Menu
Twelve Spitfires deserved their own post – it’s a lot to take in. There are at least six more dotted around the museum area.
But Duxford has lots more to offer, a huge collection of aircraft from the RAF and Fleet Air Arm, plus lots of what the Americans call “War Birds”. It’s a huge site and if the Americans try to add more to their collection, the hall will need extending radically. Currently, there’s a B52, B29, B17, Liberator, Mustang, Dakota and an SR71 jammed in there, with lots of other aircraft wedged in between them.
As a result, the visitor can get much closer, but there are so many aircraft, it’s hard to get a image of one specific aeroplane – hence my preference here for tight close ups.
Never miss a post
Like what you are reading? Subscribe below and receive all posts in your inbox as they are published. Join the conversation with thousands of other creative photographers.
Session expired
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.
Hollywood’s sequels are so often weaker than the opening opus. Well, Paul Perton does not play by the Hollywood rulebook! There is no curse of the sequels! Kudos and congrats for another great set!
Thanks Philippe. It’s close enough to be thinking about a return visit – when it’s a bit warmer.
Paul, I wouldn’t worry about “explaining away” the preponderance of closeup images.
They are all quite fascinating – the earliest photo of my father that we had in the house where I grew up had this 5 year old kid standing in the flying jacket of Sir Ross Smith, one of Australia’s earliest flying pioneers, who live across the street from my grandmother at the time the photo was taken. Dad grew up with an almost obsessive interest in planes – so we were often driven to the airport, some 28 Km north of where we lived – to spend the day wandering around the hangars and watching all the aircraft landing or taking off. Unheard of these days, but back in the post war years it was quite an adventurous outing, and a practical way of indoctrinating kids on the beauty of aviation!
So – I simply love all of these shots from Duxford. A place I’ve never been, never likely to go. Besides, for most people – men or boys, anyway! – that I know, waving photos of planes or cars under our noses is a bit like pushing a bowl of lollies towards a child!
Having been “wrapped” in Macro photography (amongst practically everything else I could try – LOL), I actually think I might even prefer these close-up images, rather than more conventional shots of “real planes”. We most of us rarely ever get to see such beasts so close up, these days!
Some might think it financial but it could be intention that visitors are put up close so as to experience the rivet patterns… as do the photos above I most enjoy. The rivets also tell about the engineering and craft that went into these great flying machines.
I love those old propeller driver aircraft. I call them real planes. They’re from my era. Once in a while I hear one going over and I run outside to try to spot it.
Nice work! This post could be renamed “Rivetography” at Duxford!
Just my kind of stuff keep them coming thanks
I agree with the choice of moving in close. Most museums, including those for aviation, have displays so close together it is not possible to get far enough away to make an image without distracting elements. But going close lets the subject shine.
Plus, sometimes the details are more interesting than the whole.
PaulB
Paul, Your images of Duxford warplanes are remarkable! I love your attention to details, colors, composition, lines–the whole works. Sometimes the parts are more interesting than the whole, and I think you should celebrate, not apologize for, taking closeups. Dare I say it: these are beautiful images! Thank you so much.
I wonder, though, why we find weapons of war so attractive. I guess there are many ways of looking at anything, and the aesthetic glance is worthy in itself, prescinding from the utilitarian purpose of an object (this is an ancient and controversial topic). But these were weapons crafted to destroy, and that always nags at the back of my admiring mind.
Thanks Lad. I’m not sure what I was seeking, except to avoid the whole plane pic with a thousand other planes intruding. Truth is, if it looks good in the viewfinder…
It’s still too soon, but in the back of my mind, this project () is another I’m wanting to work with. I’m closer to this one too, as I handle the project’s marketing.