Crazy year - 2012!
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Translation Jacek Siminski email: jsiminski@gmail.com

When I was writing the summary of the year 2011 I never suspected that the 2012 would be as crazy as its predecessor! In some aspects, the 2012 was even more crazy than the year before! I got lucky - I could realize some special ideas, bot­h new ones, as well as those that were in my bald head for a looong time! :)

Of course, you always want more and more, but two issues are unpredictable: the budget and the free time. Taking into account the fact that amounts of both these were low, I think that 2012 was really successful for me!

I am extremely happy that I had a chance to go crazy not only in the field of aviation photography. I also had an opportunity to take pictures of people, architecture, landscapes, nature or still life. Drifting away from the sound of an afterburner made me even more hungry for aviation pictures...and this generated something similar to audio feedback – The more I was away from aviation, the more I needed to get back to shooting airplanes!

My aviation photography 2012 included craziness during all sorts of air shows, be it large scale or smaller ones. Why craziness? Let's get into some statistics. The 2012 included 5 visits in the Polish Air Bases and participation in 12 air shows, both in Poland and abroad. In search of aviation I traveled almost 35 thousand kilometers. I have flown 14 times on board of passenger airliners, including Airbus A380 and Boeing 747. This is A LOT, as far as my means is concerned! But let's start from the beginning...

...because it was the beginning of 2012 that made me think, that this year would be special. On January 3rd I learned that I won the Lotnicze Orły award given by lotniczapolska.pl website, and I was entitled the best aviation photographer of the year. It was a lot of fun to win, especially due to the fact that I did not really intend to take part in the competition, nor did I fight for the votes!

I started the photography-year on a winter gathering of the Association of Polish Aviation Photographers (Polish Acronym: SPFL) in Białowieża [gallery]. Later it was a couple of visits to air bases, mainly to Mińsk Mazowiecki [gallery1] [gallery2]. What is more, Nikon Academy Workshop took part in 32. AB in Łask [gallery].

One of the most important events on my photo-top-list of 2012 was a crazy weekend in May, together with Asia (girlfriend) and Majka (daughter) [gallery]. During that special weekend I was able to take photos that I always dreamt of. I dreamt of taking these special pictures each and every time when I went to the Biebrza river. Finally, and it was by accident, we met mating ruffs, just next to our site. It was a lot of fun to take pictures of those birds!. Of course before the long weekend in May I did visit the Biebrza river during the spring arrival of the birds to their habitat. [gallery1] [gallery2]

Nevertheless it was the air show preparation that mostly happened in the beginning of May 2012. This season started overseas, at JSOH in Andrews AFB near Washington DC [gallery]. We did avoid the upcoming hurricane storm - we hid in the Washington Aviation Museum [gallery]. Later I took part in a sea-aviation event called Fleet-Week. It took part on Hudson River in the New York City. Finally, I attended mighty Jones Beach air show on the East Coast [gallery], and took a lot of pictures there. Of course my American adventure also included non-aviation photos. It was great to visit, having camera with me, places that we know from the TV or cinema screens [gallery].

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few hours after we came back from the States, almost directly from the Chopin Airport in Warsaw we started another trip. Destination? Italy! It was a well deserved break from aviation photography. We visited Venice, Lake Garda, Tuscany and Rome. I also did take photos of the tragic embodiment of human stupidity – the Costa Concordia vessel, near the Isola del Giglio harbor [gallery]. The Italian holiday ended with a photo trip to the Roma International Airshow on Lido di Ostia beach, near Rome [gallery].

 

 

 

 

 

10 days after I came back from the Southern part of Europe I was already beyond the Polar Circle on my way to Norwegian Bodø. Our destination -  Bodø International Airshow 2012 [gallery]. It turned out, according to our expectations, that not only was the show special, but also the surroundings and Norwegian atmosphere with daylight around the clock were amazing! [gallery]

 

 

After I came back from Norway it was time to go to The Royal International Air Tattoo that took place in Fairford RAF base. The 2012 edition finally got me 100% convinced – it is the biggest airshow in the world [gallery]. It was splendid, it was spectacular!

 

I spent the end of July in the Malbork AB. The visit had strictly professional character, but it was definitely pleasant – aviation-photography one [gallery].

 

On the flip-side, I was really disappointed with the Mazury Air Show. Most of the aircraft that were to attend the show did not make it, and it made most of the aviation maniacs unhappy. It was a week later that everything turned out on a positive note – on the Moscow Rammenskoye airfield. It was the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force, and it was there, where the Mazury Air Show (not only!) was compensated [gallery].

 

Since a few years I spend September beyond our Southern border. First we attended Sliač and Slovak International Air Fest [gallery] and later we attended NATO Days in the Czech Ostrava [gallery].

 

Soon after I finished browsing through the Ostravian photos I started packing for our traditional autumn trip to Axalp. The Swiss Alps treated us like they used to earlier – with their beauty and with an unpredictable weather [gallery].

 

 

Usually Axalp is the last show I go to in my photo-aviation year, but not in 2012. Nikon Academy Workshop in Minsk Mazowiecki that took place after Axalp was amazing! It had many educational benefits, due to the fact that during a single day we could take both autumn, and winter photos [gallery]. The year could not pass by without our traditional Air-Action autumn meeting! [gallery]

 

 

The end of my photo year was marked with a party mood! I went back to take photos of my long forgotten models – little drops of liquid! And it happened exactly during the New Year's Eve party! :)

 

On a concluding note, here's something for you - a presentation of my aviation pictures that I took during the year 2012!!! :))
 

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