Aircraft Newbie question.

I've just brought a Canon eos 350d with basic lens + usm 70-300 lens. And to say my knowledge of dslr is limited is a understatment , but could you kind people tell me how to get the best phots out of this so far amazing camera, eg. still shots on sunny/cloudy day, flying shot on sunny/cloudy day. Or is there some book that will teach me in greater depth than the enclosed manual. I know this is a big ask with so many variants but a starting point would help .

Scott.

Try seaching the forums for specific questions. Chances are it has already been asked. This place has alot of good knowledgable people. You can also try this link. http://www.photoworksh​op.com/canon/index.htm​l
That will help with learning the camera better then the book IMO. Welcome to the forum and hope to see some pics from you soon. Hope this helps with some of your question.
(p.s. the search comment was not meant to sound mean, I do alot of searching and find lots of info that I'm looking for. So I just mean it as a tip to try .)

just take a lot of pictures and learn by trial and error.

ok how about helping the guy... the settings I use are Ai-Servo, and keep the shutter as fast as possible for jets and around 1/250th for planes that use props... the reason for that is that with the shutterspeed lower you can get more motion of the props and it looks like the plane is actually flying... you can obtain that two ways... set your camera to Tv and set the shutter speed at what you want... or use Av (aperature) and then adjust your aperature till your shutter speed complies with how you want it... hope that helps out!!

edit: as far as books try checking out the Magic Lantern books... you can get them at most of the larger book stores...

This how i learned photography, the best way

I usually use P or Tv for jets, M (meter off the grass) at 1/250 or less for props or choppers. AI Servo if there's any aerobatics. If not, Single shot and choose your moment. I'm not one of the CF4-1 club, but YMMV. Polarizers are nice if it's bright but hazy - be ready to kick up the ISO as needed. You'll get better sky colours with the sun at your back, and a polarizer isn't as critical then either. Shooting into the sun's an invitation to white skies.

Sports Shooting Tutorials and Advice
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=135417

You're going to have to get below 1/250 for a good prop blur. Do a search for "Threads started by" Marauder61 for some inspiration. Or look at his gallery which has the exif data: Marauder61

Some good info here, but he doesn't get shutter speed right either.
Air Show Photography

If an aircraft is against a sky (blue or UK std. issue grey), over expose by a half a stop or a whole stop if necessary, this will blow out the sky a little, but help you to expose the aircraft correctly, after all - you don't want a silhouette all the time!

Practice loads! - enjoy

for in flight shots try to have the sun behind you it makes a vast diffrence to the shots also if you can be in the same place to take the shots start be taking a photo in TV or AV of a bush or grass mid green color, check it looks exsposed right and note the reading lets say its 1/1000 f5.6 iso 100 in TV mode and the shots looks right on your lcd.
put the camera into Manul mode and set what has just been taken i.e 1/1000 F5.6 AS ABOVE, now as long as your faceing the same way and the sun is shineing just as you took the test shot all in flight shots will be very close to been right .
this works for aircraft that are all around mid grey white planes will need 1/2 a stop more dark planes 1/2 a stop less this will still keep detail in the sky .
only a guide here as sometimes a little more under/over is needed.
Rob.

download some sort of exif reader (IExif, opanda, fxif depending on browser) and then browse the forum. When you find a picture your interested in, view the exif and see what settings where used. Not all pics have exif intact, so that only sometimes works

Leo

Thanks for all your advice, seems like I've a long but enjoyable road ahead.....

Scott.

I started with my Digital Rebel by learning how to use the camera from the User Manual. Honestly, knowing how to use your camera and what it's capable of is half the battle. So, my suggestion would be to first memorize the manual

Second, just take photos of stuff you like, and post 'em up here for the experts to analyze and critique. Having other eyes on your photos is another very good thing to learn from.

I too got a 350D about 2 months ago and got it mainly for aviation photography. Check my shots on the link below (They also include exif data).
Being in the UK, we don't have the best of weather as already explained above. What i tend to do whatever the weather is set it to Av mode, F8.0, ISO 100 and under-expose by half a stop if sunny.
Hope this helps and overall, enjoy it! Its great fun