I love this photo! Your exposure & depth of field are spot on! I probably would’ve had the man step forward just a bit so that the tail of the jet wasn’t coming out of the back of his head, but other than that, your composition is perfect! I really like the way you used the lighting across his face – it adds an edge of drama.

What a great and powerful photo! The only think I would possibly change is to have his second arm showing a bit. It looks a little off because you can’t see his hidden arm with his uniform. This is overall a really great photo and one I’m sure your subject is proud to be in! I looked at the other photos in the session and they all look really well put together. I loved the mixture of serious and fun.

I love it! Love how you focused on your subject and left the jet blurry….really, I love pretty much everything about it! The only thing I don’t care for is the tail appearing to come out of his head. I would have had him move so that wasn’t happening. Other than that, fabulous shot!

This is a fantastic and powerful image! I love the composition and the depth of field is awesome. I would have positioned the man so the tail of the plane wasn’t coming out of his head. You did an excellent job capturing the essense of this man and his work.

This is a great picture! I love the composition – it makes me want to know what he is looking at. I agree with the previous comments that you could have had him step forward, or changed your angle a bit, to prevent the tail (wing? tail?) from protruding from his head. Other than that, I really like everything you did! The depth of field is very nice.

I love this photo so much. It’s really fantastic–so sharp! I really want to know how the photo would work if he made eye contact with us. I feel like his gaze could make for a breathtaking shot… Of course, the pensive look is powerful, too. This is really a great image.

I love this photo! As someone who grew up in an air force town, I always love to see planes and our proud men/women in uniform. I love the composition and the great use of the depth of field. I agree with everyone else that posted a comment about the plane’s tail coming out of the man’s head. I would have tried to change the man’s position slightly to avoid that! I also would try to get a little more light on his front arm as it appears quite a bit darker than the rest of the man’s uniform. I find it a bit distracting. Overall, though this is a really great picture and I love its clarity. Great job!

Love this photo! My husband is in the Army so I know that uniform well! I agree with other commenters that the depth of field is perfect. His positioning in respect to the plane is spot on. I also agree that I would have moved him maybe a little to the left of the wing of the plane so its not appearing to come out of his head and made his right arm a little more visible. Otherwise this photo is great…really conveys a powerful sense of emotion. Nice job!

Way to go. I absolutely LOVE this photo. Your strong directional lighting accentuates his features and adds to the overall feeling of strength in the photo. I really have to look for anything to give suggestions on. Perhaps you could have left a little more to the right of the frame so the tail wasn’t chopped off. Great exposure, lighting, and especially emotion in this photo. Way to go and thanks for sharing.

I LOVE THIS! As soon as I saw your post I sent it to my pilot and I can’t wait to use it as inspiration the next time we have a good static display of his aircraft. I think the aperture and distance from the airframe are great! I also love the strong, masculine vibe of his posing and expression. My only idea to improve would be to change the vantage point slightly to avoid the tail flash going through the subjects head. Love that clean, simple pp, too. Great twist on a classic. I think it will be a timeless capture to pass down with the legend :).

What a stunning photograph! The lighting and depth of field are spot on. Maybe show his other arm a bit more? Otherwise – this image is amazing. The emotion on his face is just perfect! I like that he’s not looking at the camera. Wonderfully done!!

I love this photo! As a military wife, it really moves me. All I can see to improve it is maybe move back just a tad more so the entire plane is in the photo. I like the DOF choice you made. All in all, great photo.

This is my first critique…I loved the picture that much! Very powerful imagery. At first I thought you should have opened the aperture up a little more just for a little more bokeh and to make him pop a little bit more but I think it can go either way according to personal preference. I’d love to see a lower angle shot, maybe try to use some of the leading lines on the ground and get a sense of height by looking up at him with the plane in the back. Overall, a very proud looking shot, I hope it ends up on display and its obvious you do great work.

I love the depth of field on this. The subject is very clear and wonderfully posed. The only things I can point out are the missing arm, which really does bother me for some reason, and the fact that i would have moved him a little more toward center. The plane takes up so much territory, I feel like its fighting to be the subject of the image. The airman’s facial expression is wonderful. I really do like this photo.

Such a powerful photo. The tail behind his head doesn’t bother me. When you’re taking a photograph with something like that in the background, it’s going to look like some part of it is coming out of some part of his body. I think that’s just the nature of the beast. I’d just like to see the entire jet included and maybe give him a little more head room. I think the lighting and shadows are just perfect.

What a stunning photo! I love the look of pride on his face…I maybe would have stepped back more to add more of him in the photo but other than that….what a nice, sharp photo!!! Congrats!

Love this! My husbands a pilot, and somehow this image speaks volumes about planes and the men(and woman) who care for them/fly them/ direct them. The seriousness with which they do their job. I would love to see this shot with some eye contact. I think it would be really awesome to keep the serious/pride in his stance but have him looking at us. I love how sharp he is. Great photo!

I love this photo! Such a great show of honor to our military! I love the depth of field! I am curious about his right arm, though. Perhaps he could have turned his shoulders a hair more toward the camera to make it more visible. I love his pensive gaze, as well! :) Beautiful photo! Great job!

I looked at the rest of the pictures that you took, you did an amazing job capturing just a few of our heros! I agree the the tail of the plane is a little distracting, I would probably have adjusted his position or the angle of the camera. I love the lighting, it really is an amazing photo!

This photo really catches your eye and draws you in. The back lighting really helps, as the side of the jet closest to the viewer is in shadow, allowing a slight ring of light to give highlight detail to the wing engine. If this was using front lighting, the engine and plane body would blend together and destroy the shape of the plane. The person’s expression is also quite strong, seeming to match the stance and strength of the plane in the background. I find the wires from his headset in his arms distracting though. The headset blends into the uniform and the wires add a bit of unnecessary clutter. A great image though that I enjoyed viewing.

This is such a wonderful shot and very meaningful! I would have either placed the man closer to the plane or backed up to get more of the plane in the shot. I really like the sky in the background and this picture has real emotion to it :) nice job!

Great picture! I like a lot and there is not many things that I would change. I like the light and in this case not to blurry background.
There are two things that I would do differently:

As was said before I would try to show other arm.
And also I would change angle of the shooting to make some space between a person head and a plane tail.
A slight separation of this two objects would make this man more powerful and distinctive.

Really nice piece of work! Well done:-)