Lookit, It's A Radial!

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Today I'd like to share the story behind one of my favorite aircraft images.

Photography Prints

It was a case of being at just the right place at just the right moment. It was August 1997 at the California International Airshow in Salinas. The plane is a Martin 404 converted for executive use and painted in the colors of the former Pacific Air Lines.

At airshows there are usually lots of people around the planes walking around in their shorts and tank-tops, sucking on sodas. It can be a challenge to get good shots of the planes without background distractions, so I would focus on details. I was composing a shot of the plane's engine when this little girl came through on her daddy's shoulders. I knew I had something here, but I wasn't sure if I had everything set right yet. I had half a second to decide whether to click the shutter or not. I didn't notice at the time, but just as I snapped the picture she reached out to touch the propeller. It turned out to be my favorite shot of the airshow.

Framed or unframed prints of this photograph may be obtained in a wide variety of sizes from my Photography Gallery.

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