Hi Again Andy. If it`s just warbirds your after then the best show is Flying Legends held at Duxford. Next years show is over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of july. A good spot at Duxford is by the land warfare hall. I`m a canon user myself so can`t really say what a good lens for a Nikon would be but I use the Canon 100-400 is L Lens and a canon 30D.

Whats the best time to turn up to get a good spot or is it a barge fest like my few paparazzi experiences have been like? God those boys can shove!

Its been held up til end of November due to a scheduling error with the printers… and the fact that I’m still laying out some articles.

Almost done, just a few more images to locate!

😡

Are you doing it for free then?

No, I’m not doing it for free… I’m a freelancer and I have to pay my mortgage and eat the same as everyone else.

But I am working on it evenings and weekends as well as during the day at approximately one third my regular rate. My trip to the BBMF was funded out of my own pocket as was my ‘assignment’ to photograph the unveiling the National Monument and the meeting of veterans at the House of Lords. As you can see I live in Norwich, so none of those are on my doorstep!

I don’t know if you know what goes in to putting together a 248pp magazine when you are supplied with Word documents only and you have to resource every single image. The Battle of Britain Society are not professional publishers, they are a charity that produces a monthly internal newsletter called Scramble.

From those issues they try to collate enough articles to put together a ‘professional’ magazine, but an internal newsletter is a different proposition to a ‘pro’ mag that has to battle it out on the shelves of W H Smith – they have no idea of picture quality nor resolution (and thats not an insult just an observation) and I take on the responsibility of finding the images to make it ‘professional’. Trust me its a bloody hard job and there is only me doing it.

The Society would be happy with anything, whereas I can only work to a certain standard and the research takes hours upon hours of my time – I don’t get paid for it I only get paid to put the words on the page – simple as!

I can see your ‘reasoning’ behind the question – why should we give you something for free when I am getting paid for it. Fair enough question. The only answer I can give is that my post doesn’t lie to you – it says quite clearly I can’t pay for them and there is no way that the Society can afford to buy John Dibbs images or anything of the like. Its an appeal from someone who is working their a**e off to try and make something worthwhile – something to keep the efforts of those that flew, repaired the aircraft, manned the guns and kept the home fires burning fresh in the public mind – surely that must be the reason a lot of you on here are interested in planes of that period in the first place isn’t it?

Believe me, I do this more as a labour of love than an income, my other clients paying me well for what I do is the only way that I am able to take this project on… so if anyone can assist I am more than grateful, but as its not my money to give away I can’t pay for any images!

Wessex Fan – “True to that Period” would rule out Lancs.

As a major article is about the BBMF, Lanc pics are perfectly suitable!

Thanks for your interest and if I have over-reacted then I apologise.

Andy

Thanks for the answer Melvyn. I have been helped greatly by a few squadron historians and the RAF itself, who have done so free of charge. Its more of the colour stuff that I need to give the mag a bit more ‘lift’ throughout.