Dragos Munteanu
I am Romanian and living and working in Belgium, Brussels for 5 years
now. I am an aerospace engineer and have been continuously working
in civil aviation for various organizations. Today I work for an interna-
tional airlines association promoting the industry views and positions
on flight safety. Aviation has been my passion from childhood – trying
as a kid to draw aeroplanes but drawing is not really a great skill of
mine. This is where photography can help! I have started in the reflex
world 5 years ago...and progressed slowly. It’s such a pity reflex digital
camera were not available 25 years ago and photography was quite a
niche in my country – I remember attending airshows and base visits
in Romania and seeing Mig-21s, 23s, 29s and other types quite diffi-
cult to find outside museums today especially flying...Now there are
cameras, but the “exotic” aircraft are difficult to find...
I consider myself an advanced amateur – the aviation photography is a
hobby and a social experience for myself, an extension of my aviation
“madness”. I have no formal training for photography (always wanted
some courses but never had the time...) but instead used forums,
books, manuals and YouTube and the old-fashioned trial and error.
I went through the “frozen / engine out propeller” phase and learned
how to decrease shutter speed to have a movement effect.
I am a Nikon fan – started with a 5200, then a 7200 and since a few
months a D500 that I am quite fond of. At an airshow I use the D500 with
a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary and the D7200 with an 18-300DX for the
static shots and the big formations. I have started with jpeg format but
now I only shoot RAW – it gives more freedom in post-processing. I have
the Adobe suite, mostly using Adobe Lightroom the desktop version.
After the initial Lightroom processing I use some NIK Collection
modules to give more color to my pictures. When I need HDR process-
ing I use Aurora HDR which was recommended by a fellow spotter.
I have known ISAP for some time from social media and of course the
magazine. Looking for some time at the pictures at a certain moment I
thought “why not?”. The main reason for joining is the intent to learn
more from my peers and evolve in this nice passion which is aviation
photography.
As I mentioned before airshows are a very good social interaction
opportunity. Yes, we all go for the “special best picture” but discussing
with the people around is also very rewarding. Speaking with aviation
photographers and fans opens new horizons, fresh ideas, new cultures.
And, the traveling is a very nice experience – I am a big fan of the NATO
Tiger Meet and the last four editions meant traveling to Zaragoza in
Spain, Landivisiau in France, Poznan in Poland and Mont de Marsan in
France this year.To new photographers I would say that the person behind the camera is
much more important than the camera / lens itself. Having a steady grip
on the camera is vital as well as the proper positioning on the airfield.
As I did myself – if you don’t know something pass the emotional barrier
and ask around you, most of the photographers around will be more
than happy to help.MEET OUR MEMBER
C-47 Dakota “That’s All Brother” at Le Bourget 2019The Spotters Hill at Montreal Airport, CanadaEF2000 Eurofighter Typhoon of the Italian Air Force
during its display in RIAT 2018