Miramar Air Show

My favorites from the Miramar Air Show on Saturday.

1. - The alumni director for the Blue Angels shared this photo with the Blue Angel's private Facebook page for the current and past crew members.

Nice shots Ryan. I captured the moon in an F18 shot. I surely didn't see it out there when i was shooting though...

You got the moon to cooperate with you in not one, but two shots. That's just not right.

Excellent photos!

Nice ones!

Thanks! I was shooting with both eyes open watching for the moon since it was so hard to see through the viewfinder. I've got a couple more with the moon but they are not as good as the two I posted.

Awesome shots man!

Excellent Ryan !!

Great shots, the sharpness and lighting is amazing on the first shot, what lens were you using?

70-200 f/2.8 IS II with a 1.4x TC.

Were you using IS or is it not effective for moving objects? I have read a lot of comments that the TC's reduce image quality, does not seem that way on your photos. I found the sunlight to be difficult that day, I needed to be farther West but looks like you had no issue. Lots of my shots looked back lit.

T2i4me wrote in post #13204731
Were you using IS or is it not effective for moving objects? I have read a lot of comments that the TC's reduce image quality, does not seem that way on your photos. I found the sunlight to be difficult that day, I needed to be farther West but looks like you had no issue. Lots of my shots looked back lit.

No IS, I never use it. IS in mode 2 is supposed to be effective with panning because it only corrects movement up and down.

I have noticed occasionally that a 2X TC does reduce image quality, so I rented the 1.4X TC which doesn't seem to reduce quality at all. I like the range of the 2X but I would rather have sharper photos right out of the camera then closer. I would have rented a 300 2.8 or 400 2.8 but they where either already rented or out for repairs at my local camera store.

Lighting was tough, it's been worse at Miramar. I was sitting on the west side of the grandstands and challets and I was careful not to shoot too much towards the sun. I do have a few that look back lit too, mostly when I tracked the planes towards the sun too much. Sitting on the west side allowed me to shoot towards air show center away from the sun.

The light changes so much at Miramar from the clouds to the east, to the haze to the south low in the sky and the sun towards the west. It really is challenging to shoot there.

At El Centro a couple years ago the sky was unnaturally blue from horizon to horizon which made for great backgrounds but because it's way out in the desert but there where no water vapor shots. While the sky is easier to deal with, you miss the vapor and the hard banking shots where boring.

I enjoyed shooting the show so planning for next year and what lens would be best to rent. Also have the Chino show but all are prop planes which I struggled with on prop blurand keeping the plane sharp, I need more practice.

T2i4me wrote in post #13208640
I enjoyed shooting the show so planning for next year and what lens would be best to rent. Also have the Chino show but all are prop planes which I struggled with on prop blurand keeping the plane sharp, I need more practice.

My recommendation is to rent the 100-400L. It's got great range (though at times, it even felt a little short at Miramar), and is light enough to be handheld the entire day (IMO).

I had the 55-250 awhile back. Great bang-for-the-buck telephoto zoom but IQ is not as good as the 100-400 (but that's to be expected).

I agree, the 100-400 is a good air show range, but the push pull zoom gets old. And the rental copies don't usually have the cleanest zoom mech. because it is open to dust. 70-200 w/ a TC is a good way to go unless you are used to the 100-400 push pull zoom.

wow, very nice - good work !!!