1st Annual Photo Contest: People & Planes
The 2013 contest is now closed
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Young mother with her children watches acrobatic plane performance at an airshow.
S. Darius and S. Girenas aerodrome, Kaunas, Lithuania • Photographed July 2013
This photograph was taken at an airshow commemorating the 80th anniversary of Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas' attempted non-stop flight from New York to Lithuania in 1933. (The pilots perished in their attempt.) "In the middle of an acrobatic show by an Su-26," says Leonavicius, "I noticed a young mother with her children enjoying the show. I was trying to express movement and freedom for both the airplane and the figures."
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Departure Lounge: A solitary figure watches as a Delta B-757 pushes back from the gate.
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Maryland • Photographed November 2010
"I noticed the composition of the solitary figure and the airplane in the window," says Gray, "and I [took the shot] just before the jet pushed back from the gate to begin its journey. The viewer is left to fill in his own story about this man. The gloomy, rainy day adds a sense of sadness to the image."
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Movie Makers come to re-enact for history media shoot with Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lancaster.
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Ontario, Canada • Photographed October 2012
"I am a volunteer photographer for the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum," says Koolsbergen, "where this Avro Lancaster X is owned and operated. It is the only 'Lanc' in the world that the public can fly in, and actually experience. This photograph was taken during a history media shoot."
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Rancho Cordova County Supervisor, Roberta Macglashan after marshaling in the C-5 Galaxy.
California Capital Airshow, California • Photographed 2011
"Roberta MacGlashan has marshaled aircraft onto the tarmac for the California Capital Air Show since 2006," says O'Neill. "We always like to offer the volunteers a flight in appreciation, but Roberta always says, 'No thanks; I like parking them.' So far she's parked a B-52, P-51, C-5, B-1, and F-22!"
FINALIST: People & Places Category
"Your grandfather flew one of these..."
McClellan/Palomar Airport, San Diego, California • Photographed May 2011
"I had been shooting this and other aircraft for several hours, and the sun was going down," says Ford. "I saw this image, and as I was shooting, these people walked into my shot. I was a little upset at first, but they make the shot work. I imagined the father saying to his kids, 'Your grandfather flew one of these,' and the kids looking up in awe."
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Capt Kyle Lobpries conducting armed reconnaissance from an AH-1W Supercobra over the Helmand River Valley Afghanistan in support of 1st Battalion 5th Marines and Operation Enduring Freedom. Camera mounted on a suction cup and set on timer.
Over the Helmand River Valley, Afghanistan • Photographed September 2011
Captain Lobpries took this self-portrait while serving with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 in Afghanistan. "Photojournalists—both civilian and active-duty military—do a fantastic job documenting history and telling the stories of men and women in uniform, but there are, however, some angles they can't capture," says Lobpries. "Today's small-format cameras allow people in extreme environments—such as the cockpit of a Cobra Attack helicopter in combat—to capture and share images of what they see and do on a daily basis."
FINALIST: People & Planes Category
Pilot Dave Holmes in Cessna of MAF in Mozambique. This is a medical flight.
Gurue, Mozambique • Photographed August 2013
"Last summer I visited my sister and her husband, who live in Mozambique," says Boersema. "She's a doctor, and I joined her on a work trip to Gurue. This photograph is special to me because it is a memory of that trip."
FINALIST: People & Places Category
USCG flight mechanic in the doorway of an MH-65 Dolphin.
Los Angeles, Arizona • Photographed May 2013
"I photographed Erik, a U.S. Coast Guard flight mechanic based out of USCG Air Station Los Angeles, as part of a personal project," says Strauss. "Whenever my commissioned shoots bring me to another city, or just into contact with a person with an interesting career, I line up a shoot for my project titled 'People at Work.' The workplace, in this case, the cabin of an MH-65 Dolphin."
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Osceola, Indiana • Photographed June 2013
"A toddler enjoys her first visit to the Mishawaka Pilot's Club (3C1) in Osceola, Indiana, during the club's annual Father's Day Fly-in pancake breakfast," says Cashore.
FINALIST: People & Places Category
Spectators dot the static display ramp at the Centennial of Naval Aviation event at North Island Naval Air Station on February 12, 2011.
San Diego, California • Photographed February 2011
"Aerial photo missions combine my interests in flying and photography," says Sun. "My primary objective was capturing the Blue Angels during their flyby. When I looked down, I saw the airshow patrons looked like so many ants, organized in 'trails' around the aircraft and concessions."
Thank you to everyone who entered a photograph or voted for a favorite in our Readers' Choice category. See our 2013 winners here. The Civilian, Military, and Spacecraft category finalists are found here. In February, we'll post information on our 2014 photo contest.