Photos of the Month by Fence Check

June 2008

You might be wondering if the fix was in for people whose names start with K, but during the POTM selection process no attention is paid to who took a photo. The judges consider instead whether each photo has the elusive Wow Factor and would pass the Six Month Test (see March, below). They also debate the technical merits: is the horizon level (or tilted on purpose), does the background distract from the subject or add to it, is there a pleasing contrast range, do the colors look natural, has it been sharpened (but not oversharpened), and so on.

The judges have different levels of photographic expertise, different aviation interests, and different tastes, and nearly every nominated photo gains at least one advocate. Even so, the judges almost always agree on a few photos being above the rest, usually with one clear standout.

Congratulations to everybody whose images were nominated this month –we’d list all 31 of you if there was space – and thanks to everybody who made a nomination. Please keep them coming in July.

May 2008

Runners up are:
- Franz Loew’s shot of an A340 landing at St. Maarten’s. Everybody has seen approach shots from here, but who has thought to capture the arrivals from this angle? The varied actions of the tourists on the beach help to make the shot. [ Forum Thread ]
- Jim Mumaw’s sunrise portrait of a P-51 and friends at the Chino airshow. A novel composition and beautiful light – especially for the LA basin in May. [ Forum Thread ]
- Kevin Whitehead’s approach shot of an American Airlines 757 at LAX. The angle has been done before, but that’s made up for by the light, the clouds, the reflections on the fuselage, and the first officer fiddling with his Ray Bans. [ Forum Thread ]

If there’s a theme this month, it’s “photos from boards that many people don’t look at.” The moral: don’t overlook the civil aviation or rotary-wing threads if you’re seeking great images.

The observant will note that the AH-1 and A340 shots were posted in April. We’ve found that worthy photos sometimes haven’t been noticed for few weeks after posting, and in some cases that means the following month. To ensure these shots don’t fall between the cracks, we’re going to make the POTMs the best photos nominated during the month, even if they were posted earlier. The “POTM Classics” will in the future be plain old POTMs. Our last Classic as such is Jian Rao’s sunset image of a QF-4E from Aviation Nation 2007. Last week was Phantom Week, after all. :) [ Forum Thread ]

April 2008

- 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.

March 2008

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?

January/February 2008

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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