[aviation news]
If you have ever seen an aviation magazine cover that looks more like a carefully composed work of art rather than an image of an aircraft in flight, you may have seen the work of Paul Bowen, a commercial aviation photographer based in Wichita, Kansas. Bowen’s career as an aviation photographer began in the 1970s.
“As a commercial photographer in Wichita, eventually you’ll see an airplane through your camera,” Bowen quipped.
Bowen is not a pilot himself, although he did log hours many years ago. When he determined he didn’t have the time to maintain proficiency, he quit, saying, “You either commit to flying or don’t do it. The world is much safer with me in the back of the plane.”
Bowen’s first air-to-air shoot involved a Beech Baron. It was an assignment for the manufacturer, and as it was his first shoot, he said he made a rookie mistake—he looked through the lens of a camera during flight and discovered how quickly that makes you airsick.
“That was my first and last time,” he said.
The photo platform varies, but Bowen said it is very important that the photo aircraft is capable of matching the speed of the subject airplane.
“I’ve shot from many different photo platforms, including Beech Barons and Bonanzas, Piper Saratogas and Senecas, and Cessna 206s and 207s, all with their side rear doors removed so that we didn’t have to shoot through glass,” he said. “But my favorite stills platform is the B-25. Over the years I’ve shot from 20 different B-25s. We remove the rear section where the tail gunner would normally have sat with his 50-caliber machine gun. We also shoot out of the removed emergency exit located aft of the bomb bay, in what’s called the waist gunner’s position.
“And if time allows, I’ll use the third shooting position as I’ll climb over the bomb bay, past the pilots, and into the nose where the nose gunner normally sat. That way we can change leads in the formation and get images of the rear of the target.”
Preparing for the Shoot
Formation flying—which is essentially what photo shoots are—require a lot of preplanning and communication. It begins with an extensive preflight briefing with mandatory attendance of all those who will be part of the flight.
“The first part of the briefing states the artistic hopes for the shoot, followed by the pilots discussing how we can achieve the imagery successfully and safely,” said Bowen.
Pilot experience and qualifications are key. The pilot of the target airplane must be experienced in formation—it’s not as easy as it looks from the ground or in the movies and on television. Pilots must maintain specific heading and altitudes and distance from the aircraft around them. A momentary lapse in concentration can be deadly.
During shoots Bowen communicates with the pilot of the photo aircraft via intercom and with the pilot of the subject airplane using preestablished hand signals.
“Within the orbits, I move the target up, down, forward, back, right and left by increments of feet as discussed in the briefing,” he said. “Most pilots spend their careers trying to stay away from other aircraft in the air, and we’re asking them to do just the opposite. The pilots are the heroes of the shoots. I may have an idea of an image I want to capture, but if the pilots don’t safely and quickly position the plane where I direct them, we will never get the shot. A successful air-to-air photo shoot is truly a team effort.”
The background is also important as you don’t want a predominantly white airplane blending in with a pale sky. Coastlines, green fields and hills, and colorful sunset and sunrises are often the backdrop. If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, the pilots and Bowen have to be ready to pivot.
“Sometimes you must relocate or just play the hand you’re dealt,” he said. “One morning I was planning on shooting a friend’s radial engine T-28 Trojan military trainer. The weather was iffy when we woke up, but we went to the planes anyway, hoping the misty rain would clear soon. After about an hour there was no precipitation, but the sky was ugly gray. We launched anyway, and I used a strobe on my camera to light the plane, which separated it from the background and produced some stunning images. I like to think of myself as a problem solver and artist, not just a technician.”
First light and last light (of the day) are Bowen’s favorite times to photograph.
“When the sun is low on the horizon, every tree, every bolder, every blade of grass, every pebble casts a shadow, making the ground relatively dark,” he said. “But at 2,000 agl, the airplane is getting a full hit of light and pops against the darker background. Conversely, if you’re shooting at noon, the ground is a boring brown-gray, and only the top of the airplane is lit, and the gray bottom half blends into the ugly ground. Lower light also gives us more variety as we often fly formation orbits or 360s. A standard rate turn completes a circle in two minutes, no matter how fast you’re flying. The circle is just larger if you’re going faster.”
The shoot duration usually ranges from one to two hours.
Lifetime of Achievement
Over the decades Bowen has captured air-to-air images that have been used as magazine covers—more than 1,000 times. He admitted he stopped counting some 15 years ago.
“One of my all-time favorites is one of my first (wake turbulence) vortices shots that appeared on the cover of FLYING in 1992,” he said. The image shows the wake turbulence vortices off the wings of a jet made visible by the clouds it was flying through.
“It was the first cover showing the vortices shots,” he said. “FLYING received more requests for copies of that image than any other cover image in the magazine’s history.”
Bowen’s work has not gone unnoticed by his peers. He was inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame, and when FLYING put together a list of 51 of the most influential people in aviation history, Bowen landed at No. 47.
In addition, with the help of his wife, he has published several calendars and coffee table books that feature his photos. He began his career shooting with film, and in the early 2000s made the transition to digital—once the quality caught up with film, he said.
He travels around the world for shoots. He is sponsored by Canon and is part of the team of professional photographers, known as the Explorers of Light, who Canon considered to be the tops in its specialized niche.
When asked about his favorite aircraft to photograph, Bowen said it is a toss-up between the Learjet 35 and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
“Not even considering each of their contributions to the history of aviation, they both have such unique design elements,” he said. “They’re both challenging to shoot and extremely visually rewarding when the right shot is captured.”
He offered some advice to aspiring aviation photographers.
“Safety first,” he said. “Know your gear. Know your pilots. Know what you want to achieve in the shoot. Know your location and safety procedures, and remember, no image is worth taking undue risk.”
This feature first appeared in the June Ultimate Issue 959 of the FLYING print edition.
Share this content: