"This photo was shot in anticipation of the Rhode Island National Guard's annual air show. I had fun shooting it, but I'm sure Herald News reporter Kevin O'Connor had even more fun riding in the front seat of of that acrobatic plane."
One from the trenches: TOP reader Jack Foley works for the Herald-News in Fall River, Massachusetts (a state in New England, in the Northeast, for those of you who aren't from this country), serving Fall River, Somerset, Swansea, Westport, and Dartmouth in Massachusetts, and Tiverton and Little Compton across the state line in Rhode Island. He started in daily newspapers 32 years ago so he could shoot pictures every day, with lots of variety. "I'm not disappointed," he says.
He's posted ten of his better shots from 2010, in case you might "care to look at a few pix from guys like me that grind 'em out five shifts a week, and get a good one occasionally."
Mike
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
I am generally a brutal editor of my own photos, but I couldn't bring mine down to a top 10. In order to give a good flavour (a different objective than just a top 10) the most I could bring mine down to was a top 25.
I do want to take photos more regularly (hence my 365) and towards the end it felt like a particularly onerous job, but I don't really think I could do it for a living. The pressure seemed incredible towards the end.
I am glad that someone not only does it as a job, but enjoys it also.
Posted by: Nikhil Ramkarran | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 07:54 AM
10 fine shots... Jack, does your camera have an "irony" scene mode, or do you have to set that up yourself?
--Marc
Posted by: Marc Rochkind | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 09:12 AM
Wow... This must be the first time TOP publishes airplane pics!
I know that airplane/airshow fanatics are a small community here, and between genres aerophotography must be something between a quirk and a straight-up fetish, when related to the usual themes on TOP.
While mr. Foley made that picture "en passant", it's one of the best plane pics I've seen in years; 'grats! If I'd be to start my own print collection (subject: air... machines), Jack Foley's one from Rhode Island would be a must have, even the jewel crown.
Mike, I'm curious if you can find more photographers/galleries on specific/niche genres; not only planes, but whatever genre you can imagine. This would be a good way to diversify things here on TOP, and also a good way to show people interesting pictures that could light up the interest on stuff other than mainstream things, like landscape/street/portrait photography.
Posted by: Barbu | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 11:46 AM
shutter speed way too fast. You want to see some good airplane pics check out the almost 1500 page thread on fred miranda's site titled:
"mustang air to air." be prepared to have your socks blown off :)
tony
Posted by: H. Anthony Semone | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 04:13 PM
Is it your tenet that tenset is a word? Or should be? After all 'set of ten' is so much harder to say.
Google throws up another use you made of it just over a year ago. I reckon you'd have to use it a bit more frequently for it to make it into the next edition of your favourite dictionary.
And I can't believe I've used it myself. Rats.
Posted by: Steven House | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 05:16 PM
Steven House,
Yes, and if I reply to you with the phrases "Steven House" and "tenset" together, then, in the future, the word tenset could well come up on Google along with the name Steven House. You, Steven House, could end up being identified with the word tenset.
Mike (who I guess did coin the word "tenset.")
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 06:38 PM
Mr Foley - aerobatic not acrobatic. :)
Apart from that, great shot, and the rest are pretty good too. The half-mast flag at the Army NG armoury is my pick for the best of the best. The baker's crosshair window is well-seen, and well-executed as well. (Umm... you know what I mean.)
Posted by: RobG | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 09:25 PM
It's ok, Mike, I think the Bee Gees put Massachusetts on the map.
Posted by: Jim McDermott | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 11:13 PM
Oh I just love the humming of those Extra 300s. Thank you Mike, for reminding me I have to see at least one airshow this year.
Posted by: ggl | Tuesday, 04 January 2011 at 02:16 AM
RobG; I had a chance to see the gallery just before it went online, and didn't notice that an editor had changed my "aerobatic" to "acrobatic". Quite annoying. Thanks for noticing though, and for being nice about it too. Jack Foley
Posted by: Jack Foley | Tuesday, 04 January 2011 at 07:28 PM
I've searched the Herald News site but couldn't find a gallery with mr. Foley's work for the National Guard airshow; I wanted to see more frames around the picture featured here.
Can somebody point me in the right direction? Thanks!
Posted by: Barbu | Wednesday, 05 January 2011 at 05:49 PM
Jack Foley - I just reviewed my post, and it seems I owe you an apology; my dyslexic fingers would have me liking the baker's crosshair window, not the banker's crosshair window.
Mea culpa, Mea maxima culpa.
Still great photos. (And doncha hate editors what change stuff, huh?)
Posted by: RobG | Friday, 07 January 2011 at 09:17 PM