On 2007-12-18 09:23:04 -0800, "Steven P. McNicoll"
said:


"Gig601XLBuilder" wrote in message
...

The aircraft was in/over and area that had been cleared by both CG and
police boats.


Not according to the photos.

Long telephoto lenses compress perspective, making everything look a
lot closer together than it really is. The Blue Angels do this maneuver
every year and there is a very large area cleared of boats. You cannot
see this cleared area because of the low angle of the shot and the
telephoto compression, but it is obviously there if you know something
about photography. As for anyone on the boats being 'terrified,' I
doubt it. The reason the boats were there was to watch the show and
everyone knows what the Blue Angels do every year.

Wide angle lenses have the opposite effect, spreading things out so
that they look farther apart than they really are. This is why people
who use a wide angle lens to try to take pictures of, say, tulip fields
with Mt. Baker in the background are often disappointed. They get wide
spaces of dirt between the tulips and Mt. Baker appears as a little
white dot in the background. The wise photographer uses a telephoto for
such a "wide-angle" view, creating a sea of closely packed tulips with
Mt. Baker looming like giant ice cream cone in the background.

The principle is the same in this picture. The boats in this picture
are much further apart than they appear to be and the jet is well clear
of them and not flying directly toward any of them. If the photographer
had not used a long lens, you would barely be able to see the plane at
all.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor