We had a great time with everyone who came to our meetup at the Jefferson Memorial to watch the World War II warbirds fly over D.C. on May 8. Thanks again to the wonderful Colonel Scott Willey, who told us all about what was flying over. We got a couple of you lucky ducks VIP access to the roof of the tallest building in Rosslyn, and tons of you scattered around D.C. getting whatever sights you could. Here are the best shots from the #WW2Flyover:
Chris Williams and His Mechanical Miracles: Tips for Photographing Airplanes
Photography by Chris Williams
This Friday May 8, WWII planes are flying over the National Mall. To enjoy the sky parade, Exposed DC is hosting an event around the Jefferson Memorial. Photographing airplanes flying in the sky can be complicated—timing is everything. To help anyone bringing their camera down to the Mall, I asked aviation photography expert, Chris Williams, who also taught our Knowledge Commons class at Gravelly Point last fall, a few questions about his craft and to share a few tips about capturing great aeronautical images.
Photograph the WW2 Flyover of the National Mall on May 8 with Exposed DC!
Update: Our National Parks permit was approved! We’ll have a small tent and rest area, and Exposed magazines available for sale. We’ll have our banners out so we’ll be easy to find!
Living in the nation’s capital affords us some unique opportunities for photography. On May 8, 2015, we’re about to get a doozy. Between 30 and 60 airplanes that flew in World War II are going to do a flyover of the National Mall to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) day.
Join Exposed DC for a meetup at the Jefferson Memorial, where we’ll get an incredible view over the water of the airplanes flying at 1,000 feet over Independence Avenue. The first aircraft will fly over the Lincoln Memorial at 12:10 p.m., and the flyover is expected to last between 25 and 40 minutes.
We’ll also have a special guest: Colonel Scott Willey of the U.S. Air Force (retired). Scott Willey is a retired US Air Force colonel who has been around airplanes all his life. He is the senior docent at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, is a volunteer member of the restoration team that works on all of the museum’s artifacts, and lectures widely on aerospace topics. In addition, he is the principal author of the nearly 1800-page set of docent guides that covers both the Mall and Udvar-Hazy displays.
You can find tons of information about the flyover at Air & Space Magazine, which is the media sponsor for the event (and where your lovely Exposed DC director is an editor), including other viewing sites if you sadly don’t wish to join us, what aircraft will be flying over, and WWII-era spotter cards you can download and print, or view directly on your smartphone.
Stay tuned for more info, including swag from Exposed DC, photography tips from our aircraft spotter experts, and more!
Friday Links: March 20, 2015
This awesome photo was sent to us by Heather Miracle, who helped her cousin, Jason U., an 11th grader at Fairfax Baptist Temple Academy, make the image for a school contest. Using a Canon EOS 60D on a tripod, they sat at Gravelly Point – on a day with a gale force wind warning – and took 663 images over three hours. Using Photoshop, he made the final image as a composite with 100 layers. Great job, Jason, it’s gotta be a shoo-in for that contest! Remember you can submit photos to us through our Flickr group or by dropping us a link via our contact form. (Hat tip to Exposed pal Leo for directing Heather to us.)
Don’t forget there’s still a few opportunities to visit the Exposed DC Photography Show at Capital Fringe, including tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. You can also see it Saturday, March 28, 6 to 8 p.m., and join us for our closing reception on Saturday, April 11, 4 to 8 p.m. Fringe has a bar so stop by to grab a beer and see the show without the crowds before you head to dinner on H Street. If you’d like to buy any of the photos in the show, you can do so easily at our online marketplace. You can also get the 2015 exhibition magazine for $10, which comes with a free digital copy.
And now, your Friday Links:
- A huge G4 class (the scale goes to 5) solar storm delivered spectacular aurora photo opportunities into unexpected latitudes of both hemispheres.
- The New York Times launched a new Instagram feed, @nytimes: “Rather than breaking news on the platform, we will focus on our strongest images and offer some insights into how they were made. We’re going to be looking at both the work of our own photographers — on assignment and off — and that of the wider Instagram community.”
- David Williams’ series “Bowling: The Midwest” celebrates the few remaining bowling alleys still standing in Middle America, and the dedicated owners who want to keep them going.
- India Today posted an image showing parents scaling multistory buildings to help their kids cheat on exams.
- Ilana Panich-Linsman was forced to question her ideas about youth and beauty as she followed one contestant in the world of children’s beauty pageants.
- Michele Crowe captures the diversity of 21st century families in her ambitious series “The Universal Family”.
- The European Space Agency collaborated with photographer Edgar Martins for these unique images of space equipment.
- Scientists recently got another peek of the ridiculously cute Ili pika in China after they first discovered it 20 years earlier.
Free Photography Classes with Exposed + KCDC
Exposed DC has an exciting new opportunity for photographers! We’re partnering with Knowledge Commons DC, “a free school for thinkers, doers, and tinkerers – taught anywhere, by anyone, for everyone.” We’ve sought out some of our most talented contributors to teach a series of photography classes sponsored by Exposed DC. We’ll have three classes in KCDC’s September 2014 session, and we’ll have more in a special Exposed DC intersession later this fall. (Note: Classes are one day; you’ll have two opportunities for each type of class.) Registration for September will begin shortly – we’ll add those links when we have them, but you can save the date now for the following great learning opportunities:
Street Portraiture with Jim Darling
- Students will learn how to approach strangers in public and take their portrait. We’ll go over fundamentals of portraiture, how to pick a subject, tips to approaching a stranger and asking to take their picture, and composing a great shot. After the discussion, the class will hit the streets to try out what they’ve learned.
- Location: WeWork Chinatown
- Wednesday, Sept. 10, 6:30-8:30pm (registration opens Tue., Sept 2) and Tuesday, Sept. 16, 6:30-8:30pm. (registration opens Mon., Sept 8)
Street Photography with Gerry Suchy
- This course will explore the fundamentals of street photography, its history and how it is different from other types of photography. After a brief discussion of the nature and practice of street photography. I will lead a group of “wanna be” street photographers on a photo walk, pointing out likely subjects and how best to capture that image. The course will require that the student have and be comfortable using a digital or film camera. The person signing up for this course will be someone wanting to stretch her/his creative legs in the area of candid photography in search of the “decisive moment.”
- Location: Union Station, 2nd floor, top of spiral staircase
- Saturday, Sept. 20, 10am-12pm (registration opens Fri., Sept 12); Saturday, Sept. 27, 10am-12pm (registration opens Fri., Sept 19).
Photographing Airplanes at Gravelly Point with Chris Williams
- Our class will take photographs of aircraft on takeoff and approach at Reagan National Airport from Gravelly Point. We’ll go through different techniques to create images of aircraft, discuss what lenses to use, appropriate shutter speeds, creating depth of field, and how to be creative with an everyday scene in Washington D.C. Any type of camera is fine as long as you’re reasonably comfortable with it.
- Location: Gravelly Point (those metroing will meet at Crystal City and walk over together)
- Tuesday, Sept. 2, 6:30-8:30pm (registration opens Mon., Aug 25); Saturday, Sept. 6, 6:30-8:30pm (registration opens Fri., Aug 29).