North American P-51D

August, this is a beautiful picture. I was drawn to it and have stared at it to see what could have made it better. I think my first hang-up was that the prop blades were cut off...doesn't kill me, just something I would have liked to have seen. Second, I love the light reflecting off the fuselage, but it makes me wonder how it would have turned out if you caught a recognizeable image of the horizon in the side of this polished Mustang. Like I said though, it is great either way...just some things to possibly look for next time. Next time...as if you see the sun setting on a Mustang in a field everyday?? :) Thanks for showing your work.

Daniel Hansen's interesting and thoughtful comment on this photo in

my gallery prompted me to invite others to weigh in, if you wish to.

Thanks!

Thanks for your comment. I thought it was insightful, so I ran this pic through the critique mill to see if others agreed, but it didn't attract any critiques. So I'll say a few words about it.

 

I agree with you, I did crop this one tight. It's one of the challenges of taking pictures of airplanes - there are a lot of skinny things sticking out of them, like wings and prop blades, and if you include them all, you also let in a lot of empty space. In this case I wanted to maximize the impact by framing the fuselage tightly. I've shot a lot of P-51s at dawn/dusk and I think I do have some showing the whole prop.

 

Your comment made me study this pic more closely, however, and I decided I'm not quite happy with it for another reason: color. This picture lacks the golden tone that I remember from that day, and the sky looks kind of muddy brown. I fiddled with the color balance and came up with the attached small pic. Do you think this looks better? If so I'll replace the main pic.

 

Hello again August, it's difficult to say which I like better with the smaller version to compare with. I find the sky more appealing in the retouched photo, but it looks sort of artificial on the trees. I know you're going to hate me now for getting too picky, but from what I see in the small version I have mixed feelings about the color on the Mustang itself too. The light on the side of the fuselage appears to be better, but I like the red in the rudder of the original (again, this might be due to the fact that its so compressed in the retouch). If you wouldn't mind I could take the original and do some selective color changes on it...maybe give you an idea. OR what you have may be the right choice and I'm just having trouble seeing it in the small format. It's also your photo, so if the retouch is more to your liking then you should use it. After all, you're presenting your view of the subject, and I say its a great photo either way. BTW, I feel dumb bringing up the whole croping issue now after looking at some of my own photos...such as how I trimmed the bottom of the rudder of the P-40 on the ramp. You're right though, you get the good stuff and don't worry about getting every part every time...get what you're interested in. long comment? yeah...

PS I need to use the concept of paragraphs from now on...sorry :)

Very cool picture! I like it very much.

Hi August - Enjoying your photos! I like this one very much, in fact, I like your original the best - the tones seem most pleasing and just have that late day kind of look.

 

Gary

This is hands down my favorite shot in your portfolio. I am not sure what could be done to make it any better. The way the sun casts across the fuselage and the angle the nose is pointing to the sky conveys forward, uplifting motion. It captures the essence of flight.

I agree with the others, I like this photo the most. Nice shot!

One of the most beautiful "Ladies" ever and you've done her proud with this shot...  Thanks for sharing...  Mike