Paul Fiddian's 2010 blogGAR Entries

Seeking THE Shot Seeking the aircraft shot of aircraft shots is a target that many of us enthusiasts aim for, but what about the bigger picture? In his first blogGAR entry, Paul Fiddian looks through the viewfinder, out of the window and into the hangar, and captures the deep reflections coming back at him.

I work from home and I’ll admit – and I know I’m not alone in this – that I keep my camera next to my desk in a state of Quick Reaction Alert, ready to shoot through the window if the requirement’s there. The skies over North Devon are a bit aviation-starved so, that way, if anything interesting does appear in the overhead – I’m ready for it! This kind of operational readiness does present a couple of problems, though. For one, I have to hope that the window cleaners have done a good job, (they generally do!) and given me a nice clear slab of glass to view through. If not, I have to invest time, patience and faith in the power of Photoshop to deal with any smears that make it onto the screen. There are other options of course...opening the window – fine, but that gives me a very limited panning sweep – and running madly outside – well, that’ll partly work-off the last chocolate biscuit I had but, typically, the subject’ll be long gone before Canon and I are ready to rumble.

Why am I telling you all this?!

In a nutshell, I don’t really have a passable airborne shot of the local Sea King! I’ve lived in North Devon since early 2005, and No.22 Squadron are up and about almost daily, or so it seems, anyway. A typical flightpath takes the Sea King either down, low-ish, over the other side of town, or above me, but too high up to shoot. However, there are times when it does comply, and sometimes they’re guaranteed. Christmas is one, when it traditionally orbits over Barnstaple with a suitably festive passenger waving out of the door. Sadly, other duties can also place it low and well within capture range, and that’s exactly what happened at the start of last week.

I didn’t make the connection at the time, but I’d heard earlier of a serious gas explosion in the early hours that had resulted in two men ultimately being treated in a special burns unit. Much later on, the Sea King pitched up and flew several low circuits over my side of town, and the reason for that became evident when the early evening news streamed aerial coverage of the domestic devastation – the helicopter, therefore, having been used as an airborne photo platform. While it had been working away, I had gone for the rush-outside option and - you’ve got it – seen an opportunity to bag some decent shots of it in gorgeous winter light. Did I get them? Nope! Does it matter? Not this time. “Ahh”, I hear you say...”I know where he’s going with this one...!”

Quite right!

Aviation is my passion and the satisfaction of a decent aircraft capture is one of life’s great pleasures, but I felt a bit strange when I thought about my need for photos, compared to the struggle that at least two people – that I don’t even know – faced in a hospital elsewhere in the country. Thoughts for others were also a core feature of my big aircraft trip earlier this month, when I visited the Royal Navy Historic Flight at RNAS Yeovilton. I’d deliberately arranged to go on 11 November, as Fairey Swordfish LS326 was due to fly in connection with the Battle of Taranto event being held there. In the end, it didn’t, and I don’t blame it at all! Low cloud, on/off rain and gusting winds are not exactly ideal conditions for an almost-70 year old and unique bit of biplane to parade around in. Of course, I was disappointed, but I still had a great time there. I got the chance to walk around and photograph the whole fleet, to see the progress on the ‘other’ Swordfish – W5856 - and see the Sea Hawk with its engine removed. At 11.00am, I joined RNHF personnel in the traditional two-minute silence, and here’s where the other thoughts-for-others part comes in.

Theoretically, I must have been present for 30 previous two-minute silences at 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month, but this one seemed MUCH more poignant. I think it was mainly down to the fact that I was stood alongside a group of people with a direct connection to the past...it just made the experience much more vivid, and much more emotionally-engaging. I should add that I’m very grateful to the RNHF for everything they did for me that morning – what a great bunch they are!

Back to LS326...I couldn’t make it to RNAS Yeovilton any other day of that week, but if I’d gone on the Tuesday, I’d have seen it fly with three Lynx, and if I’d gone on the Sunday, I’d have seen it start up and depart successfully for Lee-on-Solent, before returning back to terra firma. Those kinds of things can initially be annoying, but certainly not enduringly so.

I’ve just read this article through. Am I over-moralising? Probably. Have I made the points I wanted to make? Definitely. Can I bring it to a conclusion? Hopefully!

At the end of the day, the best-made plans don’t always work out. You can get aircraft photo opportunities you don’t expect and they’re there for the taking. On the flipside, you can be proactive, and then it all twists and turns beyond your control. Take the opportunities when they come your way, but try to think of the bigger picture, too. Or don’t think about it at all...perhaps it’ll plunge its way into your mind anyway. That’s exactly what’s happened to me – twice, now. What should have been two good aircraft photo-shoots have ultimately delivered more than just a set of images to look through, late at night, when my tired eyes seem more accepting of most of them! They’ve made me consider the wider aspects, and that’s no bad thing at all.

That said, I’ll continue to keep my camera desk-side. As I type, a USAF C-17 has passed overhead, contrailing through the crystal clear skies. I didn’t know it was a C-17 until I zoomed and zoomed the resultant image to the point where it was little more than a blurred lump, but still just about recognisable. That moment – finding out what the overhead visitor was – completely thrilled me.

Meantime, the window cleaners are due to stop by in the next few days. I’m sure they’ll do a good job!!

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