The Atlantic

How to take a Picture of the Stealth Bomber

For the past 9 years, my New Year's Day starts out almost the same way: I wake up early and drive to the airport. My goal is to get pictures of the Rose Parade and, if I'm lucky, catching the flyover over the parade. Then I land and wait for the Rose Bowl Game to start. I usually arrive above the Rose Bowl Stadium about 30 minutes before kickoff, with the goal of taking pictures of the marching bands in their different formations. It is really impressive to see how they are able to create such complex shapes and words with such finesse. At the end of the marching band formations, I try my luck and see if I can get a photo of the flyover. Sometimes I'm more successful than other times. Nothing is guaranteed and I try to increase my luck by putting myself in the right place at the right time (and bringing a spotter and also an experienced copilot to take the controls when I need to focus on working the camera). I saw a quote awhile back that said "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" and it really resonated with me.

It was really nice chatting with Alexis Madrigal from The Atlantic about the 2018 Rose Bowl Game B-2 Flyover photo. It is always nice to meet other photographers and talk about the kinds of subjects they like to shoot and their experiences with different cameras and situations. For some of the particulars about how I managed to take the photo and some other fun facts, just visit the article below.

See the original article here.