RNZAF photographer flying high after air-to-air mission

The Auckland weather has cleared. Corporal Butcher makes her way across the flight line towards her aircraft, helmet in one hand and camera in the other.

For five years, Corporal Butcher had patiently waited for the opportunity to add air-to-air photography to her resume. Today her assignment is photographing four T-6C Texan II aircraft flying in close formation from the back seat of her own aircraft, known as the ‘photo ship’.

“I had waited a long time and was a little nervous because of the pressure I put on myself to do a good job,” she said. “There was also relief that it was finally going to happen, but mostly I was excited.

“Up until now, every opportunity I had to go up, something happened. Bad weather, a sick pilot, scheduling issues — a lot of bad luck.”

This flight is crewed by advanced formation qualified No. 14 Squadron staff during Exercise Wise Owl out of RNZAF Base Auckland.

Her interest for photography began at Feilding High School. She joined the Air Force as a 20-year-old after completing the one-year Certificate of Art and Design at UCOL in Whanganui, followed by a two-year Diploma in Photographic Imaging at UCOL in Palmerston North.

Photography is an Air Force trade, but the photographic unit supports all three New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) services – Navy, Army and Air Force, and Corporal Butcher says the diversity is what she loves about the job.

Since joining, she has travelled throughout New Zealand and covered the biggest multinational military exercises in the South Pacific, including Pitch Black, Talisman Sabre (Australia), and RIMPAC (Hawaii).

She has slung a camera aboard naval ships, inside armoured vehicles, and in planes and helicopters, but the challenging air-to-air job had always escaped her.

“A lot of pieces had to fall into place to make this happen. You need medical clearance, and fitting of equipment from our Safety and Surface crew. The Texan has a partly pressurised cockpit so it’s a full helmet and oxygen.”

To get the best results, one crucial decision was the choice of lens because it’s impossible to change lenses in the cramped cockpit. She chose the versatile 24-70mm because her photo-ship could work within the formation and around the other aircraft.

Another challenge was the flight helmet – it made it impossible to look through the camera’s viewfinder. Her only option was to hold the camera out in front and look at the back monitor.  Texans are fast, highly maneuverable aircraft so composing a steady shot took all her skill and experience. Adding to the challenge was shooting through the obscured canopy, sunlight bouncing throughout the cockpit, and the ever-present danger of motion sickness.

“I definitely did not want to throw up,” she said. “Concentrating on the monitor, adjusting camera settings, and fighting the movement was hard. At one point I had to put the camera down for a minute because I started to feel sick. Apart from being embarrassing, if you throw up in a flight suit and helmet it’s a big deal – and really expensive.”

Mission accomplished: on a perfect Auckland day, surrounded by Texans flying in low-level formation, Corporal Butcher spent 90 minutes with her camera in hand, living the dream…and did not throw up.  The wait was worth it, she’s extremely happy with the results and her photographs will be used in a variety of NZDF media for years to come.