© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows, in what I recall being their 'Spitfire Formation' during the 2015 Scottish International Air Show at Ayr, Scotland.
Captured in September 2015 with white smoke trails against a plain sky I opted for a striking black and white edit for the usually colourful display here. Wishing you all a fantastic weekend of photography. If you are heading to the Ayr Show 2023 today or tomorrow. don't forget your sunscreen as it is forecast to be the hottest day of the year for the UK so far!
Stay safe and keep the shutters clicking!
Tags: Leanne Boulton spitfire Ayr Show Red Arrows beautiful airshow aviation photography airplane aeroplane aircraft jet jet aircraft display formation aerobatic flight flying in flight Royal Air Force The Red Arrows Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team Hawk BAE Hawk T1 BAe Hawk nine smoke sky contrast silhouette jet trainer military RAF perfection world class tone detail natural light outdoors outside seaside life living humanity culture event Scottish International Air Show Canon Canon 7D 200mm telephoto EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM black white black&white b&w mono black and white monochrome monochromatic Ayr Scotland South Ayrshire Ayrshire UK United Kingdom
© All Rights Reserved
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
A beautifully decorated Belgian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon captured at the Scottish Air Show in Ayr, Scotland, 2017. The F-16 is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft. One of the issues of photographing at the Scottish Air Show in Ayr is that, being on the West Coast and in September and the afternoon, much of what you see is just a silhouette. Enjoy!
Tags: Leanne Boulton aircraft jet air show bwphoto aeroplane airplane flight flying speed fast jet fighter fighter F-16 General Dynamics F-16 Belgian Air Component multirole supersonic fourth generation fighter smoke clouds sky contrast pattern livery dynamic action display seaside autumn Scottish Air Show Ayr Show tone detail natural light outdoors outside cloudy weather human life humanity military history Canon Canon 5D Mk III 400mm EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Canon Extender 2x III handheld telephoto black white black&white b&w mono black and white monochrome monochromatic Ayr Scotland UK Ayrshire South Ayrshire jet aircraft silhouette partial silhouette energy motion movement dark drama dramatic
© All Rights Reserved
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
A Douglas DC-3 Dakota/C-47 Skytrain, with invasion stripes, sitting on the ramp at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, on a stopover for it's journey to the Daks Over Normandy commemoration in 2019.
79 years ago today Operation Overlord began with airborne troops from the US, Canada and the UK dropping behind enemy lines to secure vital infrastructure and destroy gun batteries. Their mission was vital in preparation for the pending beach landings.
Almost 160,000 troops would arrive in Normandy on D-Day and allied forces suffered at least 10,000 casualties in that first vital 24 hours.
Far right politics with nationalistic and fascist polices are rising in many countries around the world. Neo-Nazi groups are rising and brazenly waving swastika flags on the street. Minority groups are being abused, dehumanised, attacked and legislated against. Freedoms and rights to protest are being eroded. Freedoms of association and trade union powers are being eroded. LGBT communities are being scapegoated and the disabled are being dehumanised by mainstream media, and in politics. Germany in the 1930s was not dissimilar, have we learned nothing?
Millions died in sacrifice to fight the enemies of humanity and their fascist ideologies. Ideologies that saw the mass murder of millions of innocent people simply for being gay, trans, disabled, artists, writers, socialists, Jewish, Roma, Slavic.
Minorities that were scapegoated and dehumanised in order to facilitate their genocide.
Wake up. Remember. Learn. We must push back against the scapegoating and dehumanisation of minority groups by our press and politics.
We must not let the sacrifice of a generation and more be in vain.
They fought for a free and democratic world. That freedom and democracy is under threat.
Lest we forget...
First they came...
Tags: Leanne Boulton D-Day social commentary bwphoto mono aircraft airplane aeroplane DC-3 C-47 Douglas Dakota Skytrain stripes invasion stripes water rain raining droplets wing fuselage propeller engine Douglas DC-3 Dakota Commemorative Air Force Daks Over Prestwick Daks Over Normandy remembrance history World War II WWII military airborne lessons democracy politics aluminium tone detail depth of field selective focus bokeh natural light outdoors Prestwick International Airport humanity life photojournalism Canon Canon 5D Mk III 24mm wide angle flight EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM black white black&white b&w black and white monochrome monochromatic Prestwick Ayrshire Scotland UK United Kingdom South Ayrshire
© All Rights Reserved
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
The Red Arrows, officially known as The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, performing a fantastic routine at the Scottish International Air Show at Ayr, Scotland, in September 2018.
Captured and edited at the time, this beauty has been sitting in my unpublished folder for far too long! Captured handheld, with a stone wall as some support, with the EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens and 2X Extender Mk III. At 400mm the best I could achieve with the Extender was an f/5.6 aperture but it was plenty good enough in this light. Although I did have to crop in a fair amount still.
The Red Arrows are always so strikingly accurate in their displays and I love that they are slightly out of alignment in this shot as it shows the gusty and turbulent conditions they were dealing with on this afternoon. Enjoy!
Tags: Leanne Boulton airshow The Red Arrows Red Arrows aircraft Scottish International Air Show air show airplane aeroplane plane flight flying aerobatic display smoke trails Hawk jet nine head on drama dramatic sky clouds atmosphere RAF Royal Air Force military The Reds BAe Hawk T1A tone detail depth natural light outdoors outside humanity culture history Canon Canon 5D Mk III 400mm EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM EF 2x Extender III black white handheld black&white b&w mono black and white monochrome Ayr Scotland UK
© All Rights Reserved
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
The last flying Avro Vulcan bomber at one of it's last display flights. Captured at the Scottish International Airshow in Ayr, Scotland, in September 2015.
A slightly grainy handheld capture with my old Canon 7D and a 300mm lens from the shoreline. I remember seeing the Vulcan flying at a display as a child during the Cold War years. The sheer noise and iconic 'growl' of these engines was unforgettable.
In honour of Armed Forces Day 2021 and those who have sacrificed all to keep us safe in this world.
Tags: Leanne Boulton Vulcan #ArmedForcesDay Royal Air Force aeroplane air show display Scottish International Air Show aircraft airplane plane jet bomber military Cold War Avro Vulcan Avro flight flying BIF gull bird juxtaposition power powerful exhaust wing delta delta wing impressive magnificent contrast sky aerobatic tone texture detail natural light outdoors human life living humanity society culture warfare people animal nature seabird Canon Canon 7D 300mm EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM black white black&white b&w mono black and white monochrome Ayr Scotland UK
© All Rights Reserved