A blue and yellow U.S. Navy Blue Angels jet marked number 5 flies above choppy ocean water, with boats along the horizon.

A Line Through Blue

MG-0372

2024-07-30

About this piece

Mike Gedj captures Blue Angels aircraft number 5 in profile above a wind-ruffled sea, with pale vapor gathering near its wings. The jet’s sharply defined silhouette and yellow accents stand against an expansive blue sky, while distant boats establish scale along the low horizon.

The story

I followed the aircraft across the blue, keeping the strip of sea beneath it in my frame. The boats on the horizon seemed almost motionless beside that clean, forward-pointing shape. For an instant, pale vapor softened the wings, interrupting the hard geometry of metal and paint. I wanted to hold that contrast: the restless surface below, the open space above, and a machine cutting a precise line between them.

More from Open Skies

View all →

A dark flying-wing stealth bomber seen from below against a clear blue sky, sunlight tracing its angular edges. — An Edge of Light

A B-2 stealth bomber and a B-52 bomber seen from below against a clear blue sky. — Two Geometries Of Flight

The Statue of Liberty rises from a stone pedestal beneath a blue sky with streaked white clouds. — A Flame Held Still

Two white jets with red and blue markings pass in opposite directions against a blue sky, trailing smoke. — An Instant Between

Four white jets with red and blue markings fly in close formation against a blue sky and pale clouds. — The Shape Of Unison

Two red, white and blue U.S. Air Force jets fly in parallel against blue sky, the upper aircraft inverted. — A Balance Of Wings