My turn: B29 Superfortress, Fifi -- for C&C

[IzzieK]

Great shots Izzie!

I recently read a book on the life of Air Force General Curtiss LeMay... Part of the book covered the introduction of the B-29 Aircraft to bases in China, and finally flying from captured islands like Tinian and Saipan. It also covered his change in tactics to strip the B-29 aircraft of all unnecessary weight and to drop incendiary bombs onto Japanese cities from low levels. Quite effective. In fact there was a firebomb raid on Tokyo that killed more people than either atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki...

Have you ever been to the USAF Restoration area in Dayton, Ohio? We had our national fly-in held at the Wright's museum and one of our trips was where the original Fifi is being restored. And with every plane there were stories after stories with some untold perhaps...I enjoyed that tour a lot...so much memories and sadness and names of many who had signed some of the relic there...more than can ever be put in books and tomes.

Thanks Richard for commenting...and the memories.

[IzzieK]

Izzie, splendid shots full of nostalgia for this ex-RAF bloke. I liked the starter crew shots, did that for many years on many types. Once or twice on the last flying Avro Lancaster, even. And a PBY Catalina at RAF Muharraq (Bahrain). Best shut up now . . . you got me on a roll

I don't mind...I love hearing first hand stories of experiences of old memories, perhaps taking notes too as I enjoyed listening to story tellers like my husband and his eldest brother. They are very interesting people. Many of our friends are like that too...good at story telling. I like looking at their faces when they tell their stories now because compared to their past hardships during that time, it is good to see them alive and well. At times when I missed those, I go to an old folks home near us to sit and talk to some of the vets there. They have stories to tell and they like talking now...especially when you have permission to bring them to see old planes and return them back later before their bed time...

Thank you so much for your service...I always appreciate your responding to my posts.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Izzie,

Good series, I think my favourites are #1, #3 and #5, my only observation is that #1 is perhaps a little under exposed.

I was a little puzzled by your choice of aperture - I know everything in Texas is big and while a B29 needs a fair Depth of Field - f/22 seemed excessive. I get why you wanted 1/250s shutter speed and the CPL helped, but although noise is not an issue even at 800 ISO, I felt you could have dropped to 400 ISO at f/16.

That said, I have often wondered why I used certain settings after an event - hindsight (and the time to consider all things) is a wonderful thing

I don't consider the power lines or poles to be an issue in any other than #1, where the two cables might have been cloned out, but since they'll be there in subsequent shots, why worry/waste time.

HTH, Dave

[Sam W]

Nice series Izzie. My favorite is #2.

[bnnrcn]

A great set Isabel !

[IzzieK]

Thank you Dave, Sam and Binnur for your comments...

Dave.... I was thinking of correcting that overexposed bit on the metal but I left it as is instead...maybe a bit too bright? As or the choice of aperture, on airshows I tend to use Shutter Priority and you know how it is -- Shutter Priority chooses its own aperture, Aperture Priority chooses its own shutter speed. Semi automatic I should say...As for the ISO 800, it was a freaky day Saturday...cold and cloudy, sometimes very cloudy. We thought it was going to rain. I have my poncho ready because we were not allowed umbrellas so I played it safe with ISO 800...

Thank you all for looking and commenting...I am enjoying the interaction...I will soon upload some black and white version...

[IzzieK]

Here are the black and white versions of those who requested for them...

1

2

Please do comment on them...would love to hear from you...

[marlunn]

Great set Izzie, well captured. Good to see the old birds in the air, cant beat a prop job, those jet things - just a fancy vacuum cleaner, well apart from the Vulcan of course

[mknittle]

Here are the black and white versions of those who requested for them...

1

2

Please do comment on them...would love to hear from you...

#1 I my favorite. the clouds really make it.
#2 is good but Could maybe use more contrast.

[flashback]

Izzie hope you don't mind, I wanted to see if there was more that could be done for this image. All I did was pull down some of the high tones. Of course I'll remove it if you wish.

[Dave Humphries]

Good recovery Jack,

One of those that surprises just how much can be recovered even from a jpg.

[flashback]

Dave, I was equally surprised how much detail was there. The wire (antenna?) from tail to the upper fuselage jumped right out and I had not even noticed it prior to.

[IzzieK]

Great set Izzie, well captured. Good to see the old birds in the air, cant beat a prop job, those jet things - just a fancy vacuum cleaner, well apart from the Vulcan of course

Thanks for commenting Mark, I have some more vacuum cleaners in my next post from the Heritage Flight...You will enjoy those too. 'Appreciate your passing by.

[IzzieK]

#1 I my favorite. the clouds really make it.
#2 is good but Could maybe use more contrast.

Thanks, another Mark. I still sucks at Black and White so you will have to forgive me. I have used Silver Efex here but I don't know when to stop pushing sliders. This version is mild in comparison. Most of my B/Ws just end up unrecognizable by far.. 'Appreciate your passing by and commenting.

[IzzieK]

Izzie hope you don't mind, I wanted to see if there was more that could be done for this image. All I did was pull down some of the high tones. Of course I'll remove it if you wish.

NO, Don't remove it...it is OK. In fact, it is better than my version. I had not wanted to do anything about the clouds because I thought it will drown the propeller part of the image. There is more clouds there and putting some structure to it will make it more "too cloudy" so I dumped my version. Very nice, Jack. Thank you. I appreciate the help.

[IzzieK]

Good recovery Jack,

One of those that surprises just how much can be recovered even from a jpg.

Yes, he did very well considering the size of the image. Thank you Dave for commenting. I know I can depend on you...

[IzzieK]

Dave, I was equally surprised how much detail was there. The wire (antenna?) from tail to the upper fuselage jumped right out and I had not even noticed it prior to.

Thanks again, Jack and Dave, Mark I and Mark II ...

[Wavelength]

A set of wonderful images; I go for those ones in colors....and that one with a tint of pink on clouds...that was really awesome; really a great show

[IzzieK]

A set of wonderful images; I go for those ones in colors....and that one with a tint of pink on clouds...that was really awesome; really a great show

Thank you for commenting, Nandy...'appreciate it very much.

[gingerman07]

As a fan of airplanes, I REALLY enjoyed the set. Awesome!