Post Oshkosh Thoughts…

A P-51D model taxis by on Saturday, as part of the afternoon airshow.

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture, otherwise simply known as “Oshkosh,” was held last week. The yearly gathering has become the largest General Aviation gathering in the world, and this year it was reported that over 686,000 people attended. While I didn’t have any photography jobs per se, I had 4 events that I participated in that kept me busy.

On Tuesday morning, Aviation Week had a forum event that I participated in which photographers Brett Schauf, John Ford, and myself discussed Aviation Week’s annual photography contest, and how one might create images worthy of selection by the judges. I spoke first in the session, as I had to depart early to go photograph a birthday celebration for Lt. Col. James Harvey III, an original Tuskegee Airman. Boeing contributed several lovely cakes and presented him with a model of their new T-7A “Red Tail” trainer, recently adopted by the US Air Force.

Lt. Col. Harvey has a private moment with a young attendee in the Kidventure area.

On Wednesday morning, I gave another updated presentation on my book Bomber Boys: WWII Flight Jacket Art. It was a more intimate crowd this year, so it was more informal, and several good questions were asked…which I appreciate as it stimulates further conversations.

Thursday morning found me at the Warbird Merchandise building for a book signing. If memory serves, we sold eight copies. Probably the smartest thing I did was to bring a wooden display stand so that potential buyers could leaf through the book, without removing the plastic wrap from another copy, thus preserving the paper book jacket. We placed a stack of postcards there as well, so folks could take one for further information. We’ll see if it pays off, but it was an effort worth making. In fact, I think I’ll make more book stands to send to all of the bookstores that are carrying the book, so that it’s easier to display.

Besides my usual trips around the area to meet potential clients, and to say “Hello” to current clients, I made an effort this year to make a few images too. While that may sound odd to some, I’d ask you to remember that my photographic training and sensibilities too are to create images where I have complete creative control…or at least a modicum of control. Airshows don’t offer that, so many times the opportunity to create images only yields marginally creative images.

Not that they can’t be created…it’s just a lot harder. Usually when I see images created at airshows are what I call “record” shots. These days, most camera systems are sophisticated enough to capture an image that is well exposed, autofocus sharp, and with brilliant color. What they don’t do is create compelling or unique images. That being, something I’ve not seen before. That’s the photographer’s job, and most people are frankly not interested in the process enough to work at it.

To my mind, that’s what separates a “professional” photograph from an amateur’s photograph. The thought process behind it, the processing of the image to reflect what the photographer had in his/her mind’s eye when the image was created, and perhaps most importantly, how it will be used after the fact. Most amateur-created images are to remember an event or to share with friends/family. There is no purpose beyond that, at least not in an economic sense. It should also be mentioned that rarely are images printed these days, which is a real shame, as many thousands of images reside on phones and hard drives which will never see the light of day.

If one is ok with that, then I’m ok with that. I don’t expect an amateur to create an image with the same consideration that I might use, and that’s ok too. It is after all, my job. Still, sometimes it’s nice to just go out and shoot what is in front of you, free of any constraints that a client might put on the job.

As a pro, it’s hard to “shut off” that part of the image making process, once you’ve been doing it for such a long time. It’s like asking a chef to “just make a hot dog” or a writer to simplify a paragraph, so anyone can understand it. Like them, my first thought is probably not how I can create an image that looks like I don’t know what I’m doing. So, it’s always with a different mindset than most people when I pick up a camera. And I’m ok with that too. Having said that, here are a few more images were created during the course of the week, with no real intention other than to create an image…