Through The Lens

3. Is this something you do as a hobby or is it a commercial operation for you?

The days of Aviation Photography as a commercial operation are long gone with the digital age. Yes, there are some jobs which pay but it is not near enough to be able to even think about as a full time job. For me Photography is and has always been the one thing I have loved doing and been very passionate about but also something I enjoy as you are always learning and trying to improve at. I have seen Professional Photographers who do it as their main income and they are always “chasing” the money shot but it always takes it’s toll and over the years they don’t have the passion that is needed to do something you love and commit so much time and money to knowing you may never make any money.With social media the scale of awesome photographers out there and the quality of work that they present has changed the media outlets source their content which is like a double edged sword- it means that you will really have to push yourself to capture a photo that stands out but also means that the media has a lot more to choose from which can make it very hard to get your own work out to public. My main source of income is via my work as a Fitter at a mine.

4. Tell us about your best ever day shooting.

Because I have been taking photos for so long now and had so many special days that I really can’t put it down to one day as the best ever there have been some very rewarding days in both what I got to capture and the experience on that day. One of the things that has taken me many years to understand is that I have “personal attachment” to every photo I take but the public will probably never understand all the years of hard work put in to be able to get that opportunity, what the weather was like that day or even the mood i was in when I took a shot. So the public sees my work just as a photo and take it for how they see it which can be very different to how I see a shot. Some of the shots which I think are my best are for very personal reasons so while they may not be what I would show the public they might be my best. For me, it is more about having fun,being with mates from all around Australia or the world doing what we all love and hopefully getting a good capture while having a laugh about everything aviation.

5. You’ve got to choose your best shot ever.

What is it and why? Right now I would have to say my luckiest shot has to be the Classic Hornet shot from the ADF Airshow at RAAF Edinburgh last year. I love Airshows as the best of the best photographers are all there pushing each other to nail a cracker photo but this photo is 100% pure luck. The Hornet launched into it’s display on the Saturday and as it pulled into the climb out it passed right through the sun. Every photographer followed the aircraft through the Sun and most talked about later having the sun burn a hole through their body but as the Hornet was getting close to the sun which i could tell in the viewfinder so I just closed my eyes and keeped my finger on the trigger. As I take so many photos each day at an Airshow it wasn’t til I got back to my accommodation and loaded the files into my laptop that I saw the frame.

6. What’s your best tip for anyone starting out in aviation photography?

When I started taking photos I was using film and I had to pay for each frame and also I had no idea what I had captured most times for a week until I could afford to pay for the film to be processed but these days you can see what you have taken straight away and adjust to correct. Everyone has to start as a learner and with so many online free training courses as well as forums to join anyone can get some really good images very quickly. The key I try to push as much as possible is take as many photos as you can , from there see what you liked and then look at the ones that didn’t work and try to find out why they didn’t turn out the way you wanted. The how the different times of the year in your area make the type of light change, for me it is the light that makes a photo so being able to understand the light and having the right settings ready means that all you have to focus on then is putting yourself in a spot to get the image you are chasing. As for gear, most basic cameras these days are very good to start with but over time you will want to upgrade. Try to save your money over a longer time and look at gear so you only have to buy once, I still have lenses that I love using that are 20+ years old. If you save up and buy something that doesn’t work out for you then it will be a longer time before you sell that item and save for the right bit of gear.

7. Tell us about your gear.

The first film SLR I used was my dad’s Yashica which had some good lenses, from there in 1998 I had the chance to buy a Professional Nikon SLR F4 setup with a 28mm,50mm and 70-200mm lenses. The SLR lasted for about 6-7 years and the cost to service was more than I wanted to pay so I waited till there was a DSLR I thought was close to film which was the Nikon D700 DSLR. My kit now is a Nikon D850 with MB-D18 Battery Grip, Nikon D800,28mm,50mm,24-120mm,70-200m,200-500mm and a 300mm prime lens. At an Airshow I would say I would use the 200-500mm 90% of the time and the 24-120mm 10% of the time. I try and keep my kit very basic and light so I can move around the show very quickly if needed. I also am very lucky to have been accepted as a member of the Nikon Professional Services which gives me access to some of the bigger lenses when I feel that they may help get a certain capture I can’t get with the gear I have. To have their support has really made me push myself to be a better photographer as I can throw the team any ideas and they will help put together a plan to use the right gear to get the image I am chasing. I also use a DELL XPS 15 with the best specs so I can sort of my images as quickly as possible, using SSD hard drives has been a changer with how fast I can output my work.

8. We’ve all got our own style; tell us about yours.

I would have to say my “style” would have to be more of a Landscape photographer with the use of chasing the light but also a focus on action photography. I try to look at as many different photographers from all around the world and here in Australia we really do have some very talented photographers who all have slightly different styles. Really for me I would say my style is just trying to capture an image with how I see the light at that time and moment.

9. Any quirks to how or what you shoot ?

As I live in the Mudgee area of Western NSW the closest airport is RAAF Base Williamtown, yes it is still over a 3 hour drive but to get to Sydney airport is close to 4 hours on a good day and where I live is in the Western Airspace so there can be a lot of military flying. My main focus is Fast Jet operations and the soon retirement of the Classic F/A-18 Hornet, I have been very lucky over the last 10 years to build a strong relationship with the Fast Jet community and have tried to capture as many events as possible before these aircraft retire. My other big focus has been working with the Vintage Fighter Restorations (VFR) team based at Scone,NSW and helping capture how they rebuild Historic Warbirds and I try to get over there once a month to capture as much detail of the work that it takes to rebuild a Warbird. Again nothing is close to me and it is a 2 hour drive each way.

10. We’ve all done it – missed the perfect shot. Tell us about the time you missed what could have been the best shot ever. What happened?

I really think every photographer is always chasing the “perfect” shot but I think the most frustrating moments for me can be when you commit to a spot that requires a great deal of effort and time and then either the light goes really bad but is awesome “just over there” or something happens and the aircraft can’t fly. I have had to climb mountains with an axe sometimes to get on a peak to clear a view to get a shot and still have seen the aircraft fly along and miss my location but you can not expect to strike Gold every time you go out chasing aircraft.

11. What’s a day at an air show look like for you?

An Airshow starts for me at least a month out working out what is coming and what is needed for any articles that are going to be done for the Airshow. Once it is show time it ramps up to another level, at the last Australian International Airshow I was doing 16-18 hour days so each day I wanted to make sure I had finished what had to be done as it is very easy to fall behind and can take a week or so to catch up on editing. Something I like to do is move around as much as possible to try and get as many different angles as all displays are different and need to be captured for me from different locations. Airshows are very hard work so you have to pace each day so don’t worry if you miss a display because if you push too hard you could miss a whole day.

12. Photo editing – love it or loathe it?

Photo editing is just one part of the whole process these days in capturing an image and then presenting it to the public. Because of the amount of photos I take and have a family with 3 kids I just don’t have the time or energy to spend on editing all my photos. I try my best to get the best quality image when I first capture the image so I only have to do a very same edit in post processing. I do all my editing in Adobe Lightroom Classic and I have no idea on how to use Photoshop so anything I do is with Lightroom. I also find once I load all the images from each shoot I will do a very quick look over and see what frames just out, I always find in this first pass 90% of the time I will find the images which I will show the public. You have to be harsh on your own work or else you will spend days editing the same run of images and by the time you have finished every other photographer has already put out hundreds of images from the same pass. Don’t be afraid to push yourself and see what you can come up or capture but find a style or focus you really are passionate about and never give up. Ask as many questions and the right people will step up and help guide you in the right direction as there is never a “silly” question and we are all always learning new things. I have never done any photography course in my life, I have just learned the hard way before the internet with film by taking as many frames as I could afford and now with digital I learn as I go and looking at as many other photographers work as I can to see what inspires me. Don’t try and beat other photographers, try and push yourself to take the best photograph you can as a cracker image will stand out above the crowd no matter who took it 😉