Feature: Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot demonstrates rare aviation photography skills

The gorgeous images taken of Pakistani fighter jets escorting the special plane of Chinese President Xi Jinping during his recent visit may have surprised many, as aviation photography of that level is a rare thing globally.

The fighter jet pilot, Air Commodore Hamid Faraz, who managed to take the famed photograph, said aviation photography was his passion and he had been focusing on it for the last six years and so was able to develop the requisite skills.

"This was the first occasion that I was honored with such a responsibility," Hamid Faraz told Xinhua in an exclusive interview in Islamabad on the latest photography experience.

The pilot-cum-photographer was asked how many times he had taken such photographs while he was in a plane and taking photos of other planes, to which he said he had flown more than 25 air-to- air photography sorties, so he had that experience.

"And it was that experience that gave me the confidence to execute this challenge to this level," he added.

Understanding the role of the pilot is key in aviation photography and following the rules of both disciplines -- avionics and photography -- perfectly, is key to achieve the highest-quality results.

The aviation photographer faces a lot of challenges and difficulties involved in how to handle the situation in the air. The process requires confidence as it is quite challenging, especially when a photographer like Hamid Faraz is tasked to capture such a unique flight or flights.

When asked about the preparation for the special photography task, the 50-year-old Air Commodore Faraz said he had performed certain checks like the setting of the camera and other equipment.

"I used a 72-200 mm zoom lens so that I could maintain sufficient distance from the aircraft, because I had to avoid getting too close to the aircraft. So I had a plan in mind and I briefed my photo pilot accordingly about how much distance we would maintain from that aircraft and then in the air I practically showed him that this is the distance I wanted to maintain."

"Previously, I have flown a number of sorties in which I designed the profile and took pictures of fighter aircraft in the air during maneuvering. And that was a great experience for me. For every mission I have to prepare well in advance. Only then am I able to produce such results," he added.

Aviation photography is far different from photography on the ground. Air-to-air photography, and especially taking photos of other aircraft, is difficult because the photographer is moving in three dimensions and his or her relative position to the other aircraft is extremely important. The photographer has to plan the mission and it depends a lot on his photo pilot as well to get the photographer into that position.

If the pilot is unable to maintain that position or is slightly higher or lower, or ahead or behind, then the photographer cannot take a good photo. So it depends on the pilot to get to that perfect position and then there are other things that count, such as the camera angle with respect to the canopy and the reflections.

Several variables like lighting conditions, good shooting angle and distance have to be considered to get the best shot and the most important point is the confidence to deal with the situation.

To the question why he had chosen a specific photograph among the 100 he had captured, Air Commodore Faraz said, "It gives an excellent view of the blue sky, a complete undercast of white clouds in which the aircraft are close to the horizon, so that is the reason it was chosen." Endi