Outside of Alabama home game weekends, one of the biggest events in the Tuscaloosa area over the past few years has been the air show held out at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport. The air show, a two day event held on March 31st, 2012 and April 1st, 2012, featured a wide variety of static aircraft on display in addition to live aerial shows from a number of civilian and military pilots. The highlight of the weekend, though, was the performance by the United States Navy Blue Angels. The arrival of The Blue Angels into Tuscaloosa was covered with this blog post - http://blog.dsmithimages.com/2012/03/29/the-blue-angels-arrive-in-tuscaloosa-32912/
Personally, I love photographing events like this simply for the incredible amount of content available. I love the general sights of a festival - the large amount of people, the vendor booths, the colors, the special attractions - it all lends itself to great photographic material. Outside of the aerial displays, one of the special attractions at the air show was the arrival of the Budweiser Clydesdales. I got to walk around the area a good bit, especially when my parents arrived, and it allowed me to soak in all the atmosphere. I am always on the look out for events like this, and I do hope to share more with you in the near future, especially due to my partnership with the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission.
Earlier in the day, I was charging my phone in the media tent and was asked, "Do you want to go up?". Go up meant riding with the United States Army Golden Knights as they performed a parachuting display. I immediately said yes as I was not about to pass up the opportunity for some great aerial based photography. After a very entertaining briefing with The Golden Knights, myself and a few other media representatives were strapped in for the climb to about 13,000 feet.
Wind conditions made the flight and jumping routine a little difficult for The Golden Knights, but it did allow me ample time to get a great look at Tuscaloosa and Northport from a different perspective. As we circled around the area, one spot in town stuck out more so than others. We passed over the Forest Lake subdivision, and you could still see obvious signs of destruction from the April 27th tornado. Once The Golden Knights all "departed" from the plane, we made our way back to the airport to get ready for the main event of the day.
By the time we got back, the crowd at the airport had swelled in anticipation of the show from The Blue Angels. The pilots did not disappoint as they put on a fantastic show marked with their usual precision and accuracy. Even if people did not make it to the airport, they were able to watch the show from various parts around town. It really did showcase how big of a community event the airshow really was.
If you did not make it to the airport for the show, you can still check out my photographs from the day by visiting http://www.dsmithimages.com/site/events/the-2012-tuscaloosa-regional-air-show/1/
Enjoy!
-David
DSmithImages
“Modern Photography for Modern Times”
http://www.dsmithimages.com
david@dsmithimages.com
2314 Starlight Drive, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405
205-586-9723
No comments:
Post a Comment