At first glance, this photo looks like it’s made up of toy model planes and mini figurines. However, each person is real and every object is life-sized. The aerial image was taken by Ognyan Stefanov, the official photographer of the Bulgarian Air Force who joined the team to take part in the Tetris Challenge. The fun trend involves neatly organizing work equipment on the floor and photographing it from above.
Featuring two fighter jets, six trucks, countless weapons, and myriad air force officials, the impressive image took a lot of planning. “The idea came almost a year ago,” Stefanov tells My Modern Met. “But because of the short day in December and the weather conditions, we delayed everything for the summer.” Stefanov began thinking about the logistics for the image and gathered a team to help him set up the organized composition. “The most difficult work was for the armorers, who had to prepare all the weapons, to take all the bombs, missiles, and projectiles, and to clear them and to prepare them to stay safely on the ground,” Stefano recalls. “This stage took about a week and between the daily flights.”
Once the team gathered the objects they needed, they began marking out where each one should go. “We decided where exactly the arrangement will be and I drew with chalk the main reference points,” reveals Stefanov. “On the next day, we started to arrange the picture at 8 a.m., and it took almost 8 hours to finish.”
Of course, many of the items used in the image were heavy and difficult to position. “The problem is that each bomb, missile, and pod should be transported with a forklift,” says Stefanov. “Some of them are more than 500 kg [over 1,100 lbs], others 250 kg [over 550 lbs], and many others 125 kg [over 275 lbs].” At 3:30 p.m., Stefanov arrived with the military helicopter and took the epic photo from above, about 160 meters (almost 525 feet) in the air.
Check out Stefanov’s incredible Tetris Challenge image below, plus more from others who took part.
Bulgarian Air Force photographer Ognyan Stefanov took this visually satisfying image of equipment as part of the Tetris Challenge.
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The fun trend involves neatly organizing work equipment on the floor and photographing them from above. Here’s how other people did.
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The aviation-themed images are particularly impressive since giant planes are used in the composition.
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Ognyan Stefanov: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Ognyan Stefanov.
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