Dirk Jan de Ridder

My name is Dirk Jan de Ridder. I am a renowned photojournalist specialised in military aviation. I work for armed forces, but I’m paid for it by the printed media that publish my work. Many air forces have benefited from the free exposure I provide them.

Rather than visiting air shows and other public events, I prefer to arrange private visits to air forces around the world. My job offers me amazing opportunities to take photos of military aircraft in the air, so called air-to-air photography. I could probably write a whole book about it, but this video on the right says more than 1000 words.

Photography is the element that makes or breaks a publication. I prefer to shoot aircraft in their natural environment, ideally in the air.

My work is frequently published in aviation magazines worldwide. An average article appears in at least two or three magazines and contains between four to eight pages.

These publications are read by heads of arms, military air attaches, procurement specialists, military personnel and well-informed enthusiasts.

“Being able to spend several days with an air force and focus on a single aircraft type really improves my photography. I normally spend between three to five days on a single air base. This enables me to get familiar with local procedures, make arrangements and pick the best moments for photography.”

10 hours // Fast jets
BAe Hawk, F-5 Tiger II, MiG-21 Fishbed, Saab 105.

60+ hours // Helicopters
AS532 Cougar, AW101 Merlin, Bell 412, Bo-105, CH-47 Chinook, Mi-17 Hip, NH90, S-70 Black Hawk, Sea King, UH-1 Iroquois, etcetera.

10+ hours // Trainers
BAe Hawk, KT-1 Woongbi, Saab 105, T-6 Harvard II, T-25 Universal, T-27 Tucano (illustrated).

20+ hours // Other aircraft
Airbus A310, An-26 Curl, C-130 Hercules, C-130J Super Hercules, EADS C-295, KC-135 Stratotanker, etcetera.

As of October 2018, I have visited 26 armed forces on four continents, logging nearly 100 flight hours in my log book. This includes seven flights in fast jets, including the BAe Hawk, F-5 Tiger II and MiG-21 Fishbed, and over 60 hours in all sorts of helicopters.

My experience includes flying supersonic fighter jets, ejection-seat equipped training aircraft, helicopters and transport aircraft with cargo doors opened both during photo flights and operational training flights.

“Air-to-air photography is not just about getting some planes airborne and taking a few shots. Preparation is key. Getting everything right -including composition, lighting, timing- is all but coincidence or luck.”

I have visited and flown with the following air arms:

Belgian Air Component | Brazilian Air Force | Bulgarian Air Force | Croatian Air Force | Czech Air Force | German Army | German Air Force | German Navy | Hellenic Air Force | Hellenic Navy | Hungarian Air Force | Macedonian Air Force | Portuguese Air Force | Romanian Air Force | Royal Air Force | Royal Canadian Air Force | Royal Netherlands Air Force | Serbian Air Force | Spanish Army | Swedish Air Force | Swiss Air Force | Turkish Air Force | Turkish Army | United States Air Force | United States Army

Magazine publications | Photo gallery

I look forward to hearing from you, so please feel free to contact me!