THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

One of my favorites - from the P1 archives
"Voodoo Night" Photo by Mark Robinson



I never did take any pics myself at night... always banging on the keyboard trying to get the updates on the web. There's a good and bad side to that - but it was always fun.

Well, Capt. K - There's alot of us out here that were really glad you WERE bangin' away on those web updates!!! Cool Voodoo shot pulled out from the P-1 vaults. We all know THAT Photo Well runs very deep!

Here's one I snagged of Race #5 (N6526D) receiving Dago Red's spare Mike Nixon-prepared race Merlin on the night of Tue. 9/14/99 - no small favor there & that's what good air racing buddies do for each other!!! Bucky

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

Speaking of good air racing buddies & pitchin'-in to help them out (even though they may be your closest rival out on the race course) - Here's a series of shots documenting the Wed. 9/14/83 race Merlin motor swap on Jimmy Leeward's mighty P-51D - NX79111.

Then known as the notorious- "Race X - SPECTER", this immortal old thoroughbred Mustang has endured many Unlimited competitions over the decades under several guises since her post-WW2 Cleveland roots & winning many race fan hearts in the process. Soon she'll really come full-circle to return as- GALLOPING GHOST once again!!!

The first shot was taken just after sundown at Stead Field, with engine-builder- Mike Nixon directing boom truck operator - Bill 'Tiger' Destefani (not in this particular photo), with Ron Hevle (at left) speaking to Jimmy Leeward close alongside. After the black Reno night cloaked the nearly-deserted pit area, SPECTER definately seemed to look the part. BuckyD

[jarrodeu]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

How long does an engine change take?

Jarrod

[SCEPTER]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

Thanks for sharing those really cool pics BuckyD.

[Shawn Aro]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

i think 1983 was the most they change an engine? Shawn

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

From the- 'Shadows of Night'...................

Whenever you find yourself making a night photo recon mission through the darkened pit rows of sleeping titans at the air races - Keep Your Eyes Peeled for Them! More often than naught- they escape our notice as we pass by their lonely, hiding forms. (Unless you're one of those experienced shadow puppeteers, of course!) They can serve to better emphasize a more apparent subject when composing your available-light night photo. Or- in rare instances - shadows transform into startling apparitions of reality, as exhibited in the r/h photo version.

This pair of nite shots captures the late Bob Guilford's F4U-7 Corsair - Race #93 BLUE MAX (N33693) alongside the Dago Red team's support trailer, on Wed. 9/14/83 out at Stead Field. Bucky

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

[QUOTE=BuckyD] From the- 'Shadows of Night'...................

................................Seek Sharp Edges of Light!!!

Shooting side-lit highlights of available light nite photos is more challenging (obviously - LESS available light!) vs. front-lighted subjects, but sometimes the angle of the light source doesn't give you other options as you check for composition during your walkarounds.

Here's a selection of successful angles:

First photo captures Merlin wizard- Dwight Thorn in the cockpit, test running his 'Mouse Motor' in Tiger Destefani's Race #7 STREGA (N71FT) during the wee hours of Wed. 9/14/88.

Next is a post-sundown highlight study of the Unlimited pit row at Stead on Mon. 9/8/86, viewed starting from Wiley Sanders' #69 GEORGIA MAE (N10607).

Lastly- a trio of late nite prop work in progress on the late Bill Speer's hot Mustang racer- Race #55 PEGASUS (N6526D - still racing today as Bob Button's #5 Voodoo), taken Thur. 9/17/92 when Delbert Williams was pilot. BuckyD

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

"By the light...of the Silvery Moon..."

With a full moon approaching for this coming Saturday (11/24/07), thought you might enjoy these pics............................................

It's hard enuff to attempt capturing a swift-running air racer against those rare daytime moon-in-the-sky backgrounds... But snagging either an ascending or descending moon to include in an after-sundown civil twilight or night 'available light' photo composition is more challenging for old 'film dinosaur' photog shooting slow ASA (25 or 64 slide) film sans flash. Although the tripod & cable release are your friend - the moon (& stars too) are moving objects in your picture from the earth's rotation, etc. Add potential 'reciprocity' film issues, and you have additional plusses for justifying converting to digital equipment (especially celestial photographers).

Nontheless, the moon is always a photo element hard to resist shooting. Here's a selection of a few vintage attempts - some more successful than others, as you can see.

Thurs. 9/14/89 - Race #18 TSUNAMI (N39JR) late test flight w/a descending moon. Pilot Steve Hinton, owner/pilot John Sandberg and crew chief Sam Torvik and crewman Bill Moja 'tweaking' their racer.

Fri. 9/7/84 - John Sandberg's P-51D Race #28 TIPSY TOO (N100DD) rests on the Stead ramp under a descending moon also.

Mon. 9/11/00 - Four pics capture Pilot Sherm Smoot strapping-on Race #86 CZECH MATE (N5943) for a late test flight in the Yak. (Small bit of 'fill flash' used for one of these). Last one- 'sans-Luna'.

Wed. 9/16/87 - Alt. take of 'Man & The Moon' posted at the beginning of this thread, capturing nite work on Race #77 RARE BEAR (N777L). Compare the two.

Mon. 9/8/86 - Crescent Moon & night sky behind P51 w/last sunset reflected light for 'warm-on-cool' composition. (Had trouble w/'artifacts' in digital scan of this shot - not using Photoshop to tidy it up).

It will be interesting to see what the digital camera will do to improve upon this sort of photo work when I make- "the switch" later this coming year. DBD

[ebutner]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

Those are really cool shots. Thank you for sharing.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

Night shots are so cool. I love doing dusk/night photography. The best one I have thats digitized (I still use film, and don't have a scanner) I took from my driveway one night. They a little off topic, but still kinda cool. The second one I took in Morro Bay in 2003 from the passenger seat of my car while driving.

Will

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

More- 'Available light night photography': These four Reno '92 NCAR shots give some good examples of working with a combination of multiple light sources simultaneously (hangar lighting, work lamps, & flash lights). I took these using my preferred film: Kodachrome ASA 64 daylight slides (without use of compensating lens filters), using a tripod & cable release. After setup, and framing the picture composition, you simply standby w/cable release & wait for those moments when people all happen to be between movements to avoid blurred subjects.

On Tue. 9/15/92 - the RARE BEAR crew was intensely-engaged in an all-niter effort inside the Redick CIA Stead Hangar to get Race #77 ready for racing. Resembling a scene from ER - the crew inspects engine components, and keeps 'the boss' (Lyle Shelton, of course) updated via phone on their engine inspection findings. (My recollection might be off, but I think maybe one of the telecons might have related to oil sample analysis results).

That's John Slack making the call in the first shot, and engineer Bill Hickle (wearing the #77 team t-shirt) with the phone in the other photo. Radial engine expert - Mel Gregoire can be seen in the background. (Apologies for not recalling the name IDs of the other crew folks). It's always an experience hanging out to watch a race crew burning the midnite oil, and working through immense pressure to get their bird back into racing form.

The BEAR set a new Unlimited Class qualification speed record that year of 482.892-mph. However, the gremlins were out in force that year and #77 got a DNF on the pace lap during Heat 2A on Fri. 9/18, managed a 449.492-av/mph 2nd-place finish in Saturday's Heat 3A, and a disappointing DNF on Lap 5 of the Sunday Gold final punctuated by a ground-loop at the end of her landing rollout.

DBD

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

Chris Rakestraw is the lady on the left in the shot with Hickle's back to the camera, over next to the plane closest to the wing in the out of focus area (or motion blur area) is telemetry engineer Clark Thompson.... Can't make out any other faces...

Neal?

W.

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

'The Difference Between Night & Day' is- 'The Color of The Air'.

A photo essay on- 'Available Light Night Photography', certainly wouldn't be complete without some photo comparisons of identical subjects posed in both daylight & at night. The stark differences in color & contrast existing in these opposite lighting extremes are exciting - especially when we can view them simultaneously, as in these shots from the '94 & '95 Phoenix 500 Air Races (L-R/top-bottom):

1. Mon. 3/20/95 - Museum of Flying's Mk.-IX Spitfire N930LB raced as #09 by pilot - Bruce Lockwood. (Note: For the Spit night photo, and the T-Bolt night shot as well - the canopies were 'highlighted' from the opposite side using my speedlight. More on 'painting w/light' in a thread followup later.)

2. Also 3/20/95 - MOF's P-47D Thunderbolt (N1345B) raced as #47 by Unlimited rookie pilot - Bob 'Hurricane' Hannah.

3. & 4. Fri. 3/24/95 - 'World's-Fastest'- Lyle Shelton's Race #77 RARE BEAR (N-777L), raced by John Penney.

5. Fri. 3/18 & early Sat. 3/19/94 - Jimmy Leeward's #9 Cloud Dancer (N55JL) in disguise as- Race #8 'Estrellia One' for race event promoter Patrick Dial. (Aircraft did'nt compete during the innaugural PHX-500)

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

'Available Light Night Photography' cont'd.- 'Painting' w/Light (using a Speedlight Flash unit)

Here's an 'old school' photo trick, possibly worth-trying, for those interested in enhancing their A-L-N photo compositions in the future. Sometimes you'll find yourself in situations where the existing available light sources to work from aren't strong enough to sufficiently-illuminate your subject, or- you want to bring out certain details in the shadow areas.

After your camera's been setup on the tripod, using (B) 'bulb'-setting w/shutter cable release installed - establish your photo composition & check for precise lense focus. Take a few moments to assess the overall shot to determine specific areas of your subject/picture to highlight w/your flash unit, or- 'paint'. You'll be using the speedlight remotely in-hand as a 'flash gun' & set it for desired power setting. (Be sure you've got fresh batteries installed in the unit or full-charge on power pack).

Look through the viewfinder & note the perimeters of the composition border, and ref. points/objects that mark flash 'shooting stations' to work from and remain out of the camera's eye. Lock the shutter open w/cable release & start 'flash-painting'. Unlock the c. release to close the shutter when you've finished highlighting.

If your flash won't reach the subject target areas from outside the picture plane at these stations - you CAN go into the picture to light paint - but you have to KEEP MOVING around like a dervish, whilst popping the flash at your targets, to remain 'invisible' on film! (Yes - you'll look a bit nutty to anyone watching!).

Obviously, this is 'experimental' photography, and multiple-takes are recommended trying variations in exposure time length and amount of flash painting applications. (Also, remember the potential for 'reciprocity failure' when using various ASA film types during these long exposures.)

Here are some Kodachrome ASA-64 'before & after' comparison photo examples to illustrate how well this nifty little trick can provide some extra image 'magic' to improve your A-L-N photos (L-R/top-bottom):

1-t. Sat. 3/19/94 - Jimmy Leeward's P-51D #9 Cloud Dancer (N55JL - as #8 'Estrellia One' promo vehicle for innaugural Phoenix 500). See my previous post of this shot as a straight A-L-N tripod shot using the ramp lighting & note the heavy black cast shadows under the wing, etc. Here, this photo retake is enhanced by speedlight fill-flash - 'painted' from crouched low-angle positions outside the picture plane to bounce light under the wings.

1-b. Also Sat. 3/19/94 - Lefty Gardner's P-38 #13 White Lightnin' (N25Y) is a overall white aircraft with great light reflective properties, and needs minimal light 'painting' enhancements - mostly in the shadows.

2. & 3. Mon. 9/10/01 - Ron Buccarelli's exotic Griffon 'Mixmaster Mustang #38 Precious Metal (N6WJ) sleeps on the Stead Field ramp. Top two photos are again - straight existing light tripod shots and Stead's dim pit ramp lighting doesn't compare with the brightly-illuminated ramp lights at Williams Gateway Airport utilized during coverage of the '94 & '95 Phoenix 500 air race events. Bottom two shots made using extensive 'light painting' - PM's canopy is 'back-lighted' in the 3/4 frontal composition.

4. Sat. 3/19/94 (PHX-500) - Top photo of Joe Kasparoff's P-51D #39 The Healer (NL6175C) is straight A-L-N shot sans any light painting. The reflective properties of the polished natural aluminum airframe help to get a decent photo, even though the pit stall wasn't one of the more well-lit ramp spots at Williams Gateway. Bottom photo - Art/Dan Vance's OD/N. Gray-painted Mustang #31 Million Dollar Baby (NL64824 - today's 'Speed Ball Alice') shows the great results gained from a successful 'light painting' photo session (bubble canopy is nicely-highlighted from behind too). Flash-painting REALLY helps bring-out planes wearing darker color finishes, when shooting A-L-N photos.

5. Tue. 9/13/88 (Reno) - Lastly, I thought I'd include a couple available-light early-evening photos of John Crocker's P-51D #6 Sumthin' Else (N51VC) that are kinda fun to show. Top photo is a standard tripod shot. Bottom photo is another form of 'painting-w/light' that exploits double-exposure with moving points of light sources within the picture. (Note: You can also light 'paint' using moving light sources such as flashlights, etc.). You have to be a little daring here, but after you've taken a couple bracketed shots, shoot a long exposure & 'lightly jostle' the tripod - you'll get a cool 'ghost image' double exposure, plus any light sources will leave their trail on the film image. (I've captured some pretty wild pictures using this unorthodox photo technique)

Hope some photogs find this installment informative, and might feel inspired to try more experimentation in their photo work. Thanks! DBD

[T. Adams]

Re: THINGS THAT GO- 'BUMP!' IN THE NIGHT

Great stuff, but when do I sleep?