Harvey Air Field

On September 6^th, we set out to Harvey Air Field to work with two talented dancers, Ashlynn and Kylie. The weather was a perfect soft overcast when we arrived at 8:30 for the shoot. Most people would think that you want sun for photography, but in this situation the overcast skies acted as a natural diffuser. The owner of Kenmore Camera allowed us access to his plane for this photoshoot; a beautiful silver and red 1946 Cessna 140. The camera used during the shoot was the Canon EOS R5 which is mirrorless with Rf 50mm 1.2 and Rf 70-200m 2.8 lenses. The lighting equipment used was the Profoto B1X with a 3’ Octabox, B10 with a 2’ ocf box, and the pro CL+ to light the cockpit .

The beginning of the shoot started with Ashlynn and Kylie in traditional leotards and tutu’s. The goal of the first set was to show the beauty of lines from the dancers and the plane together. The girls had fun choosing the poses they wanted to do both solo and together. When they were able to sit in the cockpit, the smiles truly grew as they got into character, donning aviator glasses, bomber jacket, and even the pilot headphones.

When the overcast turned to brilliant afternoon sun it changed how we had to approach the shoot. The sun created an interesting challenge, not only creating heavy shadows, but reflecting off the plane to create blown out areas. During the morning set, the camera settings were able to be 1/1000s, f/2.8, 163mm, ISO 100. When the sun came out, we had to switch to utilizing a diffuser where possible and changing the camera settings to 1/4000s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 100.

When it became too bright to continue shooting outside, the plane was moved into the hanger to continue. The girls changed into bellbottom jeans, shirts, and bomber jackets for the 2^nd set. It was fun to see two girls, once strangers, develop a dancer’s bond and turn into laughing friends by the end of the day.