I've dabbled in photography most of my life, as many have, but
that picture shows the difference between a dabbler and a pro.

Mike Fizer, the AOPA photographer, is truly a pro. He has taken many cover
photos for AOPA Pilot, and his air-to-air work is outstanding. (He did a
cover a few months ago showing a floatplane floating on sun-dappled water
that is quite simply the most beautiful aviation photo I've seen...) He's
also a helluva nice guy who loves a good martini and can hangar fly with the
best of us!

That picture of Mary and me took an hour of set-up time, plus another hour
of shoot time, plus another 30 minutes of take-down time!

One thing he did that was fascinating to me as a non-professional
photographer: First he shot a zillion pictures with us in the chair, and
then he had us very carefully leave the chair without disturbing anything.
He then repositioned the lights so that they would cast a much brighter and
harsher light, and took a bunch of pictures of the same scene, but without
us in it.

THAT is how the pros get all the details in the background to come alive,
without totally washing out the person in the foreground! The picture is
actually a composite of BOTH shots.

Amazing to watch someone who really knows what their doing...

You
both look great. It's hard to believe that it's the same guy that's
worried about being too old to fly!

I'm not worried about it, yet. But I want to be ready for it!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"