A white, red, and blue U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 jet banks against a clear blue sky, its nose pointing toward the upper left.

A Measure of Sky

MG-0460

2024-07-30

About this piece

Mike Gedj captures a Thunderbirds F-16 in flight, its swept wings and star-patterned tail sharply defined against blue sky. The diagonal composition and vivid red accents give the aircraft a sense of momentum within an otherwise spare frame.

The story

I followed the aircraft through the blue, drawn to the way its white surfaces caught the light. As it banked, the wings and tail resolved into a precise arrangement of lines, with red tracing the edges of the shape. I wanted to hold that brief clarity: a machine built for speed, appearing almost suspended. Without a horizon in the frame, the sky became both its setting and its scale.

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