Four blue and yellow U.S. Navy Blue Angels jets fly toward the right in a staggered formation, trailing white smoke across a blue sky.

Four Lines of Flight

MG-0389

2024-07-30

About this piece

Four Blue Angels aircraft, numbered one through four, form a rising diagonal across an uninterrupted blue sky. Their sharply defined silhouettes and yellow markings contrast with the soft, dispersing smoke trails, giving speed a measured visual rhythm.

The story

I followed the four aircraft across the sky, watching the spaces between them as closely as the jets themselves. Against that open blue, every yellow accent and white trail became part of the composition. I wanted to hold the instant when their movement seemed almost still, the formation balanced across the frame. Behind them, the smoke was already loosening, turning precise lines into something the sky would soon absorb.

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