As Aviation Photographers, or any photographer for that matter, we’re always looking for that edge, that differentiating factor with our photos when telling the story of an airshow we might be on assignment to cover. This year at the 2022 Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to tell the story from new perspectives. Usually we’re regulated to a photo pit, media areas, or a photo stand by show center or maybe just a place on the ground to shoot. While there’s nothing wrong with any of these, it does lend itself to a certain perspective with our shots. I’m always trying to push that perspective by incorporating foreground elements, background elements, or even the crowd when we can, but sometimes that’s hard at ground level or just a few dozen feet in the air. What if we had an opportunity to be 300 feet up, and looking at the crowd as the performers passed in front of them. Well, that’s exactly what we were able to do at Sun ‘n Fun this year again. Thanks to the hard work of the Photography and Marketing teams at Sun ‘n Fun and the cooperation of the FAA Air Traffic Control, we were allowed to cover the event from this unique perspective. Once I found out this was going to be possible, it turned into a mission to tell the story of the show from this different angle, instead of focusing on the performers, I switched plans to focusing on their interaction with the event on the horizon and the crowds watching them. Armed with the new
Canon R3 and R6 and the 800mm F/11 RF and a 100 - 500mm RF and a 1.4x Extender we had the reach for small planes passing over the crowd all the way at 1120mm as well as wider shots at 100mm where the story of the crowd and the show could be told. Once I started shooting, that planning paid off. My suspicion were confirmed, the key with this vantage point is the ground! Plus, because in planning we knew there would be a greater distance to the show line, that longer glass and tele extender were perfect. It’s all about seeing that perspective of being elevated above the crowd and tree line. Instead of shooting the tower intersecting the planes, or getting shots of the crowd at ground level or even capturing statics from the ground, this perspective adds another element to telling the story. Especially being able to see the crowd up close at 800 and 1120mm as jets and props buzz by the show line. Moral of the story here, when given an opportunity to shoot in a different location with a different perspective than anyone else, embrace what makes that access unique. It’s such a better use of time and energy to look for the photos that make your perspective interesting than expending all that energy taking photos you could have taken from anywhere on the ground.