Airshow shot ....

I don't have any experience photo shot at the air show , I am using canon 30D and 70-200 f/4.0 L IS ,I don't have 100-400 for now .

Can you give me some advice for this shot ?

Thanks .

I had my first air show this year and instead of using manual mode, I went with AV mode with +1/3 EC at around 400ISO, f11 and (~1000s). Now that was with a 100-400L, but I was able to get a very high keeper rate.

Something to consider is get as close to the take off area as possible since you have a 200mm at the longest end.

Most new jets are SUPER fast, so good tip is to wait until they are on approach towards you. This gives you plenty of time to get some great incoming shots as the jets appear to be stationary. As they fly by, they are easier to track.

Following up to the above, don't waste taking pictures when they are too far away. They won't (imo) be worth saving and it allows you to easier track the plane as it comes in on approach.

Keep the f-stop high enough to get sharp pictures and the shutter speed around 800-1000. For prop planes, you can go slower to give the prop a blur, but you gotta be good at panning.

Make sure you have a lens hood as you will be shooting into the sky. That will keep stray light out.

Circular Polarizer couldn't hurt, but I didn't use one.

Take as many memory cards as you have. I went through about 8GBs VERY QUICKLY!!!! Unless you plan on going through your photos and deleting any bad ones.

If it's sunny out, take some sun block (I didn't ).

I was able to get some nice 10x8s made from my shoot.


Thats all I can think of. It was my first time, but I had a blast.

Wear a wide brimmed hat and drink lots of water...

Thanks for the advice , I am going to the airshow this weekend ,hopefully I can get some nice shot .

QX56, I went to my first Airshow this past weekend. A fairly small show here in upstate NY. I found out that it is not the easiest photos I have ever taken .
Other than the ground shots that you take, you are shooting up in the sky. This produces problems with exposure. If you shoot with a + EC to expose for the planes you will blowout the sky big time. Which is ok if you are only interested in the subject.
What I did was shoot in AV mode at F8 and ISO 200. This gave me a shutter speed of at least 1/500 and usually up around 1/800. Turn off IS mode on your lens as it will only cause you problems and it is not needed at high shutter speeds. Use AI Servo mode for tracking. Use high speed drive mode and a large CF card. Shoot in RAW as you will need to PP your shots.
I used my 5D and 70-300 DO lens. Shot as above in raw and PPd in ACR into PE4.
I just finished processing and uploading the pics to my web host site last night. Below is the link to them if you feel like taking a look. It's an interesting experience for sure. Best of wishes in your first try at it. Gerry

http://imageevent.com …ter/broomecount​yairshow07

Some of the best airshow photography on the web is at http://www.fencecheck.​com/forums. Look for the Tips and Tricks board.... Also search for posts by POTN member Maurader61. He's one of the best around.