Four blue and yellow U.S. Navy Blue Angels jets fly at different bank angles against a clear blue sky, with white smoke trailing behind them.

Geometry of Flight

MG-0395

2024-07-30

About this piece

Four Blue Angels aircraft form a staggered arrangement across an uninterrupted blue sky, their yellow markings outlining wings and tails. Contrasting bank angles and thin smoke trails give the composition its rhythm, holding speed and precision within a single frame.

The story

I followed the four aircraft through the viewfinder, watching the spaces between them as closely as the wings. Against so much blue, each change of angle altered the whole composition: one jet showed its underside, another caught a sharp glint along its fuselage. I wanted to hold that brief balance, when the smoke still traced their passage and the sky gave no sense of scale, only room to move.

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