Besides the dramatic, 27-20 win for the University of Michigan football team, the 2024 Rose Bowl will be remembered forever for a stunning shot of an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber flying over 96,000 fans in Pasadena, Calif., during the pregame rendition of the ”Star-Spangled Banner” on New Year’s Day.
But while the picture lasts forever, aerial photographer Mark Holtzman had just a few heartbeats to capture the bomber and the stadium at the perfect angle in one frame, all while flying at 100 miles per hour in one direction at about 4,500 feet as the B-2 flew about 200 miles per hour in the other at about 3,000 feet.
“It’s a very fluid shoot,” Holtzman told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Everything’s moving and it’s gone before you can take a breath.”
Holtzman had been up in his Cessna 206 since before dawn that morning to shoot the football game and the preceding Rose Parade, which also featured a B-2 flyover. A 20-year aerial photographer, Holtzman has shot the Rose Bowl 15 times now. Each occasion requires careful planning with the military pilots performing the flyover and the various government agencies overseeing security for the event.
“Everybody is at different altitudes and we’re all on a discrete frequency so there is no interference,” Holtzman said. “It’s very professional.”
Capturing a moving object at just the right spot and angle is a complicated task. If Holtzman gets the angle wrong, his photos will make it look as if the B-2 missed the stadium, or it might block the view of the field or the names of the teams painted in the endzones.
“It’s not just taking a picture of the plane flying by,” he explained. “For me, it’s putting it in context with what they’re flying over. That’s the hard thing.”
The pilots of the B-2 or any other flyover aircraft follow a tight schedule to appear over the stadium at the exact right time in coordination with the national anthem, and during the approach they are told by controllers on the ground to speed up or slow down based on the pace of the performance. Holtzman has to read the situation and make the right call to shoot the flyover, but first he has to spot the jet as it approaches.
“Everything is very fast, and if you can’t see him, you’re not going to get the picture,” said the pilot, who flies with a co-pilot and his son to make sure somebody spots the approaching aircraft in time. When the moment finally arrives, Holtzman sticks his camera out the Cessna window to get the shot. By then, the pre-flight jitters are gone as he starts to work his magic.
“Once I’m there, I’m in kind of a zone. I’m not thinking, I’m just reacting,” said the photographer, who grew up playing jazz on the trumpet. “It’s very improvisational … if I did it one way this time, who knows how I’m going to do it next time.”
The payoff happens afterwards, when football fans, pilots, and others reach out to share what the flyover photo meant to them. Some say they printed out a copy because it marked the last time they went to a football game with their grandparents, or because their spouse was an aerospace engineer involved in the B-2 design program.
“Pictures are strong,” Holtzman said. “We know that, but it’s a wonderful thing. Just one picture, and no words, but it means a lot.”
Though they missed the 2023 flyover due to a fleetwide grounding, the B-2s stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., regularly perform the Rose Bowl flyover. Last year, a pair of B-1 bombers did the honors. The pilots who perform the flyovers appreciate the photos, and Holtzman often prints out his work and sends them to the crew. Over the years, he has built something of a reputation to live up to.
“They call me now before the game and ask ‘are you going to be there taking pictures?’” he said. “It’s a bit more pressure now.”
