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Why Do I Photograph the Air Show? Because It's There
- Bob Benenson
- Aug 15
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 18
Not My Normal Jam, But It's Impossible to Ignore When It's Right Outside
Confession: I had never been to an Air Show before we moved to Chicago and discovered that our high-rise perch by Lake Michigan is also a free box seat for the annual event. Nothing personal, it was just never my thing.
But in August 2011, I had just bought my first of a series of three Sony digital cameras that converted me into a serious photographer. I bought the camera to support my nascent career as a food writer and to capture the beauty of Chicago's natural and man-made environments, but I decided that capturing blazingly fast machines speeding through the sky would be a good test of my skills, and I passed.
So I've been doing it ever since. This has prompted some blowback because many people hate what is formally the Chicago Air and Water Show. Some believe it represents an unseemly militarism. Some — including my wife Barb — believe it is irresponsible to have these jets flying over crowds and populated areas with very tall buildings (and as you can see in these photos, they fly VERY close over and around our apartment building). Then there's the exhaust pollution.
I absolutely respect their opinions, and I probably would share some... if this quite spectacular thing wasn't happening right outside my window. So the annual test of my reflexes to capture a supersonic flying object goes on, and as the right-to-the-edge lead photo suggests, it's no mean trick.
These photos were from dry runs on Thursday (August 14), the dress rehearsal on Friday (Friday), and the formal shows Saturday and Sunday.
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