The Pilot - a photo on Flickriver

The Pilot

            © Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved

A spontaneous portrait of one of the "D-Day Doll" pilots in the captain seat at the Daks Over Prestwick public display at Prestwick International Airport, Scotland.

"D-Day Doll", a Douglas C-53D that went into service in 1943, took part as a tow plane for gliders on D-Day, flew in supplies to Normandy afterwards, flew in paratroopers for Operation Market Garden, dropped supplies over Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and played a massive part during the post-war Berlin Airlift. A true workhorse of the skies and is, to this day, a "beautifully smooth flyer". This 'Dakota' was on a refuelling stop in Prestwick with several other DC-3 and C-47 aircraft making up the American contingent of the D-Day Squadron. They are to fly in massive formation with many others from around the world to drop paratroopers over Normandy for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day this coming week.

The fuselage was simply a queue of people waiting to talk with the pilots so I had little time to capture the shot. A one-shot chance at 24mm focal length with on-camera flash for some fill. Handheld, on an overcast day with the nose of the plane pointing up to the sky, I had no means of controlling the blown-out light through the windows. I love the relaxed posture and expression of the pilot and felt that the shot deserved a light pass of added grain and a slight sepia tone in post. All of the flyers and crews are volunteering their time for this mammoth endeavour. I wish them all well.

Enjoy!

Taken in: United Kingdom / Scotland / Monkton (show map)

Taken on: May 25, 2019

Tags:

portrait

D-Day Squadron

portraiture

spontaneous

eye contact

man

male

face

eyes

expression

emotion

mood

feeling

pilot

sitting

cockpit

Douglas DC-3 Dakota

DC-3

C-47

C-53

Dakota

Dak

warbird

veteran

military

D-Day

dials

controls

vintage

sepia

grain

Daks Over Prestwick

tone

texture

detail

depth of field

bokeh

flash

strobe

light

shade

shadow

human

life

living

humanity

lifestyle

people

lifestyle portrait

environmental portrait

Canon

Canon 5D Mk III

24mm

wide angle

speedlite

EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

black

white

black&white

b&w

mono

black and white

sepia tone

monochrome

Prestwick

Scotland

Leanne Boulton « less

Sets appears in: • Greatest Hits • Portraiture more » • Oh the Humanity • Monochromatic • Ayrshire • Scotland • Flying Machines • Sports, Events and Reportage • As Old As You Feel • Feeling Emotions • Working for a Living • Personal Favourites • Beauty In Imperfection « less

Groups appears in: • Portraiture Photography (of real people) • Scotland more » • BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO HEAVEN! • Portraiture (of real people) • UK • UK Flickr users • Portrait (real persons only) • canon photography • Magic Moments • Artistic Photography • All People • Canon Current & past models (ie new 5D MKIII and old 300D) • People of the World (no AI !) • People in Black & White • Monochromatic world • Flickritis: over 87,000 waiting for a vaccine. • Nice pictures • Interesting Portraits ☺ [people] • White and Black Photography • Photojournalism & Photojournalists • Portraits... Get Closer! • People / Adults + Photo Titles • *People All Over World* • The Portrait Group • B+W • Faces and faces - H.I.G.H.Q.U.A.L.I.T.Y. • B/W ... the world in black and white • I Love Black and White! • PORTRAITS - A Gallery for your Best Portraiture • Art in Black and White • BW and Sepia • A Better B&W Group • Glasgow Photographers • Street & Reportage • The world through photography • ***Flickr Global • "U.K. Photo Gallery" ( All Welcome ) • ≈ monochrome ≈ • Portraits and Faces • flickr (unofficial) • Group for all users of FLICKR - No 30/60 Groups Limit • 1 Person (100001) • Oh the Humanity • Portrait. Photography. Art. « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, f/3.5, 1/200 sec, 24mm, ISO 640 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens:	EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
Aperture:	f/3.5
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	640
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	On, Fired
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Partial
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 8.3 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 24,515 views / 15 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: