Dietmar’s Passion for Flight

by Ken Kula · Published August 4, 2015

Air to Air Photography by Dietmar Schreiber

I went to Alaska in June to take photos of military aircraft during an exercise, and of civilian aircraft during my “off air base” time. While photographing airliners from the back side of Anchorage’s Ted Stevens International Airport, I struck up conversations with a few like-minded photographers… and as the old saying goes… “one thing led to another…”.

I met Austrian Dietmar Schreiber whose hobby – no – his passion, is air to air photography. He’s 45 years old and has worked at the Vienna International Airport since 1985… the past 20 years in airport operations, so he’s immersed in aviation on an almost daily basis. As far as photography goes, he has a soft spot in his heart for old propliners, as we will see in the coming days.

As we spoke in Anchorage, he received a pair of phone calls regarding two air to air photography flights during the following days. Although he’ll gladly follow along with others who plan photo flights, this man has an amazing talent of contacting the right people at the right time, and arranging for suitable aerial platforms to be ready for air to air shoots. Not just with any aircraft either… we’re talking about airliners, air freighters, and military jets as well as general aviation and warbird aircraft (the last two groups seem to be easier to work with in my limited experience). Here’s a sampling of some of his work… we’ll be sharing more photos by Dietmar in the future, so check in regularly.

The banner photo is of the Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Demonstration pilot and jet, as he pulled in close to the photo ship. This was done while in company with a group of Belgian photographers. Not a bad way to pass time, behind your lens composing photos like this?!