Thanks again, Lee. There is something about that picture that I like, and it seems quite a few other people do as well. You should see what it looks like printed. While it's not the clearest shot I have, the angle and the lighting are what make it interesting. Believe it or not, I turned my head in time to see it, and capture it. One more second and the glare on the canopy would have ruined the shot. What's fun about that one is the reactions that I have seen to that one picture.
I hung it up on the "Wall of talent" at work, where other photographers have theirs posted and it was interesting to see the reactions. I got the usual "Wow", "Niiiice", etc. But the fun one was one woman took a look, looked away rubbing her eyes and said "That made me dizzy".
You have the right idea with what you want to do. "
I think my problem is I get carried away with the planes and forget to treat them as just another subject matter so through the view finder I tend to look at the aircraft rather than the composition" You are thinking to hard about it. You know how it is when you see something and you are trying to describe it to someone? That is what you want to do through your photographs. A dear friend and one of my biggest fans says that I 'show her the world through my eyes'. Use the camera as an extension of your own eyes and shoot what YOU want to see. It's nice to accolades for your photos, but if you don't like the shot, chances are, no one else will see them because YOU think they are crap. I had some of those that I unearthed from the archive of 20+ years of photography. My wife loved them, I didn;t see the value or merit of them. That is why it's important to take what you see and to make it what you like. I hope that made sense.
One more thing, screw the rules. What makes a great photo? Uniqueness. There are "rules" about centering, levelness, etc. When shooting aviation subjects, throw away the rulebook. Why? Because thousands of people take photos of airplanes and most of them follow the "rules". Zzzzz, boring!
That photo above was rejected on airliners.net because it wasn't level. Well no sh*t! I was in a banking, climbing turn in the back of a cramped T-6! In that second of time, if I had taken time to level it out and make it by the rules, it would just be a memory! The shot isn't level, the lower wing covers a big chunk of the fuselage, and the focus is a slight bit soft. But still, you can't take your eye off it, can you? That is what I mean by making the camera an extension of your eye. Always watch things at a show with the shutter eye. Keep the camera on and the lenscap off so you can catch something fast if you need too.
I spent that entire time in the air during that December shoot with my eye in the viewfinder, watching, waiting in some cases, and taking some experimental shots. The only time my camera was not against my face was during landing. I am kinda surprised the front of my nose isn't flat!
Good to hear about your retirement plans Lee. I need to start planning more than I have been for that too. Any plans for travel during retirement?
Add preparedness to the situational awareness. I saw these guys coming, thinking they would take the long way around and approach from my right. They turned directly toward us. I sacrificed half a bottle of water to catch this shot. I dropped the bottle to raise the camera. Looks like it paid off.