Local Warbirds

First attempt at planes, from our local airport's Fly In

C&C welcomed.

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Lower your shutter speed a bit & you'll do fine. Nice photos, especially the first.

Thanks for the input. What shutter speed would you recommend trying?

I can't give you a specific speed because I shoot R/C events far more often than the real thing, but you're trying to get enough prop blur to show that the plane (prop planes or helicopters) is actually under power, while still having it fast enough to capture a nice crisp shot of the plane. With jets you can go the other way since there's no prop, so it's a bit of trial & error at first, but with a bit of experimentation you'll find a range that fits the situation. In the shots above 1 or 2 stops slower would have probably looked much more realistic, but some prefer even slower to show the full rotation of the prop. There isn't a set rule but if you stop the prop in motion that's considered a "no-no" because the plane would be flying dead stick, which is rare in the real world but not at R/C events.

More: See the "Airshow guys - prop freeze?" & other links in post #2 of: Shooting airshows in Manual

The tip I got was around 1/320 to 1/250 to start with and work down from there as you learn.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #10658003
More: See the "Airshow guys - prop freeze?" & other links in post #2 of: Shooting airshows in Manual

Holy Cow! Thanks for all the great links Frank. If only I had thought to search this topic BEFORE I left. I will read through them all.

I shoot in Manual about 80% of the time, I can't justify why I put the camera in Av. I'm surprised the props weren't completely frozen at 1/800, should have known to drop the shutter. I had a lot of fun and got a couple keepers so I'm happy. (Not bad for an old 70-210 f/4 dust sucker)

Any comments on composition? Thanks again for the links!

Maybe try to leave a bit more room at the front than at the back, but these are OK shots. Sometimes you need to shoot a bit wider than normal & plan on cropping a bit in order to get a focus point on the aircraft.