With the first airshows of the 2022 season getting underway, I happened to take a look back at some of my work from 2021.
One of my favorite images pulled from the skies last year is
this photograph of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor as seen during a practicebo
flight over New Jersey’s Millville Executive Airport. The image as a whole isn’t
particularly noteworthy – F-22s frequently create their own cloud systems while
maneuvering, which often translate into stunning photos. But the
attraction here is in the details: an unusual exhaust pattern that is particularly
striking.
From the heat and moisture content being displaced by the
aircraft, the sky itself has taken on a three-dimensional appearance. It looks
as though it’s a solid section, hovering in mid-air with a texture that could
be felt – if you could only get your hands a few thousand feet up and not get
burned as well!
Last year I had a half-dozen opportunities to photograph the
F-22 in action, and look forward to further encounters in 2022.
