The Don Englebreston Collection
Backlit Silhouette of a Wetting-Down Ceremony beside a Parked Aircraft, Southeast Asian Air Base, Vietnam War Era
Shot straight into the sun, this frame reduces the flight-line wetting down to silhouettes and light. The fire hose stream becomes a glowing fan of backlit spray, an observer stands as a black shape at the edge of the picture, and the tail and tailwheel of the parked Skyraider anchor the right side. The exposure sacrifices all shadow detail and blows out the sky, but it captures the atmosphere of the moment more forcefully than the correctly exposed frames alongside it. Project: 219827