This year’s Your Flying World Photo Contest wowed us with images spanning the range of aviation from down and dirty to downright heavenly. Here are the finalists’ images, including the top three.
First Place Winner â "Containing the Flames" by Michael Morse.
As was the case with our inaugural photo contest, this past year’s Your Flying World Photo Contest wowed the judges with images that, once again, came to us from just about every imaginable segment of aviation. And our Grand Prize-winning photo, by Michael Morse, showed an Air Tractor Fire Boss firefighting modified ag plane dumping its load of fire retardant at a Southern California wildfire.
Without further ado, the winners of our 2020 Your Flying WorldPhoto Contest and the 18 other finalists!
First Place Winner — “Containing the Flames” by Michael Morse.
First-Place, Grand-Prize Winner: Containing The Flames, by Michael Morse. In a year in which record amounts of wilderness went up in flames around the American West, it’s only fitting that our top prize goes to a dramatic shot of a firefighting plane in action, piloted by an unknown hero, someone risking their life to save others’ lives. The plane here is an Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss, shown in action dropping its load of fire retardant on a hot spot right up against the hillside. Congratulations, Michael!
Second Place Winner — “Early Bird Gets the Best Parking” by Brent Clark.
Second-Place Winner: Early Bird Gets The Best Parking, by Brent Clark. Our second-place winner by a hair is Brent Clark’s amazing shot of airplane’s early-morning arrival at Sun ’n Fun a couple of years ago. In it, Clark captures a strongly backlit scene perfectly, using the ground fog as an additional element to render a mood that is just perfect.
Third Place Winner — “Proof of God” by William Todd Self.
Third-Place Winner: Proof of God, by William Todd. Our third-place prize goes to another remarkable shot, one that captures the compelling scene of a pilot alone among the building cumulus clouds with a blast of radiant energy shining through. We were captivated by the motion in this photograph, too, the focal point being the supernatural glow emanating from the core of the clouds while the plane, with its whisky compass providing a directional touchstone, veers away.
Congratulations to our winners and to all the finalists.
And a special thank you to our judges, two gifted photographers, Jim Koepnick and Steve Zimmermann, who, along with our editor in chief, Isabel Goyer, worked through a lot of great shots to get to the finalists, and then worked together to pick our winners. Again, many thanks.
A Bombardier CRJ-200 on the ramp at sunset.A crew member stands outside a C-17 during Media Day at the Pacific Coast Air Museum.A firefighting modified ag-plane dumps retardant on a blaze.An air-to-air shoot with JB Air Services and the Legend Airways Foundation.Morning ground fog during an early arrival at Sun ân Fun in Lakeland, Florida.A shot from the Chesterfield Air Show, near St. Louis, Missouri, on September 8, 2019.This photo was taken at the annual Waco Fly-In in troy, Ohio in 2012.This image of a B-25-NA named Miss Hap was taken at Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts on July 7, 2015.A beautiful sunrise from a Buckeye PPC.A Warthog A-10 and a P-51 during the Pacific Coast Air Museum Air Show in Sonoma County, California.Gary Rower, in his 450hp Stearman, opens the night air show at the Wing Nuts Flying Circus Airshow in Tarkio, MO.A Cessna 172 at the Reno airport.This striking warbird was shot at sunset to enhance the beauty of this newly restored P-51C Mustangâs skin.This warbird shot was taken on the ramp at the Dakota Territory Air Museum, Minot, North Dakota.Mike Wiskus climbs out from a low pass at show center, starting a roll to inverted and in the process showcasing the beautiful Pitts and the artistry of his talent.This photo of a wall of fire with Canadian Snowbirds in the foregrouns was taken at the MCAS Cherry Point, NC, airshow on May 5, 2018.Finding some pandemic solitude in the Utah backcountry on the pilotâs honeymoon.This image of the P51-D Mustang Tigerâs Revenge was taken at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum World War II Weekend in Reading, PA on June 7, 2019.Flying west south of San Antonio, Texas, headed to Midland/Odessa at about 7,000 feet MSL.This photo was taken in the early morning on the flight line at the Salem Municipal Airport mission base after a rainy night.Six retired US military pilots capped off the air show with a great smoke-trailing fly-by with Mt. Shavano in the background.The wonderful moment of the sun coming up over the Nevada desert in the tail of a 195A departure from a backcountry airstrip in Hells Canyon (along the Snake River on the OR/ID border.Sunrise cloud colors reflected in the flowing lines of Thunderbird 4âs F-16 Fighting Falcon.A pilot and co-pilot and marveled with an array of instrumentation and symmetry in the cockpit during Media Day at the Pacific Coast Air Museum.An image of a Gnome et Rhone engine taken during restoration.
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