Royal Air Force commemorates 70 years since D-Day with recreated photos

\n”,”products”:[]},{“title”:”RAF recreates D-Day reconnaissance photos”,”url”:”/news/2014/06/06/royal-air-force-commemorates-70-years-since-d-day-with-recreated-photos/2″,”imageUrl”:”http://1.static.img-dpreview.com/files/w/TS590x393?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpreview.com%2Ffiles%2Fnews%2F8120889134%2FA_II__AC__Squadron_Mustang_in_flight.jpg&signature=XpOK%2FnV7VaGdAg51R2zw1maBiBk%3D&v=2863″,”imageWidth”:590,”imageHeight”:393,”thumbnailUrl”:”http://4.static.img-dpreview.com/files/w/TS120x80?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpreview.com%2Ffiles%2Fnews%2F8120889134%2FA_II__AC__Squadron_Mustang_in_flight.jpg&signature=moR0L2x6%2FqRT62GAIvfnicRJxaU%3D&v=2863″,”thumbnailWidth”:120,”thumbnailHeight”:80,”originalUrl”:”http://www.dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/A_II__AC__Squadron_Mustang_in_flight.jpg”,”originalWidth”:960,”originalHeight”:640,”contentHtml”:”\n\n

The Squadron that flew in the 1944 reconnaissance mission carried cameras loaded on the bottoms of the aircraft, requiring over 30 sorties to create a wide panoramic image. Modern cameras, of course, require only one jet to create a panoramic photo.

\n”,”products”:[]},{“title”:”RAF recreates D-Day reconnaissance photos”,”url”:”/news/2014/06/06/royal-air-force-commemorates-70-years-since-d-day-with-recreated-photos/3″,”imageUrl”:”http://3.static.img-dpreview.com/files/w/TS590x393?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpreview.com%2Ffiles%2Fnews%2F8120889134%2FDSC05199.JPG&signature=sB%2FPze82l9BmD29fJUghd8rknJA%3D&v=2863″,”imageWidth”:590,”imageHeight”:393,”thumbnailUrl”:”http://4.static.img-dpreview.com/files/w/TS120x80?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpreview.com%2Ffiles%2Fnews%2F8120889134%2FDSC05199.JPG&signature=fH0fJM71r%2BVrB2p3wd4vXbW0tKg%3D&v=2863″,”thumbnailWidth”:120,”thumbnailHeight”:80,”originalUrl”:”http://www.dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/DSC05199.JPG”,”originalWidth”:960,”originalHeight”:640,”contentHtml”:”\n\n

The Tornado GR4 jets flew at 1000 feet to replicate the original flight, using photographic equipment that had just been used in Afghanistan. Wing Commander Mark Smith of the tactical group that supported the mission said, \”Whilst the technology involved has changed, the basic principles and skills that our Imagery Analysts employ today on operations in Afghanistan would be instantly recognisable to the veterans of D-Day.\”

“,”products”:[]}],”currentSlideIndex”:0,”slideshowWidth”:590,”slideshowHeight”:393,”disableImageZoomInSlideshow”:false,”fullContent”:”<h2>RAF recreates D-Day reconnaissance photos</h2>\n<table class=”images noCaptions noCrop single” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=”image”><a href=”http://www.dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/DDay-Beaches-2014.jpg” target=”news-story-8120889134″><img src=”http://2.static.img-dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/520/DDay-Beaches-2014.jpg” alt=”” width=”520″ height=”347″ border=”0″></a></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n<p>Seventy years after the D-Day landings in Normandy, the Royal Air Force remembers June 6, 1944 by recreating some historic images from the day – though not the kind you might expect. As naval forces made landfall, a II (AC) Squadron Mustang took to the sky above, bringing back some of the first images of the landings. A total of 36 sorties flew over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The reconnaissance mission was recently mimicked by two Tornado GR4s carrying more sophisticated imaging equipment. The top image on this slide was created with modern photographic equipment, the resolving power of which is demonstrated by the detail in the red box. The bottom image was captured on June 6, 1944.</p>\n<p>The video below was recorded as the Tornado jets flew on their mission. According to the Royal Air Force on YouTube, “They are taking images of the beaches with the Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for Tornado — or RAPTOR for short, which takes aerial images and can read the time on the face of Big Ben in London from the Isle of Wight. Full motion video is captured by the Litening III Advanced Targeting Pod.”</p>\n<div class=”video” align=”center”><iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/cxKGFFiy6VY?rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;wmode=transparent” width=”430″ height=”242″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>\n<h2>RAF recreates D-Day reconnaissance photos</h2>\n<table class=”images noCaptions noCrop single” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=”image”><a href=”http://www.dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/A_II__AC__Squadron_Mustang_in_flight.jpg” target=”news-story-8120889134″><img src=”http://4.static.img-dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/520/A_II__AC__Squadron_Mustang_in_flight.jpg” alt=”” width=”520″ height=”347″ border=”0″></a></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n<p>The Squadron that flew in the 1944 reconnaissance mission carried cameras loaded on the bottoms of the aircraft, requiring over 30 sorties to create a wide panoramic image. Modern cameras, of course, require only one jet to create a panoramic photo.</p>\n<h2>RAF recreates D-Day reconnaissance photos</h2>\n<table class=”images noCaptions noCrop single” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=”image”><a href=”http://www.dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/DSC05199.JPG” target=”news-story-8120889134″><img src=”http://2.static.img-dpreview.com/files/news/8120889134/520/DSC05199.JPG” alt=”” width=”520″ height=”347″ border=”0″></a></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n<p>The Tornado GR4 jets flew at 1000 feet to replicate the original flight, using photographic equipment that had just been used in Afghanistan. Wing Commander Mark Smith of the tactical group that supported the mission said, “Whilst the technology involved has changed, the basic principles and skills that our Imagery Analysts employ today on operations in Afghanistan would be instantly recognisable to the veterans of D-Day.”</p>”});
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RAF recreates D-Day reconnaissance photos

Seventy years after the D-Day landings in Normandy, the Royal Air Force remembers June 6, 1944 by recreating some historic images from the day – though not the kind you might expect. As naval forces made landfall, a II (AC) Squadron Mustang took to the sky above, bringing back some of the first images of the landings. A total of 36 sorties flew over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The reconnaissance mission was recently mimicked by two Tornado GR4s carrying more sophisticated imaging equipment. The top image on this slide was created with modern photographic equipment, the resolving power of which is demonstrated by the detail in the red box. The bottom image was captured on June 6, 1944.

The video below was recorded as the Tornado jets flew on their mission. According to the Royal Air Force on YouTube, “They are taking images of the beaches with the Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for Tornado — or RAPTOR for short, which takes aerial images and can read the time on the face of Big Ben in London from the Isle of Wight. Full motion video is captured by the Litening III Advanced Targeting Pod.”

Comments

thanks a million for the allies, and of course veterans, which liberated europe and especially germany from nazi control – those bravery men fought for freedom, for a better world without that regime….and so many lost heir lives…thanks god, we don’t have war since 70 years and peace then, and i also hope much the current ukrainian conflict would be solved peacefully. today is a good day to watch “saving private ryan”.

These planes were un armed stripped of extra weight for speed devoid of ammunition and the only way to stay alive was by your flying skill and maneuver. The images they brought back were tactical in nature and were responsible for directing the army took in their land battles. Brave men.

Annnnnd the photos are dissimilar… *confused*

i hope you only play dumb.
time moves on…… 70 years change things.

I mean… all that effort and they didn’t bother to align the photo to the other? And the perspective is different. It just doesn’t recreate the original for me, but I guess they define ‘recreate’ differently.

Keeping the horizon level has different implications in aviation and photography.

Naturally. So you think it was matter of occupational health and safety?

I don’t think the intention was so much to precisely reproduce the images as it was to sorta replicate the mission. I imagine back then getting steady aligned shots from a plane was much harder, especially when actually at war. Just shows another way in which arial surveillance photography has advanced.

Eh, I guess it just doesn’t pique my interest all that much. Then again, I’m not one to appreciate modern aviation all that much either.

Guess you weren’t their “target market”, simple as that.

I’m sure plenty of people will be fascinated by the images/process/stories.