Air show pilot Susan Dacy gains speed in her Boeing Super Stearman called "Big Red". The 450 horse power biplane painted red with white stripes flies within 10 to 20 feet off the ground in level flight as the white smoke streams from beneath the plane. Blue sky, green grass, tan colored runway are a blur as the plane gains speed.
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"Big Red" Super Stearman Aircraft Aviation Photography Information
Goal of the Photo
With this photo, I wanted to capture a different kind of air show photo from the more typical air show photos taken. The goal was to show some height perspective of how close these performers get to the ground level while flying at incredible speeds.
Capturing not only the aircraft in level flight but including the grass, runway, green fields, distant trees and horizon line gives the viewer some perspective of the size of this aircraft and proximity to the ground while demonstrating the sheer raw power of this performance. This photo reminds me of the barnstorming days in the early 20th century when pilots with their biplanes would travel around the country giving rides and performing aerobatics while amazing audiences.
Photo Post Processing
Adobe Lightroom Classic was used to increase the exposure, shadows and whites, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. The saturation was increased slightly to make the red paint scheme pop. Then into Photoshop for the addition of the Corcoran Studio logo placed in the upper right. From here the image was exported at the appropriate size.
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