U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds in Flight Formation Aviation Photo

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Four United States Air Force Thunderbird F-16 jets in red, white, and blue streak their way past airshow center with smoke trailing in their wake. The jets are in a tight diamond formation with light blue sky and gray clouds in the background.

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Goal of the Photo

It is always a rare treat when the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team performs at an airshow. With this image I wanted to capture the precision and power of the tight maneuvering these exceptional pilots are able to put on display.

Project Specs

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: 1/750th second

Software Used

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Location and Date

Location: General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (KPIA)
Peoria, Illinois

Date: July 11, 2009

Photo Analysis

Placing the F-16s in the left third of the image conveys the speed at which these jets are moving through and past the show center. The light blue and gray sky contrasts nicely with the red, white, and blue of the Thunderbirds paint scheme. With this image the viewer gets a real sense of how close the aircraft come while performing.

Photo Post Processing

Very little post production needed to be performed on the original image of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Just a quick tweaking of the white and highlights of the F-16s. Then the photo was imported into Adobe Photoshop CC and had the Corcoran Studio logo added to the lower corner and exported out resized for this website.

Corcoran Studio: Photography Portfolio - U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds in Flight Formation Aviation Photo