MCAS Miramar Air Show 2024 — and an eye-opening look at two AI-modified photos
(NOTE: The two AI-modified explosions photos are within the group of USMC MAGTF images below)
Huge crowds were present for the 2024 MCAS Miramar Air Show — “America’s Air Show” presented by the United States Marine Corps — and it did not disappoint.
The weather was excellent, and there was lots to see and do. General admission and on-base parking at the air show were, as always, free of charge, so everyone could return for another day for free, to see what you missed the first day. That’s what I did.
In their welcome to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Major General James B. Wellons, U.S. Marine Corps, Commanding General, Third Marine Aircraft Wing, and Colonel R. Erik Herrmann, U.S. Marine Corps, Commanding Officer, MCAS Miramar previewed what we were about to see: “a robust and thrilling lineup of both civilian performances and military demonstrations of state-of-the-art fighter, attack, and assault support aircraft!” They told us that “beyond the high-speed aircraft and cutting-edge equipment, this air show is a reflection of who we are as Marines and where we are headed as a forward-thinking, premier warfighting organization. Three core themes underpin the spirit and vision of the air show: Who We Are, Where We Are Going, and How We Fight. Many of these men and women have deployed multiple times, possess extraordinary enthusiasm for their work, and are eager to share their experiences with you.”
On my first day — Saturday — I mostly shot the planes in the air. The weekend’s schedule included the Red Bull Air Force, U.S. Navy Leap Frogs, Ed Hammill Folds of Honor Pitts S-2C, U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey demo, U.S. Air Force KC135 Stratotanker demo, Acemaker T-33 Shooting Stars formation demo, Aaron Deliu Extra 330 aerobatics, U.S. Marine Corps MAGTF, Vicky Benzing P-51 “Plum Crazy,” Alaska Airlines flyby, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor demo with P-38 Heritage Flight, U.S. Marine Corps F-35B demo and, to top it all off, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels with Fat Albert.
This year, for the first time at this air show, a U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor deployed flares in multiple passes as it flew over MCAS Miramar. Previously, the only time that I’d ever seen flares being deployed from an aircraft was at last year’s Pacific Airshow Huntington Beach, but those passes were over the ocean.
One of the highlights of the MCAS Miramar Airshow is always the USMC MAGTF — the Marine Air-Ground Task Force rapid response team, in an action-packed demo. We read in the glossy, full-color, complimentary air show program (complete with photos and information about many of the aircraft and participants), “as F/A-18 “Hornets” and F-35B “Lightning IIs” scream through the air, helicopter-borne Marines rappel from the sky and infantry platoons move in on their objective in armored vehicles. In the air and on the ground, the men and women of the United States Marine Corps perform a simulated combat assault for the MCAS Miramar Air Show audience.”
The first of the following two explosions photos is my image as I originally shot and edited it. The second is a version created with Adobe Lightroom Classic’s new Generative AI, to remove the tent and other objects in the foreground. I edited that to create a third version of the photo because, in the lower right front corner of the AI-generated photo, AI added a hill and a lake to the otherwise flat and dry MCAS Miramar base!
As in the previous example of AI-modified photos, edited with Adobe Lightroom Classic’s new Generative AI, the transformation in this second AI-modified photo is even more dramatic than in the first example. Once again my objective was to remove all of the objects in the foreground, including the large tent that blocked much of my view of the big explosion. By my simply highlighting what I wanted replaced, AI removed a large portion of what was in the original photo and extrapolated a lot more of the explosion to replace it.
It is amazing how AI can extrapolate information from photos to create photo-realistic, missing parts of the original image — and AI is still in its infancy. This is a lot more powerful than simply removing a power line or a sign from a photo. This is materially altering photos, and It will probably get even more powerful. How can we believe what we see in photos anymore? This was easy for me to do. Who should get credit for this photo — me or Adobe or? This is a game changer for photography as we know it.
The final demonstration of the day was by the Blue Angels, from Naval Air Station Pensacola. This was their 51st flight demonstration of the 2024 season.
The Blue Angels maintenance crew and their equipment travel aboard Fat Albert, a USMC Lougheed Martin C-130 Super Hercules. Its capabilities, as were demonstrated at the air show, began with the aircraft accelerating along the runway to a speed of 125 miles per hour, and then executing a high-performance takeoff climb at a steep, 45-degree angle.
The Blue Angels showcase “the mainstay of modern naval air power operating off U.S. aircraft carriers, the combat-proven F/A-18 Super Hornet, along with the Marine Corps’ premiere logistics support aircraft, the C-130 Super Hercules. The team consists of 138 world-class, active-duty Sailors and Marines.”
I returned on Sunday to shoot the exhibits and activities that were on the ground.
At the indoor Tech Expo I observed a heartwarming interaction between ROSCOE the robotic dog, from RESTORE Laboratory, and a wide-eyed child. Both were fully engaged as each stood face-to-face, while another curious young child looked on from its stroller.
There were military and civilian aircraft, as well as land and water-based vehicles, with crew members on-hand to answer questions and show visitors around…
…food…
…air show souvenirs…
…law enforcement agencies’ exhibits with helicopters…
…and even an opportunity to experience high-performance exotic vehicles.
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Copyright © 2024 by Jan Wagner – AutoMatters & More #858r2 (for AutoMatters & More online)
Jan, what a fun but exhausting weekend! This must be one of the most exciting events of the year. My thoughts are random:
The fan you photographed with the two iPhones in the frame with two hand controls might have a good idea. Would this method of photography be a close alternative to you lugging around 30 lbs of gear? Just a suggestion.
Your use of AI to remove the foreground is inventive. Your software is probably better than Photoshop, but it illustrates the difficulty it telling the difference between reality and deepfake.
My son has a PhD from Missou and specializes in game theory, machine learning and AI, so I try to keep abreast of the subject. At the moment, deepfake (visual, audio and written) can mostly be detected by anti-deepfake AI, but this ability will narrow as AI improves.
If you enjoy playing around with AI, you should install the ChatGPT app on your smartphone.
Great column! David
David,
Thank you for reading the column’s text and making comments that reflect critical thought.
Yes, it was an exhausting weekend, made much more so by my sprained left knee. I wish that I could say that it is getting better after several weeks of four times per week physical therapy, but improvements have been small and very slow. This is really having a negative impact on my ability to edit lots of pictures, so that I can post my weekly columns on my website.
The fake enhancements to the scene were so natural looking, that I almost missed the glimpse of a lake that the AI added to my second photo.
Jan