Mark Holtzman: Most of the time, they have a TFR, temporary flight restrictions. Above that, I can fly. But I’m always talking with them. It’s run under the Pasadena Police, so I get a clearance. They don’t want anybody just flying around during a big event like that, even though you theoretically can. So I was on a discreet frequency, the same frequency as the B-2, talking to them. They know me now.

Madrigal: How high are the military jets flying?

Holtzman: Minimum altitude anybody can be is about 1,000 feet. So, they are roughly 1,000 feet above the people. I was about 2,500 feet above them.

Madrigal: Were you using a pretty huge lens?

Holtzman: Well, the lens I had out was a 70–200 mm lens, but I was really at the 70 mark on it because my goal was to catch the whole stadium.

Madrigal: So that’s the picture as you took it right out of the camera, or did you have to crop it?

Hotlzman: I always crop it a little. I had to rotate it a little. In the uncropped version, I had the whole stadium, plus some of the parking lot. Unlike film, the way you shoot digital is you shoot wider and crop it in. It’s hard. Things are happening really quick. It’s very fluid. I’m flying at 100 miles per hour. They are flying 200 miles an hour in the other [direction]. So, that’s 300 miles per hour. Things happen really quickly.

Madrigal: How fast are you shooting? What’s the shutter speed? (A typical indoor iPhone photo might be exposed for one-tenth to one-30th of a second.)

Holtzman: I’m always over 1,000 [that’s one one-thousandth of a second—or very fast]. It’s always safer to be there when you’re flying.

Madrigal: Can you give me a little more on the logistics of catching the moment?

Holtzman: First you have to figure out what you want to show. For me, my goal was to put the B-2 inside the stadium, preferably in the grass. And I don’t want to block any of the names or other stuff. For this picture, if you block the flag, it takes away from it.

So, first you’re trying to find the B-2 as it is flying toward you. Everything is fluid. I am moving around. They have to be on their target and you have to be on yours. There are no shortcuts. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Madrigal: One thing that makes this image so spectacular is that it feels like you shot it straight, straight down onto the bomber. It’s such an unusual view.

Holtzman: It was pretty much angled straight down. But to be honest, I was just going for the picture. I had my son with me in the backseat so I could make sure that one of us saw the plane coming in. Because things are happening and sometimes you don’t focus on them quick enough. But once I’m on shooting, I’m kicking the rudders around to try to put the plane wherever. My feet are always on the rudders and I’m always moving. [Update: For those worried about Holtzman’s safety, he flies with a copilot. His teammate that day was Sevak Sargsyan, an experienced commercial copilot.]