When making PetaPixel’s documentary about Blair Bunting’s U2 photo shoot at the edge of space (which you should really watch now if you haven’t), one thing we decided not to focus on was the camera gear. But we love talking about cameras and lenses, so Chris sat down with Blair the evening before his epic shoot to discuss the equipment he was bringing up in a U2 spy plane.
In this week's PetaPixel Podcast, the teams details what it was like shooting their first documentary and tell some stories that didn't make it into the final cut.
Eight years of discussions. Six months of training. Two days of final preparations. Much was required to give photographer Blair Bunting two hours at the edge of Earth's atmosphere to conduct the first-ever photo shoot at near-space where he captured images that have never been made before and will likely never be made again.
The United States Department of Defense has released a photo taken by a U-2 spy plane pilot that shows a perspective from inside the cockpit and above the Chinese balloon that was shot down earlier this month.
The United States' U-2 spy plane first took to the skies back in 1955 during the heyday of film photography. But even as cameras these days have largely shifted to digital, the U-2 continues to shoot its spy photos on film. The Wall Street Journal made this 19-minute documentary on the U-2 that offers a closer look at the U-2's photography.
Want to see what the Northern Lights look like up close? Ross Franquemont can show you. A U-2 spy plane pilot by day and a photographer by night, Franquemont recently had the privilege of photographing the Aurora Borealis from his cockpit at 70,000 feet.