Theme 2 - Aircraft / Reportage

Statement of Intent:
I aim to combine my overall theme of "Street Photography" and "Reportage" with a focus on aircraft in exhibitions. Many of the aircraft photography is taken at air shows or commercial airports. From my research I have not come across close-up/detailed photography of aircraft in-situ in an exhibition environment. I am looking to capture the aircraft in atypical and unusual ways; to produce a novel approach.

Photograph of Spitfire taken at the Duxford Airshow 2008

Calender Photograph - Apache Helicopter

My challenge is to gain images of specific aircraft when they are positioned in extremely close conditions. I will visit RAF Cosford which is one of the largest aviation collections in the UK. The collection spans nearly 80 years of aviation history and houses 70 historic aircraft displayed predominantly within three hangars, each with its own theme.

• Warplane Collection: 1911, through the Great Wars to the present day.
• National Cold War Collection: From the end of WW2 there followed over 40 years where East and West stood either side of an ideological divide focused on nuclear weaponry; this was "The Cold War". 
• Research & Development Collection: Jet power to achieve greater speed. Each advance had to be tested which was placed in the hands of the test pilot as computers were not in the picture.
  

The images below show the proximity of the planes. My main issue is to get images of planes that represent that machine without the "clutter".

Photographs taken during a previous visit:
The six images below are representative of my previous visit to RAF Cosford. They generally show the majority of the plane with visitors viewing in the foreground: fairly traditional images. These did not capture the specifics of the planes nor the visitors and so offer little of the atmosphere of Cosford.

De Havailland Mosquito (WW2).

Lincoln B11 Heavy Bomber (WW2).

Supermarine Spitfire (WW2).

F111 Fighter Bomber.

Vulcan Delta-wing Heavy Bomber.

Vulcan Bomber: Interior of Bomb Bay.

The images of the jet-powered planes offered more opportunity of capturing the size and shape; example being the F111 where the photograph has been taken from the nose and shows the aerodynamic lines of a jet fighter. There is a sense of power and purpose by using the lines of the plane from the nose.
The Vulcan Bomber offered its own difficulties as it was located partly on a mezzanine floor with the nose being suspended from the roof of the hanger. The sheer size of the plane meant that it was difficult to capture the entirety. The vast bomb bay was open and light thereby offering photographs of the structure.





Return Visit to RAF Cosford:
My aim during this visit was to capture the "spirit" of the aircraft, gain some atypical images and capture the expression of people viewing these craft. On the day there were very few visitors which made life difficult but provide the opportunity to spend time capturing images. All of the images from my previous visit had been taken in hand without the use of a tripod. During this visit both methods were used.
Being a formal exhibition there were no issues over health and safety; the only restrictions in place were the exclusion areas around the planes which meant that you had limited access to certain viewing positions.

In the entrance to the Test Flight Hanger stands a statue depicting the three phases of air flight; WW1, WW2 and supersonic jet powered flight. The statue is the centre piece in the initial exhibition and is in subdued lighting. The images of the WW2 and supersonic flight pilots have been enhanced with the photographs being taken from a low position aimed upwards. Through the use of restricted depth of field and the natural light these photographs offer a powerful image of the pilots. Having a darkened ceiling also provides a silhouette effect.

Three Phases of Air Flight Statue (1/15; F3.8; ISO 100)

WW2 Pilot.

Pilot of the Jet Age.

My first "subject" was the BAC 188. This has a stainless steel body and was developed for supersonic flight. The plane offered a mixture of light, reflection and a sense of speed and power. These images were taken using a tripod to capture crisp focus. By positioning the camera in line with the nose cone there is a sense of aerodynamics and speed which has been enhanced through the lines of light and reflection on the polished steel body. The BAC 188 is powered by two jet engines each mounted on either wing. By positioning the camera directly in front and slightly above the plane's nose cone, the image offers multiple lines of perspective and generates a feel of speed.
The BAC 188 is situated in the Test Flight Hanger adjacent to a secondary exhibition entitled "Fun & Flight". Having the two large posters adjacent to the plane does however distract from the image that I tried to capture. One option to try is to PhotoShop the background to remove the posters.

BAC 188 (1/15; F5.2; ISO 100)

Olympus 22R-320 taken through the air brakes of the BAC 188.

Lowering the position of the camera offered an unusual image of the plane as it extended the view of the nose cone.
Air brakes were in the open phase which offered an unusual image of the Olympus 22R-320 (1/15; F5.2; ISO 100)
 The name of the test pilot had been written on the side of the fuselage offering an alternative image of the character of the plane.

Nose Cone: BAC 188 (1/4; F13; ISO 100)

Pilot Godfrey Duly

The English Electric P1 took my interest as the "nose" resembles a Basking Shark with it's mouth wide open. The jet plane is based on a pilot sitting astride a rocket with the nose being a massive air intake. The other aspect of this plane was the highly polished body looking as though it had been varnished.

English Electric P1 Nose Cone (ISO 100: 1/10; F5.0; Tripod)

English Electric P1: Polished Fuselage

Moving into the War Planes Collection an obvious image of WW2 is the Supermarine Spitfire 1. This is the oldest remaining Spitfire and sits in the centre of the hanger with space around it. It is difficult to get unusual images of this plane as it is fairly plain in shape and colour. It naturally sits angled back on its lead wheels with a large expanse of wing.
My initial photographs are relatively standard images of the plane. These have been taken to focus on the plane itself and minimise the other aircraft in the hanger. Using a relatively low focal distance assists in portraying the length of the plane.

Supermarine Spitfire 1 (ISO 100; 1/10; F4.5; Tripod)

My aim was to capture unusual and atypical images of planes. By positioning the camera slightly to the side of the tail focused along the fuselage I believe that I have captured the spirit of the Spitfire.

My next two images captured aspects of the plane but do not portray the spirit of the craft.

Supermarine Spitfire 1: fuselage from the tail

Supermarine Spitfire 1: Tail splits the image

Nose cone badge of the Spitfire

Flying boats offer aspects of a aircraft with the keel of a boat to allow landing and taking off from water. The PBY-6A Catalina is a classic example of such a craft. It is different to conventional WW2 craft as it features a bright orange nose cone. The main wing is set high on the fuselage with twin engines mounted on the wing to provide clearance from the water. All images were taken hand-held to gain a more spontaneous approach (ISO 100; 1/13; F5.6).

The images below capture shape and colour. Photographing at an angle captures blocks of colour and shape with the nose cone, windscreen, radar and propellor. Alternatively capturing the main wheel structure focuses on the struts against the fuselage.

Photographing the Catalina at an angle captures elements of the plane

Struts for the main wheel

Final images from the War Planes Collection had to be the Lincoln B11. This was one of a range of heavy bombers used during WW2 by Bomber Command and was one of the variations of the Lancaster Bomber that everyone knows. Due to the size of the plane it was difficult to capture an entire image but two features caught my eye; the architecture of the nose and the massive bomb bay. The entire plane is based on carrying and delivering a massive payload of bombs and there is a bomb bay that matches that requirement.
The nose of the Lincoln is particularly angular and box-like which appeared out of character with the aerodynamics of flying. This is captured in the photograph below where the plane looks particularly fragile!

Lincoln B11 Nose with bomb bay open. (1/20: F5.6: ISO100)

Images of the bomb bay were initially taken on similar camera settings to the nose photograph. The image below captures the reality of bomb bay showing the connections and hydraulics but looses the impact of size as there are few reference points. To enhance the image I gradually altered the shutter speed to allow increasing exposure. This offered two benefits:

• increasing the level of detail within the dark body of the bomb bay
• over-exposing the image outside the plane to the extent that the floor and surrounding hanger is glazed out making it appear as though it could be airbourne.

All images were taken with the camera mounted on a tripod to ensure consistency of image. The shutter settings migrated from 1/20 to 4" to offer a complete burn-out of the surrounding image.

Review:
My objective was to capture images of aircraft within the hanger setting in atypical ways that portrayed the character. RAF Cosford was unusually quiet on the day which turned out to be of benefit as time could be spent capturing the crispness of the detail. A tripod mount was used in most cases where detail has been captured. My earlier photographs show more of the exhibition whereas my latest images offer unusual views of the planes.
Specific aircraft were chosen to offer a range of WW2 and jet research as well as size, shape and materials used. Details of the aircraft and the camera settings were again recorded in a notebook (an example of a page is shown below).
Health and safety, and weather, issues were extremely low as the exhibition is housed in several hangers. Many of the planes were roped off to restrict access whilst others, such as the Lincoln B11 and Catalina Flying Boat were available to get close shots; although you were unable to access the body of the craft.
Planning was relatively straight forward with prior knowledge of the exhibition thereby enabling me to focus my attention on key aircraft.

Notebook page capturing details of images