Speaking as one of the guys who picks out what goes on covers.... ^^^what HeyJoe said...
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The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery
- Thread starter HeyJoe
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Speaking as one of the guys who picks out what goes on covers.... ^^^what HeyJoe said...
I started shooting in wet film era and had a Canon product that I upgraded through the years (lens and bodies). When deployed, the ship gave me one of their Canon F1 kits so I'd shoot E-6 (Ektachrome slides) in one camera and and C-41 (print) in the other. As a typical O-3 JO with a family, I didn't have that much disposable income so I went for a 28-105mm lens out of the AAFES catalog on cruise. I never needed anything else. As far as bodies, I started with an AE-1P that was my primary until the EOS line offered some sweet models with auto-focus so I picked up a Rebel and an Elan later. Note: I do not recommend using auto-focus or exposure for air-to-air because you can miss a shot or exposure letting "Betty" figure it out for you.
As to how many in the cockpit, the Tomcat cockpit is very roomy. I'd always have two and a third if I scored some Kodachrome (some air-to-air opportunities are so fleeting that you have to have the camera ready-to-go). CIVIC used to give Ready Rooms a low-end CANON with B&W film and fixed focus (pilot proof for those single seat guys I suppose). Once my shooting became known, I never had to carry one. A lot of plane captains and other troopers would ask me to take their cameras up for them and I never said no so my record was 8 cameras on a single flight (once was enough).
There's lead for you right there (Hint, hint, make friends and start a dialogue with Jan!). Another hint is leave plenty of space around subject for the Magazine logo and other graphics they use. The T-45 shot I posted of yours is crowded at the top so a magazine would be hard-pressed to squeeze in their logo. Talking to the editor is the gouge. Luckily for me, the founding editor of Hook used to host a sidebar gathering at Tailhook every year for photographers, aritists, editors and writers. You could bring a slide carousel of your images and you'd get critiqued and make contacts with editors who'd tell you what they looked for. That's where I met Old R.O. and all the top names in the business.
My biggest problem is getting in the air to get the right shot.If you want to be on the cover of any magazine, the best insider's tip I can give anyone is to shoot more vertical shots as you have to take into consideration the format of a cover. It increases your Pp (probability of publication) exponentially. Once I started doing that, I started racking up magazine covers right and left (12 and counting from Approach to AvWeek and jackpot of having Wings of Gold and Proceedings with the same image in same month; much to their chagrin). I would say I have my camera in vertical mode way more than horizontal just because it frames the subject better anyway.
This is a worthy vertical from your shots
Another tip is to call the editor and ask what they're interested in and send some shots. Hook, Approach, Wings of Gold and Naval Aviation News are always on the lookout for cover shots because they're much harder to find and need to be composed, lit and overall better images than editorial imagery.
My biggest problem is getting in the air to get the right shot.
Patience. I carried cameras everywhere and, even when I flew, getting interesting shots was once in maybe 20 or so flights due to weather or other factors. Takes a lot of patience and dedication to having a camera at the ready when the opportunity presents itself.
I know this is true, my problem is actually getting airborne, I'm not active duty and not in a flying status. In fact you could say I'm handicapped. It sucks to be me , but I still keep trying to get the right shot.
Question: Not to throw anyone under the bus here, but are you guys allowed to take pics in Jet-land? I'm pretty sure in helo-land we are strictly prohibited from taking pics inside the helo, even as a backseat observer. I'm not going to speculate as to how many/who takes pics and who doesn't. I'm sure you'll find many pics on FB or whatever, but officially, we aren't allowed to. Just curious if you guys were different.
I recommend you stop being such a pussy. You're in the back seat.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
You could bring cameras up if you weren't flying.
I had pics taken of my form solo. Had a friend jump in lead's open backseat. We just laynarded the camera to his torso harness.
I had pics taken of my form solo. Had a friend jump in lead's open backseat. We just laynarded the camera to his torso harness.
Why .... no, we're not ....
Another prohibition was taking a CAT shot w/ a tennis racquet up on the glareshield ... it was thought to be bad for morale if the troops saw it ....
If memory serves and I'm not mistaken, that restriction is a TW-5 wide ban on inflight photography and it grew out of a 1998 mishap down in the Keys. Pretty sure it's just stayed in the FWOP and RWOP ever since, simple as that. This is all I could find on the mishap:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec....=t-34+group:rec.aviation.military.naval&pli=1
plus an honorable mention near the bottom of of one of webmaster's old posts (look for June 11, 1998):
http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181&highlight=largo+1998
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