Like most all of my images, this picture started with a sketch in my sketch book.  The Idea was to photograph someone to look like they were riding on the nose of an airplane with jet streams above them in the sky.  

 

Although my projects often morph and change as they go along, the basic concept almost always remains the same from start to finish.  That is because the final product is going to be made of numerous composited images, all which must flawlessly blend from one to the next.  Because of that restriction, its critical that each component not deviate too far away from the original idea.

Once I had decided I wanted to create this picture, the next step was finding the components.  I needed a backdrop, I needed an airplane and I needed a model.  The airplane was the anchor for this image as well as the most critical and hard-to-access part of the picture so I set about photographing it first.

 

 

I tracked down a small airport north of Los Angeles which had a public park with de-commissioned aircraft.  I took a road trip up in mid-afternoon because I knew I’d need waning directional light and the park wasn’t open early enough in the morning.

 

I used my Canon 20D to take these pictures.  Although it doesn’t deliver the resolution of Canon’s later models, the 20D is fast and adapts to a range of good lenses.  This image is probably a little under the resolution I’d like because of that, but since this was my own project I was trying to keep the cost down.

 

I auditioned a few different aircrafts but the F-14 was the only jet which really drew my eye.  Notice the beautiful curve in the wings when you photograph it straight on.

 

Once I had taken a satisfactory number of shots, it was back to my studio to choose the best image.  I decided upon #3’s view because I felt it delivered the whole story without taking up too much image property.  

The next step was to isolate the airplane and look like it was flying.  If it didn’t look believable, I’d have to go back to the drawing board.  Fortunately this airplane didn’t have much in the way of cosmetic damage and the caps on the jet intakes were easily blacked out with a curves adjustment.

 

For the mock-up I made a quick rendering with a 3D modeling program for the ground and made some atmospheric effects and airbrushing to blend it into a beautiful blue sky.  I then drew on top of the image a quick mock up (drawn with a mouse - beautiful, I know) to give me an idea of where the model would be.

As you can see, the cropping is different in this than my final image.  Initially I felt that the curve of the wing led the viewer to the right side of the picture but once I placed my model on the nose I decided that there was too much going on on  the left side to balance out.

 

My main criterion were that the person have a good body that would play off of the curves of the airplane and that they could sell a “tom boy” sort of look.

 

In the end, I cast this model, Kristen, for the part.  The decision was made based on these two images and the verification from her that her hair was still that length and color.

 

The first of these two images gives me a little bit of that tom-boy feeling and the second image demonstrated to me that she had the physical presence that was going to be needed in order to sell this shot.

 

 

We set up a green screen so that it would be easy to isolate her later and I used a wine barrel covered in blankets and a scored sheet of foam core to approximate the size and reflective properties of the jet’s nose.

With the image holding up very well so far, I was ready to start looking for a suitable model and some crew and facilities.  I used craigslist.com to advertise for models and a stylist who were local and interested in the project.  

 

 

For the model, I received a HUGE number of responses but only a very small percentage were “acceptable” in so far as they had some modeling experience to show and could look the part that I wanted them to play.  (Note to people who are interested in modeling in L.A. - be professional when contacting prospective clients.  Using the letter “u” instead of the word “you”, misspelling words, and sending pictures taken with camera-phones will not land you jobs!)

 

We tried a few different outfit changes, makeup changes, and a few different lighting variations but the basic set up remained the same.  I used an octo-bank with blue filters from behind and above her to simulate sky, a bare bulb coming from camera right to simulate the sun, and a second set of beauty lights to fill in and enhance her face’s natural shape.

 

We shot for about four hours and after again editing and enhancing in Adobe Lightroom, I chose three images to audition for the final.

The first image I liked because of her position but in the end I felt that it didn’t feel believable on the top of an aircraft (although in reality, none of these would be even remotely possible).  I like the brown flight jacket a lot but in the end the Army fatigues just seemed to make more sense.

 

Note the scored foam core/wine barrel contraption I have her standing on.  Its weighted down with about 60 lbs of sand bags

 

I should mention that Kristen was far more flexible than I ever had envisioned for this picture.  As you can see in the roughs, the original idea was that she’d be sitting with her knees together and then her feet spreading apart over the nose of the airplane.  Kristen immediately made that idea seem tepid.  She was able to crouch and stand on this thing in ways that were much more dynamic.  

 

The second one really felt like it sold the concept of flight and would have been my pick except that the third one just puts it to shame when you overlay the two on top of the jet.  While #2 may look good by itself, it doesn’t feel as believable on the nose of the jet because we all know that you couldn’t really stand on top of a curved piece of metal the way she’s standing on that wine barrel.

 

#3 just had it all.  An awesome look, an awesome wardrobe, and great makeup.  Her leg curving down one side of the airplane’s nose suggests that she’s shifting her body weight as the plane makes its turn. Once I saw this on top of the mock-up image, I knew I had found my select.

Surprisingly little was done to this image in Photoshop beyond isolating her from the background and doing standard beauty stuff.  I used the airbrush and pattern stamp tools to make her shadow on the wine barrel look like it was a shadow being cast on a smoother surface.  Fortunately, the reflection of the sky onto the plane’s hero side simplified making a realistic shadow because most of it would be blown out by ambient light.  Small adjustments were made to exposure and color to make the entire image blend and feel more “late afternoon”-ish.

 

Finally, I added wisps of blowing hair from other images onto her hair so that it made her look like the wind was blowing her around.  Obviously, in real life there would be a hundred times more wind but I just wanted to suggest the concept of wind to give you a sense of the altitude.

 

So here we see the final image put together.   As we say in show business, that’s a wrap.