That was most certainly the case when the job of photographing November's cover fell to me. My friend, Paul Turner aka Bert, has the most splendidly elegant aircraft - a tandem, tail wheel Cub replica, known (strangely) as the Savage Cruiser. From day one, I had longed to see her on the cover. Almost as much as I longed to fly off in her into the sunset (except she has no DI, or cabin heat. And I wouldn't bank on my being able to actually land her..)
And then, one day, the elements came together seamlessly. Suddenly we had the aircraft, the pilot, a spare aircraft with a high wing, another pilot AND the weather, all on the same day. The only thing we didn't have was a photographer. In place of a photographer, we decided we would use me. A person so unco I was picked after the fat girl at school in any team sport. A person who had to wear velcroed shoes until she was 12. I have two talents, and neither of them amount to the skill required to take a photograph; never mind a cover photo.
Giving Bert 15 minutes to get ahead of us (our paparazzi plane being a Jab 230) we took of from Dixon's Creek with the aim of using the local mountain range as a backdrop. My pilot, Martin Smith of Eagle Aviaion - aka The Stig - flew in steep turns around our slow and graceful red lady, while I engineered myself into a twist to take photos from the back window (with a hangover, no less!)
The result was: 115 shots taken, 3 useable. And then only with a talented designer to make them glow. The other 112 each featured a third or so of the aircraft, and the rest sky. I had 38 shots of the aircraft's wheels. Perhaps I should make a jigsaw of Bert's aircraft as a gift for him.
I now have a newfound respect for photographers, and will certainly never work without one again. I can also see that whilst journalists have a repuatation for being hard drinkers, photographers seldom do. They're up there with tattooists and surgeons when it comes to the 'steady hand' component of their profession.
But.. I'm an amature.... ;P
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