Goal of the Photo

With this photo, I wanted to capture a different kind of air show photo from the more typical air show photos taken. The goal was to show some height perspective of how close these performers get to the ground level while flying at incredible speeds.

Project Specs

Category

  • Aviation Photography

Camera and Lens Used

  • Camera: Pentax K110d DSLR
  • Lens: ProMaster 70-210mm f4.5-5.6 Telephoto
  • Aperture: f9.5
  • Film Speed: ISO 200
  • Focal Length: 200mm
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500th second

Software Used

  • Adobe Lightroom Classic CC icon
  • Adobe Photoshop CC icon

(click icon to view name)

Location and Date

Location: Decatur Airport (KDEC)
Decatur, Illinois

  • Date: August 15, 2021

Photo Analysis

Capturing not only the aircraft in level flight but including the grass, runway, green fields, distant trees and horizon line gives the viewer some perspective of the size of this aircraft and proximity to the ground while demonstrating the sheer raw power of this performance. This photo reminds me of the barnstorming days in the early 20th century when pilots with their biplanes would travel around the country giving rides and performing aerobatics while amazing audiences.

Photo Post Processing

Adobe Lightroom Classic was used to increase the exposure, shadows and whites, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. The saturation was increased slightly to make the red paint scheme pop. Then into Photoshop for the addition of the Corcoran Studio logo placed in the upper right. From here the image was exported at the appropriate size.