Reno 2021 photo thread.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

I think Shawn Aro and I were the only two people with pylon access this year.

Here are a few from Thursday. I've tried converting to black and white, no go. I don't know what to do with these pylon shots.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

How about some great shots from a few friends who aren't on here?
Dave Horn:







Lou Drummond:






I wish both of these guys would find there way over here to share.

Will

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

You were right about the conditions. I'm going to do it to you again, though -- tell me if you don't want me to do this in the future. I tend to take something like "I don't know what to do with these pylon shots." as a bit of a challenge, for better or worse.

Here's an alternate take on two of the images. I actually quite like the T-6 shot. The P-63 did not fare well at all in that light, but I think something like my version is a quite acceptable record shot, and I wouldn't even hesitate to submit it for publication in a pinch if it was my only shot of the airplane.

Please let me know if you don't like doing this. For the internet I'm a big cropper. Some feel this is somehow cheating (such as Tim Adams) but for me a great image is what you make it. If it looks good in the format (a computer screen in this case) then it is worth seeing.

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Will - those shots by "other guys" are all truly wonderful. I've never heard of either of these guys, but I'm hugely impressed. That Spitfire shot is a masterpiece, and so is that first Mustang shot with the ground reflections. Fantastic work - Thanks for posting these -- made my day...

Neal

[Big_Jim]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

I don't know how well this will turn out. I fought camera issues all week and by Sunday afternoon my D500 took on a life of its own and laid-over. I was beside myself that I couldn't do anything about it, and then a tip of the hat to my buddy Jarrod Ulrich who suggested that I just needed to forget about the camera and just 'go watch' the Gold race and 'take in' what was most likely my last trip to Reno.

So given all the fun I've had with the cell-phone over the years (right, Neal?), here is the iPhone tribute to the last lap of the Unlimited Championship race from pylon 2.

And Jarrod was right. I'm glad that my last one wasn't 'through a viewfinder'.

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Hey Brad -- This big time photographer thing is really fun, isn't it? Your problems are why I always travelled to Reno with 5 or 6 camera bodies for the two of us. Something ALWAYS goes wrong when you really need this stuff. It's a real shame to be struggling with your equipment when a race is going on. Much better to put the offending machine in a drawer at the motel and pull out your backup...

Get Jarrod to post some pictures over here -- he's still a member, isn't he? He was doing quite well as a beginner a decade ago -- I'd love to see what he's doing these days.

I used to sometimes relax for the Gold Race if I thought I had what I needed already. The place to do so, though, is really Pylon 8. There's something about Rare Bear with three blades hammering overhead at 470 mph that moves you to the core. Pylon 2 is always great, but not like 8 for the fast movers....

Why likely your last Reno? I'd have figured you for sticking with it till the bitter end.

Neal

[Big_Jim]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Hey Brad -- This big time photographer thing is really fun, isn't it? Your problems are why I always travelled to Reno with 5 or 6 camera bodies for the two of us. Something ALWAYS goes wrong when you really need this stuff. It's a real shame to be struggling with your equipment when a race is going on. Much better to put the offending machine in a drawer at the motel and pull out your backup...

Get Jarrod to post some pictures over here -- he's still a member, isn't he? He was doing quite well as a beginner a decade ago -- I'd love to see what he's doing these days.

I used to sometimes relax for the Gold Race if I thought I had what I needed already. The place to do so, though, is really Pylon 8. There's something about Rare Bear with three blades hammering overhead at 470 mph that moves you to the core. Pylon 2 is always great, but not like 8 for the fast movers....

Why likely your last Reno? I'd have figured you for sticking with it till the bitter end.

Neal

The other camera was in the car...in Lot C. Go figure. I figure after 50 years it's time to hang it up... I heard far too many 'new' people babbling on about how awesome it was this year, that it was their first time it would definitely NOT be their last...that this was the coolest thing they'd ever seen. That just drove home the realization that the halcyon days that you and I were a part of will never be the same again...and there was no way that those new people would ever understand what it was like. So at the risk of being the grumpy old man, I just decided I was done. Not bitter. Just realistic.

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

If you do this (there are a lot of days to reconsider before Reno 2022) I think you'll find that there is life after Reno. I do hope you'll stay involved in the sport as a historian. Pretty good pictures here -- much more interesting than one focal length telephone "photographs". I think you are presenting them kind of soft and flat, though. I tried to perk up a couple of them (and no, I don't expect you to love the result -- these are just me playing around a bit)...

I really like what you did with the girls in the ground shot.

Neal

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Brad, you and Neal experienced a lot more early stuff than I did but even from where i came in, the very chatter you're talking about is a good thing.

Neal, You, Me... a bunch of us, we're just frickin' old and don't care as much any more because, it's all diffeernt!

I'm not sure where I think of what the future of "air racing" as we now know it at Reno is going to be... but, overall, it's a good thing that what we have is bringing in new fans...

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Brad -- I couldn't resist fooling with another of your masterpieces. This shot is actually pretty spectacular when you clean it up a bit.

Neal

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

You were right about the conditions. I'm going to do it to you again, though -- tell me if you don't want me to do this in the future. I tend to take something like "I don't know what to do with these pylon shots." as a bit of a challenge, for better or worse.

Here's an alternate take on two of the images. I actually quite like the T-6 shot. The P-63 did not fare well at all in that light, but I think something like my version is a quite acceptable record shot, and I wouldn't even hesitate to submit it for publication in a pinch if it was my only shot of the airplane.

Please let me know if you don't like doing this. For the internet I'm a big cropper. Some feel this is somehow cheating (such as Tim Adams) but for me a great image is what you make it. If it looks good in the format (a computer screen in this case) then it is worth seeing.

Neal

Neal,
both of those pics are already cropped. I left the t6 shot at that size as I didn't want to make it too small. The P-63 edit that you did was something I already tried, but it was just too noisy. Yes, in a pinch, it will work, but I'd rather check for something else (That I might have.)

I don't mind you playing with my pics. Its a way to learn. While I don't necessarily agree on the edits, its interesting to see what you think is acceptable, vs what I think is acceptable. Apparently my standards of acceptable might be way too high. As for cropping pics, I've got no issues cropping. That was one of the reasons I bought a D850 so I'd have lots of room to work if need be. Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to show up with more than a 500mm lens. (I'm actually considering a fast 70-200 for closer pylon shots, on the other camera body.)

Brad, I wish I had known your camera died. I had a D600 sitting in the car. I would have leant it to you.

I think I had my own camera issue, although I'm not sure if its a body or lens issue. Based off the fact that I have jets shot at 1/1600 that are not even close to sharp. I'm kinda thinking that after 5 years of heavy use my 200-500 might need a trip to Nikon for a once over. I was having some issues back in May that had me questioning my abilities with a camera that I simply blew off as being rusty. I shot the Monterey historics with more of the same issue, and agin, figured I sucked because I haven't shot any moving targets since Reno 2019. Now, the number of garbage shots is higher than ever despite shooting much higher shutter speeds than I was in 2019. I don't like blaming my equipment but I don't think I've gotten this bad with the camera. Especially since the D810 with my non VR lenses I was getting stuff as slow as 1/20 hand held (much smaller focal lengths, but still. It points toward my ability to shoot slow isn't as bad as the results from the D850 show.)

Will

[W J Pearce]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Where's Bill Pearce -- I love his stuff and he must have been there.

Neal

Why thank you Neal. Yes, I was there. I was even there in 2020. However, I think Brad summed up my feelings. I had a hard time getting into it. I spent too much time thinking about what was once rather than what is.

But, I still took a few photos. More to come...

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Will -- That D850 is a stunning achievement by Nikon. I love mine. You know, quality is a really subjective thing. I'm not good enough at this photography thing to be too picky about quality. I have more than one image that is cropped to what would give me a 3x5 print but truly looks wonderful and rich on the internet. I'd never submit it for publication or try to sell a print but I'm proud to show it off on the net or by email etc. I also occasionally sell 17x24 inch prints of select images but the file had better be really high quality in every way. I think the cropped to death internet shot is absolutely just as valid an image as the full frame tripod razor sharp one. They just each have their niche in my work. And they each have to be interesting and look really good in their niche. I'll bet Tim Adams and I could have a lively discussion about this one.

For camera repairs and rejuvenation look into an outfit called "Authorized photo Service" or "APS Camera Repair". somewhere in Illinois, I think. They have specialized in Nikon for years, are cheaper and probably quicker than Nikon, which has been slowly getting a reputation for snotty techs and spotty quality in recent years. APS is sworn by by a lot of people I really respect, and recommended by pretty much everybody I know who've ever used them. Just Google either name and you'll come up with their website.

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

These are lovely, Bill. I don't quite how you do it but they really look good. Interesting how you can see the smoke in that shot of #4. Are you still using oddball equipment or have you gone mainline? I love how you use a long lens.

Did you have a twinge as you watched that Thunder Mustang taxiing down the ramp?

Regarding feelings about Reno it's interesting to have 2 veterans feeling this. A bunch of us seemed to stop back around 2013 and 2014 for similar reasons, I suppose. It seems to run in cycles how we run out of steam. I'm actually pleased at Brad's comments on newbies and enthusiasm. I hope those folks are out there spreading the word. Because I got tired of it all and nostalgic doesn't really say anything about the event but rather about me. It does seem, though, that your experience in particular might be somewhat related to you and your Dad being involved with John Parker all those years. I first met you in John's new hangar at some sort of dinner. So you were around during the times the Sport class was figuring out what it wanted to be -- at the center of the storm. Your pilot raced against Darryl Greenamyer. It does seem reasonable that things would seem a little slow these days.

It would be a good thing if sometime you worked up at least a timeline on John Parker's Sport racing career. Things like where the airplanes came from, the prop changes, supercharger attempts and such for each year and a bit of commentary on the year. This was such a charismatic Racer and such a crowd favourite that some coherent history would be a good thing. All this in your spare time of course, LOL...

More pictures, please. I've enjoyed these and they made me talkative...

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Reno 2021 photo thread.

Boy, I know Will's gonna mutter about those props on the Parker photographs in my last post. Interestingly enough I never looked at the props when I picked these or downsized them for the web. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never thought much about prop blur -- if it looks like its moving and it's a killer photograph I'm fine with little blur. Hell if I'm doing my job right people will be so blown away by my photograph they'll never notice the prop, right? LOL

I did get a nice landscape (desertscape?) in the spinner, though, in that second shot. Do I get points for that?

Neal