A visit to Gatwick
Last Saturday on a very unseasonably hot and sunny October day, I was back at the amazing Gatwick Aviation Museum with my student for the day, Rich.
After Rich and I had tackled a couple of my “photo challenges” we moved onto the highlight of any visit to the aviation museum, which is a visit inside of the Shackleton plane. Once inside, you quickly realise that the space is very tight as it’s packed full of old radar and radio equipment. Add to that a pile of camera equipment, a tripod and a two photographers and you can understand why a one to one session is the best way to get great shots.
Due to the really high contrast in lighting conditions between the windows and the cabin, HDR is the way to photograph. Now HDR can either lead to a photo real image or a super real image. Both Rich and I favoured the over the top look that HDR can lead to, so that’s what we did with the post processing.
This is actually two HDR shots joined together to make a very wide panorama. Each of the two shots were made from 5 RAW files each shot at 2 stops apart. The software used to make the HDR and join them together was Photoshop CS5.
This is the classic shot of the Shackleton cockpit. Rich had packed a 20mm lens for his Canon 5D body and it was an excellent choice here as he could get a single image of pretty much the entire cockpit. No mean feat, as it’s pretty small once you get to the pilots seat.
I must thank Rich for allowing me to use his photos in this post and sharing them with everyone.
Thank you Gavin for an amazing one to one training session at Gatwick Aviation Museum. I just wanted to say what a great teacher you are. Your wealth of knowledge and experience is truly remarkable, I learnt so much from you not only about my camera, but nice little tips like taking a shot of my hand between HDR shots :-). If people are reading this and debating whether or not to book a training session, then I’d say “What are you waiting for”? You will not be disappointed. My thanks must also go to Sam for not only sending me the booking details, but providing scrummy refreshments 🙂
Great photos Rich, jealous of your one to one with the legend that is Gavin H !!! Hahahaha
Will hopefully be booking mine soon, just trying to escape from the Wife for a day. Keep up the good work …… Mike
Thanks Mike. You really should book a session with Gavin. He is an amazing teacher who’s passion for photography really does shine through with his teaching. I guarantee you will walk away a better photographer. I certainly did 🙂
Rich,
Just been on your Facebook page (Should alter your privacy settings by the way) looking for some more of your shots. Will you be posting them anywhere? Look forward to seeing them ….. Mike
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be actually something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and extremely broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!