Another Day, Another Parking Adventure
Today was another early morning at the airshow. The usual routine: get everything ready, check the camera gear, and head out.
Getting there, however, was a different story. The parking situation was even more frustrating than the day before.
Once again, traffic was flowing toward the vendor area, so we followed along. This time, a police officer stopped us and asked whether we were vendors. I told him no, and he directed us to the other end of the airport.
We followed the General Admission signs to the parking area, only to find all the gates closed. We asked a woman where we were supposed to go, and she directed us down the street in the opposite direction.
After backtracking, we asked some men for directions. Their response? We needed to go back to the vendor area.
What?!
We drove back toward the vendor area, but this time we weren't going anywhere else. We were going to park where we had parked the previous day. We knew we'd have to make that same walk to the entrance again, but at that point, I didn't care. I'd had enough of the parking confusion.
Fortunately, no one questioned whether we were vendors this time. We parked, made our way to the gate, and went through the same entrance as the day before. Security checked us, our tickets were scanned, and we were on our way.
Easy breezy.
We headed to the Photo Pit and found a spot on the platform this time.
A decision I would later regret.
A Change of Pace
My back was hurting more than it had the previous day from lugging all the camera gear, so I decided to skip the static displays. Instead, I stayed put and did a little people-watching.
A gentleman sitting next to me turned out to be from Osaka, Japan. We exchanged a few words, including some in Japanese, and before long, he was showing me photographs on his iPad.
He had some wonderful airshow shots, along with other aircraft photographs. They were really impressive captures. It's always interesting to meet another photographer and get a glimpse of the world through someone else's lens. We may have come from different places, but we shared an appreciation for aviation and photography.
Waiting for the Fog to Lift
The weather was supposed to be better on Sunday, but the morning had other ideas. Fog was hanging around, and it was thick enough that, looking up, it almost appeared to be clouds.
I wasn't sure how long it would take to clear or whether it would affect the flying schedule.
As the morning progressed, the sun began poking through. Eventually, the fog gave way to blue skies with scattered puffs of clouds.
Thank goodness. That's much more like what you'd hope for at an airshow!
We weren't able to see the skydivers on Saturday because of the low clouds, but Sunday's improved conditions gave us another chance. This time, we got to watch them jump from the Douglas AC-47 Spooky, famously known as "Puff the Magic Dragon." It was nice to finally see that part of the show after missing it the day before.
A Different Sunday Lineup
I won't bore you with a play-by-play of the day's performances. Much of the schedule was similar to Saturday, with a few changes.
The lineup included the NextGen Eagles, the Pink Jet, the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46A Pegasus, NASA T-38 flyovers, and the four red, white, and blue F-5s flying as the Freedom 250 formation. We also had the Tora! Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor reenactment, another appearance by the Arctic Ghost, more aerobatics from the NextGen Eagles, and the United Airlines 777.
The Arctic Ghost, Jared Isaacman's MiG-29UB Fulcrum, made a shorter demonstration on Sunday rather than the fuller performance we'd seen the day before. I'm especially glad I had the opportunity to photograph it on Saturday. The vapor surrounding the MiG made for one of my favorite moments of the weekend.
After yesterday's experience with the noise levels, I wasn't taking any chances this time. My earbuds alone hadn't been enough, so on Sunday I wore both my earbuds and protective hearing headphones. With those engines roaring overhead, I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
The Challenges of the Photo Pit
As the airshow progressed and the planes flew from one side of the field to the other, I kept getting bonked on the head by people's camera lenses. Apparently, I was in the wrong place at the wrong height!
One disadvantage of being short is that I can't see over people who are taller than me. Some photographers also had tripods set up, which made it even more difficult to see around them. Even when I moved farther back on the platform, I still couldn't get a full 360-degree panoramic view without someone's head or equipment getting in the way.
I hadn't experienced nearly as much of a problem when we were standing along the fenceline the day before. But I just made do with what I had and captured what I could. Sometimes, that's all you can do.
The Heat Was No Joke
We received our box lunch, which included a small turkey sub sandwich, chips, and a cookie. I wasn't particularly hungry, so I just ate the sandwich. Honestly, it was simply too hot to have much of an appetite.
The sun was intense, and I kept applying more sunscreen throughout the day, trying to keep from getting burned.
The rest of the show carried on, and I continued capturing what I could with the camera settings I'd decided to change after reviewing Saturday's photographs. I had increased the shutter speed to 1/5000 second and closed the aperture to f/11, keeping Auto ISO.
Would those adjustments make a difference? I wouldn't know until I got home and viewed the images on my computer. That's really the only way to tell whether the changes produced better results.
Two Days, Thousands of Frames, and Plenty to Remember
Eventually, the show came to an end. Vendors were already rushing to pack up and shut down for the day as we made our way back to the car.
And then came the traffic.
We sat for nearly an hour trying to get out. I'm not sure whether there were simply more people attending on Sunday or what, but it was a long wait. By that point, I was completely exhausted. All I wanted was to get home, unload my gear, and start reviewing my photographs.
And just like that, another Wings Over Houston Airshow weekend was over.
It wasn't without its frustrations. There was the parking confusion, the crowded platform, the heat, and a few moments when getting the shot I wanted was more challenging than I expected. But that's part of the experience. You work around what you can, make the best of the situation, and keep shooting.
I came home with thousands of photographs and plenty of memories from two days spent watching these incredible aircraft take to the skies.
Now comes the other half of the experience: sorting through the images, seeing how my camera-setting adjustments worked, and deciding which moments are worth sharing.
In my eyes, the changes cleaned up most of the motion blur. But don’t just take my word for it. Compare the photos from both days and be the judge!
Did the new settings make a difference? I think they cleaned up most of the motion blur, but I’ll let you be the judge. Take a look at the photos from Saturday and Sunday and see what you think.
For now, the cameras are packed away, the batteries need recharging, and I have a whole lot of photographs waiting for me.
But the adventures aren't over yet. Stay tuned for another three-day road trip coming soon!
