blogging – Page 5 – An Adventure in Awesome

“Seeking Unique Shots on Arrival Day at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2024”

This is the start of the most intense and diverse aviation venue I’ve ever attended. The Royal International Air Tattoo also known as RIAT, has been an event that has been on my bucket list for quite some time now. It is the world’s largest military airshow that goes from Wednesday to Monday. I Missed Wednesday due to My helicopter flight over London.

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Despite the scale of this show, the diversity of the flying displays along with the sheer number of attending photographers, capturing a unique image is going to be nearly impossible. But I can make a few of my images stand out by changing my shooting technique. It’s a widespread practice to shoot fast jets with the highest possible shutter speed to ensure freezing the motion to get the shot. I chose the gutsier move, to shoot much slower to give my images a sense of motion.

The major disadvantage of this is my keeper rate drops significantly which increases the chance of missing a shot. When I shoot with higher shutter speeds, my keeper rate is about 85 to 90% depending on the quality of light. The more light, the higher the keeper rate. But shooting with slower shutter speeds, it drops to 30 to 40%. It makes reviewing photos extremely painful. But when it’s done right; the sense of motion makes the subject jump out of the frame and it’s so rewarding. It should be noted that I wasn’t brave enough to do this the entire show and mainly used it during take-off and landings. But the more I did it, the more confident I became outside of my comfort zone. Enjoy my perspective of Arrival Day at RIAT 2024.

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Gear used:

Canon 90D (2X)

EF-S 18-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS ST

EF 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Be sure to check out Show Days

The Royal International Air Tattoo: Redefining Awesome for

Aviation Photographers

Also check out Departure Day

“Departure Day: Capturing the Magic of RIAT 2024”

Until next post,

Steven

“The Art of Sharing: The Importance of Thoughtful Interactions”

This is something I’ve been pondering far too long about and need to get it out of my thoughts so I can move on and focus on other ideas. So, sorry in advance if this comes off as “brain vomit”. I’m sure someone has shared something with you that you found disturbing, inappropriate, destroys your peace of mind, ruined your mood or your day. To alleviate this, setting some clear boundaries when it comes to what is and isn’t appropriate to share. Boundaries such as follows. Do not share…

Anything showing people dying, getting hurt, vomiting, or anything disturbing that you can’t unsee.
Anything News related. That includes politics, breaking news, celebrity gossip, deaths, natural disasters…
Anything making fun of others based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation…etc.

It’s an active effort to protect whatever mood and peace of mind you’re in. It doesn’t work 100% of the time but well enough so you can much easily let it go and move on with your day without too much of an emotional upset. Unfortunately, some people just can’t help themselves; some give absolutely no thought about what it is they’re sharing and don’t care about the consequences of their actions along with how they will affect others…

Moving on to How one can share better? Before you hit send or share something with others, ask yourself the following questions.

Is this helpful?
Is this informative and truthful?
Is this funny? Without being harmful.
Is this meaningful or necessary?

If the answer is no to any of these questions, maybe you should reconsider sharing it. The fact is you don’t know what frame of mind someone is in, along with what they’re dealing with. And the tiniest amount of consideration goes a hell of a long way. Remember, sharing is caring.

Artwork by:www.edvolvelearning.com

And how we respond is equally important. Sharing is a two-way street. And I feel we tend to take for granted when someone shares something with us. The act of sharing shows us that someone was thinking about us. And if someone shared something with you that you’ve already seen? Remember, they don’t know what you have or haven’t seen. Respond back somehow. With an emoji, “Thanks” or “Thanks for sharing”, not replying can be perceived negatively. It doesn’t have to be immediately, but at least by the end of the day. Most can understand that we all have lives to live. One more thing, try not to share cross platforms. For example, messaging someone a Facebook link on Instagram. People are not likely to leave whatever platform they’re on. Sorry for this being unpolished but I feel the heart of the idea is there and I have more ideas, short stories, and projects I want to work on.

Until next post,

Steven

From the Thames to the Clouds: My Memorable London Adventures

Even though I rented a car during my trip to England, I didn’t feel comfortable driving into the heart of London having to deal with traffic and parking for my sightseeing adventures. I feel I would miss so much having to stay focused on driving. This meant from my hotel in Reading, I could take the bus to Pennington station, and from there ride the train into London. To venture into the unknown of such a large and world-renowned city was super exciting.

It was early Tuesday morning and with the help of Google Maps, it was time to answer the call to London. The bus to the Reading train station picks up in front of my hotel. After a short ride into downtown Reading, it was a brief but pleasant walk to the train station. Shoutout to Google Maps, it makes traveling abroad so much easier. It shows you what train to take (along with times), and how to get to the right track. And while on the train (same as when on the bus), it tells you how many stops until you reach your destination. I got to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed the train ride into London. Was so peaceful and calming considering I’ve never been to London and my levels of excitement were growing as I got closer.

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Once off the train, I made my way through the stunning open space of Pennington station to begin my adventure. My goal was to try to experience the city by seeing the most iconic landmarks of London. Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and a lesser-known point of interest, the Graffiti Tunnel off Leake Street. Mother Nature was being kind, and the weather was picture-perfect. I spent the day navigating the city, had lunch on the Thames, bought souvenirs for my friends, and even rode on the underground a few times, which I found noisy but convenient. After a long but memorable day and a shit ton of walking, I made my way back to my hotel in Reading.

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After doing helicopter flights over LAX and Seattle last year, I had to do one over London. On very short notice and with the help of Wingly, I was able to search and book a site seeing flight. The day after my bus and train trip into London, I drove down to Blackbushe Airport to meet Simon, the pilot of my scenic flight. After a quick safety briefing, pre-flight checks of the Robinson R-44, and clearance for departure, we were in the air and headed to London. From Blackbushe airport, the planned route was to join up with the Thames, fly on the southern side up to the London Eye, and turn back on the northern side. Simon was very professional and informative about numerous points of interest up and down the Thames. The only downside of the flight was due to where we took off from. It took more time to get to London than the actual time we spent over it. This was due to my last-minute booking which really limited my choice of flights. Most of the longer scenic flights with closer departure locations were already booked well before I even had this idea. But it was still very exciting and got a unique perspective of London. Time for me to cut the chatter and let you to check out some photos from this adventure. Enjoy!

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If you missed my first two post about my London Adventures, look here…

“Between Clouds and Legends: My Air-to-Air Journey Over the English Countryside”

Spotting at LHR

Until next post

Steven

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Gear used:

Canon 90D

EF-S 18-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS ST

EF 70-200mm F/2.8L USM

iPhone 11 Pro Max

Spotting at LHR

So, I’ve been struggling with a question “What do I love more, Aviation or Photography?” There’s something uniquely alluring about capturing photos of aircraft in close proximity bathed in amazing light. And you know I couldn’t resist doing some spotting at London-Heathrow Airport (LHR) while I was in England. It’s the busiest airport in Europe and one of the busiest in the World. I discovered two locations; the first one was sketchy as fuck. It was at the roundabout at Bath Road and Stanwell Moor Road to catch arrivals on runway 09 Left. I didn’t spend much time here due to its precarious location. And the other is a well-known quaint little park at the end of Myrtle Avenue for activity on runway 27 Left. This location, I feel is far superior but it’s worth noting that parking there sucks. Went multiple times, shot a couple hundred images, and got to see some special liveries and a bunch of airlines from around the world that I don’t get to see at Detroit Metro. That’s enough talking, let’s get on with it!

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