Death of a Red Arrows Pilot and unsung hero - Fl Lt John Egging

In my last blog 'Photographing The Red Arrows' I wrote how excited I was to be going to the Bournemouth Air Festival today and would have the second chance in two weeks to photograph The Royal Airforce Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows.

What started as an excellent day, presenting the opportunity to photograph a number of different aircraft turned to tragedy when one the the aircraft crashed during a final manoeuvre over the local airport before landing.

I have had the pleasure of watching numerous Red Arrows displays over the years and never fail to be amazed at the skill that must be involved in making it look as easy although it obviously is anything but.

Fl. Lt. John Egging must be counted as one of our unsung heros. It was announced during the display that many of the pilots in today's display had recently returned from tours in Afghanistan and he had certainly served his time there supporting coalition ground forces. 

He obviously loved his flying. He transitioned from front line duties to entertaining the public with his flying prowess with the RAF Red Arrows and as such has etched himself certainly into my memory as 'The Egg Man', as was announced in the display commentary.

I don't know which aircraft he flew but I should imagine he has appeared in a number of my pictures from the last two weeks displays. I just want to publish this one from the display in Bournemouth today to say a simple 'thankyou' for for flying with the Red Arrows.

Kevin
Kevin Leighton Photography 

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Photographing The RAF Red Arrows

This week I wanted to get back more to my roots and into the world of photography. Those of you know or follow me that I have a preference for portrait and event photography with one golden rule. Fill the frame and use plenty of colour. This means I often stray into the macro world as well but my golden rule always stands.

Having this rule can lead to some frustrations as well. I read somewhere that in photography you are only limited by two things 'Your imagination and your wallet' and as the contents of your kit bag can be related to either, every now and then certain opportunities arise where you decide the contents of your kit bag just don't fit the bill.

Last weekend I was able to visit the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta which presents some wonderful opportunities for photographs of balloons in various stages of flight but one of the highlights, for me at least, is the attendance of the The Royal Airforce Aerobatic Team, The  Red Arrows which never fails to impress the audience.

So I did my homework and got a prime position where I could capture the display head on, the sky was mostly a dark blue, the sun was bright and when the aircraft were highlighted by the sun the were a deep red against the blue sky.


So, perfect position, perfect colour, perfect action though not always able to fill the frame. The individual aircraft make quite small targets for my 200mm lens but the groups shots really come together.



With an aerobatic display team for me you can't beat action shots that show movement, colour and angles.







There is a tendancy for display teams to keep clean lines and perfect formation so I also try to capture shots showing them in transition from one state to another whilst still keeping the shot interesting



But when it comes down to it some of those formations can be absoutely stunning in their own right.



Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder. These are some of my favourites from the show. I hope you enjoy them too.

What do you think? Do you photograph action events? What do you like to shoot and how do you do it? I'm off to the Bournemouth Air Festival this coming weekend. What's your advice?


Kevin
Kevin Leighton Photography

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Angry Skies and Wet Sands - Sweet Shot Tuesday 22/02

Last weekend was an opportunity to stay with family near Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. Often called "The English Rivera" it is a beautiful area in the summer with long sandy bays and many hours of sunshine. Of course in February it's different. The skies were heavy and angry with an occasional hint of sunshine.

When the sun did come out there was a contrast between the dark and white clouds, the wet and dry sand with the blue of the sky and grey of the cloud reflecting on the sand where it was wet.

Sweet Shot Tuesday 01/02 - Publish and be damned

I'm sure that was what somebody said and that's what I'm going to do.

In my case it's not the shot I took on Sunday night of the awesome sunset with the multi-coloured sky. Unfortunately I must have some kind of corruption on the memory card in my camera as I can't get to the most recent pictures I took. My camera will display them but neither PC will, and can I find the USB cable for my camera? No!

So instead, and this is where published and be damned comes in, I'm posting one from the archives. Not really in the spirit of SST but it's still one of my Sweet Shots.

This was taken at Bournemouth Air Show in the summer. I found it very difficult to shoot due to very bright, sunny conditions with the sun reflecting off the sea and a sky that quickly changed from dark blue to bright white as you tracked across it. As the show was some hours long I just kept changing settings, and amongst the many I took I got some excellent shots.

This is an image of our very own RAF Parachute Display Team as they came down towards the beach in a "stack". As I was cropping I noticed "RAF" emblazoned on the underside of the canopies.

<Salutes and stands to attention. Makes yer proud to be British!>

For me the simple bright colours contrast beautifully and I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

Camera: Panasonic
Model: DMC-FZ8
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 21.6mm