Dirk Jan de Ridder za Tango Six Blog

Danas vam predstavljam holandskog vazduhoplovnog novinara i fotografa Dirka Jan de Ridera i deo njegovog portfolia.
Prenosim deo zanimljive Dirkove biografije sa nekoliko hi-res. slika u Flickr galeriji idealnih za desktop.

I have been going to airshows in and around the Netherlands since I was about seven years old. My main interest has always been military aviation. It was only in 2001, when I was 16, that I started photographing aircraft. Since 2006 I have regularly been visiting air forces around Europe and I also started publishing articles (accompanied by my photos) in aviation magazines. I am a freelancer, so I work for several magazines including Aeronautika (Croatia), AirForces Monthly (United Kingdom), Flug Revue (Germany), JWings (Japan) and Piloot & Vliegtuig (Netherlands).

To date I have had the pleasure of flying with the air forces from Czech Republic, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. I have flown photo sorties in all sorts of aircraft and helicopters including fighter jets, helicopters, tankers and transport aircraft. I don’t ‘specialize’ in a specific subject, because I like the variety of aircraft and helicopters operated by armed forces and the diversity of their missions.

Air-to-air photography is the best thing about my job, but it is not something you get to do really often. These days, with armed forces facing major budget cuts and declining numbers of aircraft, it is very difficult to arrange. Therefore most of the flights are training flights with some limited photo opportunities. For example, I have flown Search and Rescue missions with the Portuguese EH101 Merlin, a Beyond Visual Range aerial combat in a Swiss F-5 Tiger and para dropping sorties with the C-130J-30 Hercules of the United States Air Force. In the Czech Republic I recently did a photo flight using the Mi-17 Hip as photoship with two L-39s, a Let-410, an Mi-2 and four Zlin 142s flying behind us. Dedicated photo flights obviously provide better photo opportunities, but I see it as a great experience to see how aircrews perform their day-to-day missions.

I hope you like my photos. Please have a look at my website or feel free to drop me a message on Twitter.

www.milaviapress.com
www.twitter.com/djderidder
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djderidder/