Spitfires Everywhere!

[James Wheeler]

Shot at Legends on Saturday, the 2 nearer Spitfires flew past in front of the large formation behind them making for an interesting photo, what do you think?

40D with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4795491021_b365d9d22c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameswheeler/4795491021/lightbox/)

[PhotosGuy]

http://djforum.free.fr/smileysmileysmiley/v2/surprises/surprises.smileysmiley.com.54.gif

I expect that I'd chicken out & shoot faster for a shot like that, but have you seen this? Airshow guys - prop freeze? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=229542)

[James Wheeler]

Thanks :)

I hadn't and have added a couple of shots on the end of the thread :)

Annoyingly in the shot above the a/c to the lower left is the sharp aircraft rather than the leading Spit. I just liked the shot as a whole though :) reminds me of the noise they were making :)

[ryanapem]

Thanks :)
I just liked the shot as a whole though :) reminds me of the noise they were making :)

And a beautiful noise that must have been! It really is an interesting photo, without your description of the setup I surely would have thought it was a composite.

[James Wheeler]

The reason I gave the description was because I sat there and looked at it and thought "if I didn't know better I would say that was a composite" :)

Glad you like it, Ryan

[ziyius]

Nice shot

[hairy_moth]

The reason I gave the description was because I sat there and looked at it and thought "if I didn't know better I would say that was a composite" :)


I was looking at it and thinking it was and you were tricking us. :)
I did notice that the props were in different positions.. so I thought, at least, it was made up of several captures..

Nice job.

[gkarris]

Great catch!

I know it's for real, but you see those special effects extras on video discs and they talk about how they just use "copy and paste" when they want to create a scene of multiple aircraft (or anything)...

;)

[TheBigDog]

just an awesome catch!

[jollyroger99]

very cool, must have been awesome to see it in person and hear them all go by.

[goldenturtle]

Oh a great shot of the Spits.... I can just imagine the sound. I envy you the experience.

[James Wheeler]

Thanks for the kind comments all.

You can see each of the bg aircraft has different markings, the last of the 6 in the background is a clipped wing MkV :)

The props are most likely to be in slightly different positions as they will all be varying their power settings constantly to stay in formation and some have more powerful engines than others as well.

The 2 foreground Spitfires were much closer which makes the perspective look odd and I feel it is those 2 that look the most like they have been added to the image.

[sandpiper]

Nice work James.

This is the first year I have missed legends, I have been going for a few years now but just couldn't afford it this year (redundancy threatens, so trying to pay off the credit cards). How many Spits did they get up this year?

[James Wheeler]

They had 9 Spitfires in the line up I think, not sure whether they all flew though. The 2 days were a bit of a blur to be honest, very busy :) Shame you couldn't make it, hope job works out ok.

Thanks for the compliment.

[Andrushka]

that is awesome... and to think it is just a taste of what it was like when a whole squadron would take to the air at once... i bet it sounded beautiful

[sandpiper]

that is awesome... and to think it is just a taste of what it was like when a whole squadron would take to the air at once... i bet it sounded beautiful

It does sound awesome, yes. The most I have seen launch there at once is 12, in 4 rows of 3 abreast off a grass runway. Amazing sight and sound.

[horse51]

sweet shot and I too would have went up to make sure I got it

lol

[James Wheeler]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV9gc9h2RIs

:)

[Andrushka]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV9gc9h2RIs

:)

that is some nice footage!

[muscleflex]

it's a composite alright... you can tell as some of them as the same angle! nice try though! ;)

[James Wheeler]

it's a composite alright... you can tell as some of them as the same angle! nice try though! ;)

lol :)

Those at the same angle were in formation with each other so they kind of have to be or they wouldn't be in formation... the 2 were in the foreground much closer to me than the others behind and subsequently at a very different perspective.

I can show you the RAW file if you really don't believe me :)

[James Wheeler]

Here is the series of shots beforehand and the shot immediately afterwards with no processing done, just exported to jpg from LR3, the embedded EXIF includes the original time of the images including the seconds, you can see my prior panning shots getting my groove on for the shot I knew was coming:

http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9110.jpg
http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9111.jpg
http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9112.jpg
http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9113.jpg
http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9114.jpg
http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9115.jpg
http://jwheeler.me.uk/f/series/20100710-IMG_9116.jpg

The lighter one is the one I tweaked exposure and levels on as the xmp file kept the RAW that way, I am not unediting that to prove my shot to you ;)

[Vulcan58]

I just love seeing the spitfire - the sound of that RR Merlin engine is just pure music in a strange way.

What a purrrrrrrrrrrrrr, that makes. Heaven!!

[muscleflex]

i wonder if they're all genuine planes... i mean a replica would look just as good and no one would ever know...

[James Wheeler]

They are all made of parts of genuine planes I believe although some parts will have been fabricated as they will have become unservicable over the years. Some of them are indeed all the original aircraft though.

[Rivman]

. . . nice shooting James, well done sir ! ;)

[James Wheeler]

Thanks, Randy :)