working in the museum world occasionally provides some unique opportunities. One of these is being able to observe part of the most recent Weapons and Tactics Instructors course (WTI) at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (MCAS) from a forward observation post (FOP) with live ordnance flying downrange overhead! Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1) runs a WTI exercise twice a year with the goal of teaching Marine aviators how to plan and execute highly complex combined arms missions based on real-world scenarios. The WTI course lasts several months and the exercise runs roughly a week and usually involves examples of nearly every aircraft type operated by the USMC as well as infantry, artillery, and logistics units. The first two days of my trip to MCAS Yuma were spent surveying the base for historic property and taking advantage of being able to wander through the working squadron spaces (Note – both VMF-214 and VMFT401 have excellent bars set up in their respective hangars). The next day I spent several hours at LZ Bullet, one of the Forward Aerial Refueling Points (FARP) set up by Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 to support the WTI flight operations. The FARP was “cold”, which meant that the helicopters landed and shut down before being rearmed and refueled (as opposed to a “hot FARP” in which the engines and rotors are turning while the aircraft are serviced). Three flights of UH-1N and UH-1Y helicopters came through giving me the opportunity to speak with some of the UN-1Y aircrews. They love the increased power and capabilities of the new helicopter, but miss the classic Huey sound. On Monday, October 17, 2011, I was mounting up for a long drive into the massive range complex west of Yuma to spend the day at an FOP on a sharp ridgeline. As we parked at the base of the hill, a vertical climb of 300-400 feet in about a quarter mile of loose stones, it dawned on me that the “super-size-me-by-eating-my-way-across-Yuma ” meal plan I had followed might not have been the best of ideas. As I had no real sense what the photographic opportunities would be, I had decided to bring nearly every piece of camera equipment I own. Thus, I headed up the hill with my LowePro backpack bursting at the seams with camera gear, a 70oz water bladder, and enough calories to last a week
The next seven hours was a blur of multiple troop lifts, Cobra and Hornet attacks on “enemy forces” downrange, and the distinctive sound of nearby mortar fire. As it turns out, the only lens I mounted on my Cannon 50D all day was the trusty 100-400 f4L – and I definitely needed the flexibility in focal lengths! As I am hardly a professional photographer and this was my first time at this sort of rodeo, I admit that I relied on the “law-of-averages” rule: shoot everything on high-speed motor drive and hope for a few sharp images. In the past I have found shooting helicopters
at slow shutter speeds at long focal lengths to be very challenging, and thus I was shooting fairly fast for rotor-winged aircraft – between 1/320 and 1/500. While I am not completely happy with my results, I got a nice balance between sharpness and not completely freezing the rotors. Luckily, I was able to keep most of my images within the histogram and most didn’t require more than basic adjustments in Photoshop to look halfway decent. At the end of the day I was tired, dirty, and not smelling good, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything! I am already working on getting back for a future WTI. A couple of observations/lessons-learned: • Wearing a Kevlar flak vest at least one size too small is not a good look for a mostly out shape, 40+ museum curator. • Young Marines are able to sleep in the most uncomfortable positions imaginable, regardless of heat, sound, and other discomforts. • Line of the day: “We blow shit up. We’re Marines – it’s what we do!” • An F/A-18 strafing run produces the most unnerving sound known to man. • Watching a pair of AH-1W Cobras execute a low-level, live-fire attack run is nearly a sexual experience. • The detonation of a 2,000-pound bomb is a real attention grabber. • The speed advantage that the MV-22B has getting into and (more importantly) out of a landing zone over conventional rotary wing aircraft is remarkable. • That this country is blessed to have a select number of unbelievably capable men and women, who at ages as young at 19, can wield massive amounts of lethal force with accuracy and cool professionalism in the face of overwhelming sensory over-stimulation and stress.
How I Did That by Jeff D. Welker
As is the situation with many ISAP members, I was introduced to photography and aviation by a family member - my father. For his entire Air Force career, and the 40+ years after discharge, photography was his profession. In the 1960’s I spent considerable quality time in the darkroom watching dad print and develop photographs for clients. Back then those prints were always black & white. Color photographs were considered exotic and required processing at specialized laboratories. Maybe it was the magic of watching images slowly appear in the amber glow of a safelight or maybe it was the brain-altering effects of the hypo fumes. Either way, an affinity for monochrome images came from these early life experiences and continues to influence my photography today. Unlike my father, digital photography gives us an opportunity to move out of our noxious wet darkrooms into the less harsh environment of our
computer monitors. All the enlarging, cropping, dodging, burning, and processing can occur from the comfort of our office chairs. Below is a photograph I recently took of an AV-8B Harrier II. It is part of the VMA-211 Wake Island Avengers squadron. Titled “Monochrome Avenger”, my vision of this gritty, no-nonsense, industrial aerial warrior is best expressed in black and white tonalities. There are a myriad of excellent ways to make monochrome conversions of color digital images. Some are more technically tedious than others. My artistic bent requires a workflow that moves quickly and does not draw my attention from “the vision” to a series complicated manipulations (read I’m a spastic and struggle with complex masking). I prefer to use Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 software for my black and white work. Let me show you how I achieved this monochrome conversion. What follows are a series of screen shots and explanations that are intended to illustrate what I’m doing in Silver Efex Pro 2.
To avoid lengthy repetitions, I will use the following commonly accepted abbreviations: • Adobe Lightroom 3 = LR3 • Adobe Photoshop CS5 = CS5 • Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 = SEP2 • Black and White = B&W STEP #1 (see Figure 1) - I start in LR3 and make a few Basic tweaks to achieve a nice middle of the road, if not slightly over-exposed, histogram. At this point I do not make any Tone Curve, HSL, Color, Split Toning, Detail, or Effects adjustments in LR3 - I prefer to make the majority of my adjustments in SEP2. Two specific moves I always make in LR3 are to “zero” the Amount of Sharpening and make the necessary Lens Corrections. I prefer to perform all my capture, creative, and output sharpening in CS5 (more on that later).
Another conversion method suggests making all the adjustments necessary LR3 or CS5 to achieve the highest quality color image before converting to B&W. While I prefer the method described in this article, there is certainly more than one way to skin this cat. STEP #2 - I open the image in CS5 from LR3 via the normal method (i.e. Photo > Edit In > Edit In Adobe Photoshop CS5). At this point I perform any necessary capture sharpening and cropping of the image before proceeding to SEP2.
Figure 1
Figure 2
STEP #3 (see Figure 2) - I then open the image in SEP2 from within CS5. The first thing I do is pick one of SEP2’s presents as a starting point. For this image, choose “Structure (Harsh)”.
STEP #4 (see Figure 3) - My next step is to perform what Nik refers to as “Global Adjustments” - in other words each adjustment you make effects the entire image. Figure 3
When making “Global Adjustments” for brightness, contrast and structure (i.e. detail) I’m primarily focused on the main point of interest in the image. I move the individual sliders while watching the Harrier until I achieve settings that suit my vision for the image.
STEP #7 - My final step in SEP2 is to select “Finishing Adjustments” to complete the image. On this image I selected a particular toning and adjusted for taste. I also added a small amount of “fall-off” vignetting to help draw your eye to the center of the image.
STEP #5 (see Figure 4) - Next I make what Nik refers to as “Selective Adjustments”. Using Nik’s “Control Point” technology, I can quickly make very specific and precise adjustments to individual areas within the image. It is the same as using layer masks in CS5; except about ten times faster and easier IMHO. At this step I am trying to emphasize the detail and tonal range in the Harrier and to create visual separation from the background. The Control Points can become addictive. As you can see in Figure 5, I’ve used 42 separate Control Points.
STEP #8 - I go back to CS5 and make some creative sharpening and then back to LR3. In the finished image, you may have noticed the blue light in the nose of this particular Harrier. I bring this to your attention to show you a cool technique Nik has in SEP2. It is called “Selective Colorization”. You can actually bring color back into the image.
STEP #6 - Next I select the color filter I believe gives me the best image. It is very similar to using color filters with b&w film. The difference is that Nik gives you control over each filters tonal range and intensity very cool.
On those special days when I achieve my “monochrome vision“, it is extremely satisfying. Be forewarned, it can become addictive channeling your inner Ansel Adams. The tonalities in a well made black and white print have a magical quality for me - just ask John Slemp. I’m confident he grew tired of wiping my drool off his wonderful DC-3 and Ryan ST images at ISAP X - sorry John.
Figure 4
Meeting a WASP by Gary Daniels
Mary Alice Putnam Vandeventer holds a photo of her from 1944 when she enlisted in the WASPs.
Fall is the best time to be in Texas. After a summer of record-breaking heat and record drought, the first cool breezes arriving from the north give all us Southerners hope and a reason to keep on living. And, it’s the best time of the year for an air show. The air is cool and smooth, the sky is brilliant blue, and the awesome sunrises and sunsets frame a perfect day of hanging out at the airfield. The Texas chapter of the Antique Airplane Association held it’s annual fundraising fly-in over the weekend of October 15 at the Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE) in Gainesville, Texas. GLE is a great venue for a fly-in. It has two, wide runways, the longest being 6,000 x 100 feet. It also has about 3,000 feet of a smooth grass landing strip running along side the main runway. Over 100 aircraft of all sorts arrived. The tricycles landed on the hard surface. The taildraggers took advantage of the freshly cut, dew-covered, grass strip. I went up for the day to take photos and park airplanes and arrived before sunrise to fuel up at the pancake breakfast. I flagged planes here and there, and dodged whirling props for a couple of hours, snapping photos in between the action. When I was relieved of my volunteer duty, I continued shooting till late morning and then headed to the hangar for lunch. Burgers were being flipped there, and I couldn’t resist. In the hangar, I saw an elderly woman sitting off to the side with a few folks gathered around her. When I went to the table, I saw that she was a WASP and a guest of the fly-in. Over the next hour, the two of us chatted about her time as a WASP. Her name is Mary Alice Vandeventer. That’s her married name. Her maiden name is Putnam, explaining her WASP nickname, ‘Put-Put.’
Her time with the WASPs was not long. The war was going well for the Allies, and General Arnold issued an order to begin disbanding the WASPs on October 1, 1944. To add insult to injury, they were not recognized as a military unit and were not given veteran benefits. When they were mustered out, they had to pay for their own way home. Mary Alice, and all the WASPs, went home and started their lives, marrying and raising families. Their time in the service was essentially forgotten. Three decades passed and, with the rise of women in military aviation in the 1970’s, the WASPs were ‘rediscovered’. Now, the WASPs are revered. Mary Alice said that none of the WASPs ever saw themselves as heroines in any way. They were just young women that wanted to serve their country like men had been allowed to serve. She said it’s strange to be ‘famous’ now. Mary Alice received the Congressional Gold Medal for WWII Service in March 2010. She greatly enjoys telling her story of a time when ordinary young women were call upon to do extraordinary things. * Facts about the WASPs: • The WASPs served in the Army Air Force from September 1942 to December 20, 1944. • 25,000 applied, 1,830 were accepted and 1,074 graduated. • WASPs received seven months of training (Primary, Basic, Advanced), the same as male cadets. • WASPs earned $150 per month during training and $250 per month after graduation. They paid for their own food, uniforms, and lodging. Upon disbandment, they paid their own travel expenses home. • WASPs were the first to wear ‘Eisenhower’ jackets and ‘Santiago’ blue uniforms, three years before the Air Force. • WASPs flew 78 types of aircraft, every plane in the Army Air Force, including the B-29. • 38 WASPs died flying for the Army Air Force. • Limited veteran status has been awarded to the WASPs. • Less than 300 WASPs are still living as of October 2011. * Statistics provided by the National WASP WWII Museum
Links: National WASP WWII Museum www.waspmuseum.org
www.wingsacrossamerica.us
For those of you who may not know, the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), was formed in September 1942. Their commander was the famed aviatrix, Jacqueline Cochran. The WASPs were founded to relieve male pilots of non-combat flying duties so that they could be assigned to front line units. They ferried aircraft, towed targets, flew check and safety flights, etc. WASPs were stationed at 120 Army Air bases in the U.S. and flew over 60,000,000 miles of operation flights. Mary Alice was 20 when she and her father visited the recruiter about signing up with the WASPs. She already had 90 hours under her belt in Cubs and an old, red Porterfield. She was accepted into the program in March, 1944 and became part of training class 44-W-7. They trained at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. After completing training, she flew ferry and target–tow missions in several different aircraft.
WASPs walk a flight line of T-6’s in circa 1944. Photo courtesy of the National WASP WWII Museum.
Dealing With Extra Information by Jake Peterson
Now if you are using Adobe Camera Raw and have Smart objects turned on make sure that you Rasterize the new layer before doing anything else. Once you have the copy layer use the Laso tool “L” set to Laso not magnetic or polygonal, and then trace as closely as you can around the object being removed. Make sure you close the loop by finishing where you started and then use Shift F5 for Content Aware Fill. Now Content Aware Fill works by using the pixels around the selected area to replace what’s in the selected area. That’s why it has to be a copied layer or merged layer because a blank layer has no information to put into the selected area. Content Aware Fill is the best way to get away with removing objects without getting noticed. Also keep in mind when doing this that if your machine doesn’t have a lot of ram it may not let you use that tool. You know that this is the case when an error box comes up saying, “selection is too big to process.”
Background information is crucial to any photograph. The information in the background completely sets the scene of where, what, and when the photograph is happening. That information can dramatically change the message being sent out to the audience viewing the image. That’s why it is important to have control; however, in some scenarios it is not always possible to have control of what is in the background. Air to Air photography is one of the hardest places to have control of the background, and that’s where tools in photoshop can come in handy. What Photoshop does is it gives the user the ability to make any image shine just a little bit more by being able to refine certain elements that are otherwise out of the photographers control upon capture. The most common one being time. There is never enough time to get every little thing right. For example: here is an image of two P51-D Mustangs photographed in an Air to Air flight at CAF, Mesa, Arizona. This is an image that I like however it was taken knowing that certain elements would be removed. For the Air to Air shoot there were eight of us in a Skyvan photographing the planes behind us. I was towards the front of the plane looking over shoulders out the back. I had little control of where the planes went and what got in the way. This wasn’t an issue because Photoshop CS5 has a great solution for removing objects. It’s called Content Aware Fill With the image open in CS5 all you have to do to remove the side of the skyvan see on the left side of the image, is to create a copy of the background layer either by right clicking on the background layer and selecting duplicate or using key strokes use “Ctrl J” or “Command J” to make a new layer.
Now it is important to smooth out anything that is removed, it’s not always a clean sweep. This often occurs with buildings, tree lines, or anything with real sharp, distinct lines. To do some of that clean up it’s best to use the Clone Stamp tool or Spot Healing Brush. Make sure when you are using the Spot Healing Brush that you have it set to Content Aware and Sample All Layers both found up at the top brush options bar. This is just a quick way to help remove unwanted clutter in images so that they look more refined and polished.
The Gathering Foundation spent four years compiling the best photos and stories from that amazing weekend. Pilots from as far away as England brought their planes to be part of the event. Accomplished and renowned aviation photographers from all over the world came to the Gathering to capture the incredible air-to-air moments that filled their lenses and the sky with Mustangs in formation. A hangar was converted into a stage to capture stunning studio photos of the 77 Mustangs that attended. Photographers also captured the candid as-it-happened special moments of the weekend that has been referred to as the “Warbird Woodstock”. The compilation of their work fills more than 260 pages with over 450 unique photos. The limited-edition coffee-table quality book also includes bios and historical and current photos of the 49 Legends that attended.
The Gathering of Mustangs and Legends Book to Release December 6, 2011 “The Gathering of Mustang and Legends: The Final Roundup” book will be released on Tuesday, December 6. The compendium of this once-ina-lifetime aviation event has gone to press and will be released in time for the holidays. A 20% discount is available for preorders placed now through November 25th at www.gatheringfoundation.org. Four years ago an aviation event like no other brought together more Mustangs and the men and women who flew them than any other time since the end of WWII. The Gathering of Mustangs and Legends, “The Final Roundup” was greatly anticipated by those who flew the P-51 Mustang decades ago, by those who are privileged enough to fly them today and by those who are enamored with aviation, both past and present. It was an unforgettable experience for everyone who made the pilgrimage to Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio in September of 2007.
Over 150,000 people had the privilege to experience the Gathering first hand. For those who were there this book will bring back great memories in vivid detail. For those who did not attend, this is their opportunity to experience the magic that happened at the Gathering of Mustangs: The Final Roundup. Presale orders can be placed through November 25, 2011 by visiting www.gatheringfoundation.org or calling (407) 846-7251. A 20% discount will be offered on all preordered books. The official release date is December 6, 2011, just in time to give the perfect holiday gift. It might have taken four years to complete but it has been worth the wait. Preview and preorder the “Gathering of Mustangs and Legends: The Final Roundup” at www.thegatheringfoundation.org The Gathering Foundation (TGF) is a 501(c)(3) organization. TGF’s mission is to support the archival collection and exchange of information as it pertains to vintage fighter aircraft, as well as the brave men and women who flew and serviced these aircraft in wartime. Proceeds from the sale of TGF merchandise support the organization’s mission.
It’s “Airplane ID” time! Here’s your next challenge:
Jay Miller Photo Collection
Answer to last month’s trivia
It’s called the Hollaender H.T.1 and is also known as the Hollschmidt 222. Full registration is OY-FAI. Made in Denmark. A one-off twin that was intended for homebuilders but failed to make the grade. As seen, it is on display in the Danmarks Flymuseum near the Stauning Airport near Sjern, Denmark. The aircraft seats 2. Power comes from two 1200cc converted VW car engines. It was designed by a civil engineer - Harold Thyregod - and built by Arne Dutchman and Aksel Smith. Mostly wood and fabric construction. It was approved for building by the Danish Civil Aviation Administration in 1958. Construction took nearly six years with the first flight taking place on April 24, 1964. Harold Thyregod was the pilot. Aircraft was flown sparingly, mostly around Arne Dutchman’s farm in Aarre. In 1978 a decision was made to turn it over to the Danmarks Flymuseum. Total airframe time was about 300 hours. It is now permanently grounded.
ISAP Chairman -
Larry Grace
lgrace@mm.com
ISAP Secretary -
Joe Olivia
joe@jetpix.com
ISAP Treasurer -
Bonnie Kratz
bonnie@bonniekratzphotography.com
ISAP Lawyer -
Albert Ross
alross@sbcglobal.net
ISAP Board Member -
Jessica Ambats
jessicaambats@gmail.com
ISAP Board Member -
Mike Collins
mike.collins@aopa.org
ISAP Board Member -
George Kounis
george@pilotgetaways.com
ISAP Board Member -
Katsuhiko Tokunaga
tokunaga@dact.co.jp
ISAP Board Member -
Richard VanderMuelen richardvm@aol.com
ISAP Board Member -
Jim Wilson
jw@jimwilsonphotography.com
ISAP Chairman Emeritus -
Jay Miller
aerofax@sbcglobal.net
ISnAP Editor -
Frank Landrus
viggenja37@sbcglobal.net
ISnAP Staff -
Kevin Hong
kevin@sectorkmedia.com
The ISnAP is a periodic publication of the International Society for Aviation Photography and is used to communicate news, functions, convention information, and other information of interest on the local, regional, and national scenes. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and should not be construed as the views or opinions of the International Society for Aviation Photography. Deadline for submissions to The ISnAP is the 25th of the month prior to month of issue. Please submit photos as a jpg file, sized at 4x6 or 5x7 (200 dpi minimum), and text as a Microsoft Word file as attachments via email to ISnAP@aviationphoto.org