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Photos of the Month by Fence Check

April 2008


If the Photos of the Month had a theme, April’s would be “difficult lighting.” In all the images chosen this month, the photographers were confronted by lighting conditions outside their control. But they rose to the challenge, proving that the sun doesn’t need to be over your shoulder for great photos.
Fence Check’s Photos of the Month for April are:

- Mike Shreeve’s air-to-air silhouette of a replica De Havilland Comet racer. By including “room to move” around his subject, Mike captured light effects in the air and water as well as on the aircraft. We loved the simplicity of the composition and how the sky adds a hint of color to what might otherwise be a black-and-white image. It’s as evocative as Charles Brown’s photos of British military aircraft from the same era. [ Forum Thread ]

- Kevin Jackson’s time-stopping image of an A-10 at work. This one received by far the most nominations. Most people commented on the cannon shell caught in flight, but we also liked the interplay of the smoke with the harsh backlighting. And isn’t it cool how the smoke seems to be puffing from the Warthog painted on the nose? There’s detail in the shadows, the framing is dramatic … whether by plan or by fluke of timing, everything works to make this a great action shot. [ Forum Thread ]

- In the POTM Classics section, we had to include Jim Mumaw’s picture of a Sikorsky Firehawk from last fall’s fire season in Southern California. Once again, color, composition, lighting, and smoke effects influenced our choice, as they combined with tree and human silhouettes in a surreal tableau. [ Forum Thread ]

- Finally, Darren Connelly's photo of a P-51 at sunset, taken with a polarizing filter, won the judges over with its colours and tones. It’s a simple image made special by the fading light. [ Forum Thread ]

Congratulations to Mike, Kevin, Jim, and Darren for their achievements.

It was a tough month for choosing Fence Check’s “best of the best.” More than 40 nominations were received in April, for 34 different photos. All the judges had favorites that didn’t make the final cut.

Just as the chosen photos seem to have a theme, many of the photos not selected this month had a common problem: background clutter, especially in static shots. It’s not always possible to eliminate every distraction behind a subject, but often moving the camera slightly left, right, up, or down will conceal or de-emphasize vehicles, other aircraft, legs, or those dreaded orange pylons. If you have the time, and the space on your memory card, try taking shots from several, slightly different viewpoints to see the effect.

We look forward to seeing what gets posted – and nominated – in May.

P.S.: Final judging was done a day early this month. Nominations received on 30 April will be considered for the May POTM.

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March 2008


The Fence Check Photo of the Month for March was:

Tom Hill’s taxiing Typhoon. We love how the lighting conveys dusk but still shows details, and the colors: the rose sky and green taxiway lights. [ Forum Thread ]

Photos of the Month

Honorable mentions go to (from left to right):

Dan Stijovich’s break shot of the 111th Fighter Squadron, Texas ANG’s flagship. While this would be a flattering angle for any F-16, the jet’s 90th Anniversary markings elevate the image to another level. [ Forum Thread ]

Another “pinkie” shot: Kevin Whitehead’s study of an F/A-18 nose gear strut. Great composition, great colors, and great light effects on the fuel tank and the tarmac. [ Forum Thread ]

While the POTM feature has just begun, Fence Check has been around since 2004. This means several years’ worth of great photos have gone unrecognized. To rectify the oversight, we’re introducing a “Classic” section for all images posted before the current month. If you find an older photo that you feel deserves attention, please nominate it as you would a new one. (Yes, photos that might have been overlooked in January, February, or March will be accepted.)

To kick off this new POTM section, here’s a shot from 2006 by Remco Donselaar, of a KLu F-16 recovering at Volkel AB in the Netherlands. [ Forum Thread ]

Despite an increase in nominations in March, fewer images were picked as Photos of the Month than in January/February. Why? The selection process considers whether an image has been well-executed technically, not just whether it’s eye-grabbing. Many shots that looked great at first glance suffered from exposure or contrast issues, or weren’t sharp, or had awkward compositions, or were severely cropped. In some cases, a few simple edits could have fixed the problems. However, the photos are judged for what they are, not for what they could be.

Another consideration is whether a photo would pass the “Six Month Test:” if we had the photo on our wall and looked at it every day, would we still think it was a great image after six months?

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January/February 2008


This is the first of many articles to showcase what we consider to be some of the best photography here on Fence Check. In this first installment we're covering two months.

Our Picture of the Month for January/February is Rob Tabor's air-to-air shot of a B-2A Spirit, seen from Rob's office window aboard a KC-10 Extender. We liked how the framing of the boomer's window matches the shape of the wing, as well as the contrast and clarity. [ Forum Thread ]

Photos of the Month

Honorable mentions go to (from left to right):
- Scott Wolff's view from the Tyndall AFB tower of the 3rd Wing's flagship F-22 -- an unusual Raptor angle with background blur that really coveys the jet's motion. [ Forum Thread ]
- Tom Hill's black-and-white view straight into the cockpit of an RAF Harrier GR.9 on a low-level training sortie in Wales. [ Forum Thread ]
- Bill Fauth's vapour shot from the F-22 Demo Team's approval show at Langley AFB. The early morning light gives the Raptor a different look, and you can almost feel the humidity in the air. [ Forum Thread ]

Congratulations to all!

We appreciated the large number of nominations that members submitted. People clearly did a lot of digging through the site to make sure no worthy photos escaped consideration. Some of the photographers whose work was nominated declined to participate. Picking the "best of the rest" was not easy. Ultimately, only a few shots were judged to have the magic "Wow!" factor needed to make them a Photo of the Month. We hope that the number of POTM-worthy images will grow as Spring arrives and people start shooting more -- and making the extra effort to produce outstanding photos.

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