Fred Shabec

Photography and planes have been in my life since I was young. My Father always had the 8mm video camera going catching every moment, as well as a regular camera. My Uncle has his pilot's license and loved to fly. I believe my love of planes and catching them on camera came from them.

Growing up near O'Hare airport, I always loved visiting the airport and watching planes. I used to ride my bicycle by the airport to watch the planes whenever I had the chance. Also, my parents and I traveled around the country in an RV during summer breaks. I saw my first air show in New York State. It was called at that time Plattsburgh AFB, I enjoyed having F-4, and FB-111's flying around all day. I was hooked into airshows at that point.

I then joined the U.S. Navy and became a Aviation Electronic Technician for four years. I was stationed at NAS Norfolk, VA. I worked on the Sikorsky HM-53E helicopters all four years, and loved my job.

I started out with a 35mm camera and gradually moved to digital and picked up a Canon 40D. I now use a Canon 7D and the 40D at the airshows with a Canon 100-400mm lens. I have been working with Airshows for five years now. I have flown with the Golden Knights, Lima Lima Flight team, and the Aeroshell Flight team, as well as the official photographer for the All Veteran Jump team when they come to the Chicago area. I have met many performers and pilots. Besides my love of planes and photography, they are the reason I love doing this.

My work has been published on many websites including the Lima Lima flight team, All Veteran Jump team, and World Airshow News. I have also been published in magazines including the World Airshow News, AirshowStuff, and Atlantic Flyer. My photographs are on posters promoting airshows and the different teams.

Fred currently lives in Lake in the Hills, IL with his wife.

Photos

Explore some of Fred's photos from our website by clicking the play arrow, or click on the square in the upper right hand corner to go to full screen. Once on the page, click play. To return to this page, click upper right hand button again. In full screen mode, you can double click the image to get a close-up view.