A few weeks back, I was hired to do some editorial/lifestyle type photos for the Marine Corps, under direction of ad agency JWT. The young crew from JWT were a breeze to work with. Chris (aka James in work circles) was a perfect fit to join me on the job with his Marine Corps experience.

One of the primary Marine demos is the MAGTF show. Marines repel from helicopters, drop off vehicles and of course, what Marine demonstration would be complete without some good old fashioned “blowing stuff up”?

I rented a gargantuan Canon 300mm f2.8 lens and monopod to do some of the aircraft photography, but it barely came out of my bag, since our primary assignment was to get photos of Marines interacting with each other, the general public and military equipment. Nonetheless, we were able to get some use out of it for Harrier shots like the one above as well as some other aircraft photos.

Achieving a motion blur on prop planes and helicopters can be a challenge in midday sun. Need to get my hands on a two stop ND filter next time around.

Probably the most enjoyable part of this job was having media access to a long standing San Diego event. I have seen air show from the audience many times but being on the runway and “centerline” was a great experience. The Marine PAO’s were very accommodating.

A special thanks goes out to the PAO’s who helped me locate my car on Saturday night. Apparently I used the South Gate entrance which is at the very very far reaches of the flight line in a remote dirt lot. Lets just say Marines have a more advanced way of driving golf carts then most of us civilians.

Thanks again to all at JWT for an enjoyable job and to the USMC for helping us out with great access and transport. We hope to work with everyone again soon!

Coming up next, some product photography in Phoenix, some holiday portrait sessions, and then a much needed Christmas break.  Thanks for checking in.