Airshow Photography

[Skids]

Hi.

I have done a search for this but have found conflicting answers so I was after some help in not too technical terms please :oops:

I am going to the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford tomorrow and will be taking my Drebel with Sigma 70-300 APO and 550EX.

I will be hoping to get plent of photos af aircraft in flight and would appreciate advice on shutter speeds/ISO settings etc.

I am guessing a good start would be to have the camera set to TV mode but am open to any suggestions.

Ideally I would like to get some nice sharp pictures of jets and also pictures of prop planes with some prop blur.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Darren

[SDK^]

A shutter speed of between 1/250 and 1/400 should work with panning. If conditions are on the dark side don't be afraid to bump ISO to 400.

[PacAce]

For shots of jets with the sky (no landscape) as the background, the higher the shutter speed, the sharper and clearer your images are going to be. However, if some landmark is visible, then panning with a shutter speed slow enough to blur the background would probably be appropriate to get that jet in motion type of a shot. 1/250 might be a good starting point but my guess is that you'll probably need 1/125 or slower to get a good motion blur of the background.

For prop planes and helicopters, you will definitely want to use a slow shutter speed such as 1/250. If that doesn't blur the prop enough for you then you might want 1/125. A full circle blur of the prop may require an even slower shutter speed unless the engine is really revving.

[robertwgross]

Why is it that I can never get the prop to blur right on an F-16 fighter? :D

---Bob Gross---

[Cadenza]

Why is it that I can never get the prop to blur right on an F-16 fighter? :D

---Bob Gross---

You need to learn the "circular panning" technique!

[PacAce]

Why is it that I can never get the prop to blur right on an F-16 fighter? :D

---Bob Gross---

Bob, you have to make sure that you're standing directly in front of the F-16 so that you can see the "prop" inside the jet engine. You have to be close enough to the engine to get the details of the prop but not so close that you're going to get sucked right into it.

Or, you could try the easier and much safer method which is to stand directly behind the jet engine but the view of the prop isn't all that great from there. And, on top of that, you risk a chance of singeing your eye lashes and other facial hair due to the hot exhaust coming out of the engine, especially when the turbo boost is engaged.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[robertwgross]

Actually, I was getting ready to board a helicopter flight once in 1997. The aircraft was a Russian-made troop helicopter, HIP Mi-16, and it was sitting cold on the air strip. I was standing a few yards away when the pilot decided to fire up the jet turbine, and this huge ball of fire came roaring out of the lateral exhaust port.

Buy! You want to talk about eyebrow singe!

I wish I had been standing back farther away with my camera ready and somebody else as the subject.

---Bob Gross---

[PacAce]

Actually, I was getting ready to board a helicopter flight once in 1997. The aircraft was a Russian-made troop helicopter, HIP Mi-16, and it was sitting cold on the air strip. I was standing a few yards away when the pilot decided to fire up the jet turbine, and this huge ball of fire came roaring out of the lateral exhaust port.

Buy! You want to talk about eyebrow singe!

I wish I had been standing back farther away with my camera ready and somebody else as the subject.

---Bob Gross---

:shock: Hopefully any facial disfigurement was only temporary. :(

Note to self: Do NOT get anywhere near a Russian helicopter without proper head gear and flame-retardant clothing. :lol: :mrgreen:

[robertwgross]

Note to self: Do NOT get anywhere near a Russian helicopter without proper head gear and flame-retardant clothing. :lol: :mrgreen:

Add ear protection to that list.

When you sit inside, they pass a tray around for everybody. The tray has gum (so you can chew and reduce inner ear pressure) and also hunks of cotton (so you can plug up your outer ears).

---Bob Gross---

[Skids]

Thanks for the info guys.

If I get any decent pictures I will post them up on the site.

[scottbergerphoto]

http://www.pbase.com/image/30892167.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/30892166.jpg

1D Mark II
Canon 100-400 IS L
Iso 400
Tv Mode Shutter 1/2000
AI Servo
Center AF Point only
Partial Metering

Regards,
Scott

[PhotosGuy]

Did you use a macro lens for that shot, Scott? :lol:

[scottbergerphoto]

Did you use a macro lens for that shot, Scott? :lol:
Let me see your pictures of 1/4 scale jets going by at 100mph. :wink:
Scott

[PhotosGuy]

How's this?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Samples%20-%20Rides/F-15s2-1.jpg?t=1281111870

It singed my eyebrows a bit...
:lol:

[PacAce]

Man, those are really neat shots, Scott and Frank. But I think I'd feel much safer standing behind the ducted fan engine of Scott's F-15 than behind the turbofan jet engine of Frank's F-15. :shock:

:lol: :mrgreen:

[edit] Or is yours a model, too, Frank? I just noticed that your plane doesn't have any markings on the vertical stabs.

[PhotosGuy]

No, it's (semi) real, a National Guard F-15. Semi, 'cause I added the two in the air in P$.
I actually had an (ex) potential client (female) who asked me how I was able to get that shot. I answered without thinking, "Well, I just stood there behind it"! All the guys laughed, she turned about 6 shades of red & I knew there wouldn't be any point in calling her in the future! :lol:

[PacAce]

No, it's (semi) real, a National Guard F-15.

Oh, OK, that kind of explains the "blank" tail.

Semi, 'cause I added the two in the air in P$.

Yeah, I kind of thought that that was the case. I was thinking what are the chances of such a serendipitous moment (the F-15 in the air flying and coming into view between the two stabs of the F-15 on the ground with the sun positioned where it was just as you released the shutter) happening and making a picture like you got. :lol:

[ron chappel]

With regards to the original question-
when doing aircraft shots against a clearor cloudy sky-is there a need to compensate for all the overbright area?

[mjordan]

Ron, the problem with having a lot of open sky is if your camera meter point reads that rather than the aircraft. if you can keep your exposure meter on the craft when you take the picture, it should be pretty accurate if the sun is behind you. When I shoot at air shows I think I run +2/3rds fstop though. But I get my share of images where my meter point was not on the plane when I took the shot (if it's close and moving fast) and I exposed for the sky rather than the plane.

You can also put your exposure in manual and set it to what you think is good. You just have to be sure and double check it from time to time or when your lighting changes.

Mike

[ron chappel]

I suspected it might be something like that.
I mainly asked the question in case skids needed to know but in case no one gets around to mentioning it.

[PhotosGuy]

Try this: take an exposure reading of a known object like a gray card, or shoot a white paper 'till the histogram is close to the right side. Write it down.
Now take an exposure reading of the blue sky, the green grass, & the palm of your hand (which doesn't tan). Write them down. Then 'develop' your own exposure compensation factors & you won't have to worry about the exposure reading for a black/blue/white aircraft moving at 300mph. Even if you don't have a gray card with you, the sky isn't blue, & there's no grass, you can still read the palm of your hand & get within a half stop of the right exposure.
Shoot RAW on "M", & tweak the exposure on your computer.

We're shooting digital, folks, & it doesn't cost anything to experiment, which is more relevant to the way that YOU shoot, than advice based on how someone else shoots. I'm not saying that you shouldn't ask for advice, just that you should modify the results to suit your own "style" of working.
And with digital, it's easy to shoot some tests & find a workable solution to a problem.
:wink: