There are a lot of interesting objects in various type of museums and private collections that are fun to see and photograph.  Recently I visited an air museum, and a private collection of cool cars.  I managed to come away with some interesting images.  But, not without a struggle.  As a "regular" visitor, they are very difficult to photograph because:

• Terrible Lighting
  • It usually consists of overhead fluorescent lighting that creates ugly shadows and reflections!
  • You can't bring your own lighting and flash is most often not allowed!
• Restricted Access
  • I payed extra to get into an airshow at sunrise in order to get the good light, and minimize the crowd.  The organizers had a great idea, but they restricted access so we couldn't get into the proper position relative to the airplanes to get the good light hitting them from the correct direction.
  • And, as the World works, you know the best shot is always on the other side of the ropes!  :)
• Other Visitors
  • and they are not aware of your needs.  Sometimes, waiting works; sometimes not.
• Busy and inappropriate backgrounds
  • The background of an image can make or break the image.  Often, backgrounds become the most important element of the picture.  Space is at a premium in most places and objects are often placed without regard to their photographic impact. 
• Crowded Spaces
  • With space at a premium, it is the norm that many of the collection items are placed so close to each other that it is virtually impossible to take a picture of one item without including another item in the collection.  This particularly true with car and airplane collections!

The result is that it is difficult to photograph one item without another getting into the field of view.  In these situations, I usually go into the mode of "Shooting Parts" in order to handle some of these issues.

This first shot is an example of that.  It is a picture take of the side of a Douglas DC3 passenger aircraft which first saw service in the 1940's.  By shooting just the side, I eliminated ugly lights hanging from the ceiling and a very cluttered background that included other airplanes.  

Strangely, at this museum, good light wasn't a problem.  It was an overcast day and there was some nice soft light streaming through windows of the unusual hanger doors.  

The doors, themselves, looked as if they came from the 1940's era so I decided to use them as the principle background in the series of shots of a C-47 WWII cargo/troop carrier.  The C-47 was a military variant of the DC3 pictured above.  I started at the rear of the plane and circled it taking photos of plane with the door playing the role of the background!

I decided to continue with the WWII theme and convert them to black and white images during the post processing.  Here's the first shot of the C-47:

This last shot is my favorite of the series.

"Shooting Parts" is one strategy I use when I find I can't fit the entire subject into one image for any number oif reasons. 

I hope you enjoyed this brief trip back into the 40's and the brief discussion of my strategy.  My next entry will focus on autos I recently photographed from an interesting private collection ... more "parts."  :)   

Thanks for looking,

Adam