Thursday, August 30, 2012

2012 Chicago Air & Water Show

Hello again everyone.  As most of you know by now I am a Navy Veteran and every year I try to take my daughter to the Chicago Air & Water Show.  I love the look on peoples faces as the planes pass by or soar in the sky!  The Air Show usually starts out with either Navy Seals or Army Frogmen jumping out of a perfectly good plane, sorry, but, to me, there are only two things that fall from the sky, bird droppings and fools!  Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane???  Then the show usually goes on to the Barnstormers...

More Barnstomers...



Every year the Chicago Air & Water Show has either the Air Force Thunderbirds, or my favorites the Navy Blue Angles.  This year it was the Blue Angles turn.  This year, I got, what I consider to be, one of my best photographs ever.  Shortly after the first group of Barnstormers a jet came through making several passes.  As most of you probably know, or maybe some don't know, but, when the Air & Water Show is so close to the city, planes are not allowed to break the sound barrier because they will shatter to many windows.  When a plane gets close to breaking the sound barrier, you have vapors around the back half of the plane.  Attached next if quite possibly my best photograph ever.

This was no easy shot to get, but, I got it simply by tracking the plane and guessing where he was going to be, and honestly, like most good photographers will tell you, I got lucky with the shot.  Photography is all about applying both skill and a little luck.  My camera, nor my lens should have been fast enough to get this shot, but, that is where the skill and patients of a photographer comes in, knowing where to be and shooting continuously and hoping for the best.  Thankfully, I got this shot, and made it into the Daily Herald newspaper.  The same plane kept coming by and I got this next photo soon after the last one, I am so grateful, that I would love to provide these photos to the pilot and co-pilot for there own albums.

Last of all to end the show with a show stopping finally, was of course the Navy Blue Angles...

This photo had to be slightly altered in order for me to show the Seagull that was trying to keep formation, which obviously he was unable to!  As always, any of my photographs are for sale, and I can be reached at mwnphotography@gmail.com.  Any and all comments, good or bad, are appreciated.  I hope you enjoy this posting and that you keep coming back to look at more of my photos, thanks again for viewing!  Mike Noonan 


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