Ben Ely Photography: Project 365 - Week 28 "70 Years of Thunder"

Hello again everyone. Its that time again and I am super excited about this weeks post. The theme was this past weekends Luke Days airshow here at Luke AFB. Having grown up in the Airforce, I love anything that flies and was thus out of my mind excited for this years outing (they have the show every 2 years). As always, the USAF put on one heck of a show. Having missed the last airshow, I was happy to finally see the F-22 flight. I've gotta say, that thing can do stuff that planes shouldn't be able to do. That and the Raptor just looks awesome too. The only sad point was that I was unable to hear the amazing sound of a P-51 Mustang flying by (this is a small nit pick, it just sounds so freaking cool). Again, it was a stellar show and my thanks to all of the service men and women who made it happen and serve every day for us.

Now... on to the photos. As a photographer, the weather was just nasty for an airshow. Gray, gray, gray. There was very little blue sky visible the whole day and when it popped up, it was very minimal. It made taking photos a bit tricky, as with the thousands of people roaming around too. I was really happy with the shots that I got. Though I didn't want people in the photos, I did want them for the C-17 shot as it provides a sense of scale and just how big some of the planes get (its too bad they didn't have a C-5 Galaxy). Though my focus was primarily on the WWII planes, I found myself perusing around some of the newer ones such as the A-10, F-15, F-18 and such. And really, what airshow photo list would be complete without the true masters of the air, the Thunderbirds? Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy, now just two more years until the next show.