Pre-Show Advice - NAS Pensacola - Blue Angels Homecoming

Alright, finally getting to go to the show that has evaded me for the past 3 years.

Canon 5D-MkII
16-35 f/2.8 (will use this for static displays)
24-105mm f/4 (static displays)

I rented the 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 IS lens and the 1.4 extender specifically for this airshow. I want that extra reach to get the up close detailed shots.

With the 1.4 extender, I can't use autofocus (almost wish I had rented the 70-200 f/2.8 with the 2x extender) , so I'm stuck with a dilemna....i have pretty bad elbow shake (due to a broken elbow I suffered a few years back). On the jets it won't be too bad because I can bump shutter speed to compensate, but on the prop planes I'll probably have to remove the extender otherwise the pics will come out blurry because of my elbow shake.

Forecast for Friday's show is 73 and sunny.

Should I shoot AV mode? TV mode? or Manual?

with clear blue skies what would the optimum settings be to yield the best results. I have very limited success in the past, but I attribute that to owning a poor lens (70-300 f/3.5-5.6 USM len :confused.

the Blues are scheduled to fly at 2 pm. I plan to be there early to get a spot on the flight line.

tips and suggestions welcome. I've browsed some of the other threads, but everyone's got different equipment and lens selections, so I thought I'd just ask in my own thread so my specific needs/questions are addressed.

Howdy... Allow me to offer some thoughts if I may!

The TC will help with small solo acts but I'd dump it for the Blues. Frankly, since you have significant cropping power in the 5DMkII, I'd forgo the TC completely and let the AF do its job but go with whatever makes you comfy.

I prefer to shoot in Tv mode, Evaluative Metering and usually dial in +1/3 to +1/2 EC to avoid crushing the shadows. Better to pull your exposures back some in post than to have to boost them and add noise.

I'd start out at 1/320 or so and work slower from there for props (better a sharp shot with minimal prop blur than a blurry mess with a full prop arc) and don't hesitate to bump your ISO to 200 or even 400 to get maximum shutter speed for jets. The light tends to go away fairly quickly in the late afternoon this time of year.

Mode 2 IS will help with panning however you have to do as good a job as possible in keeping a straight line going while panning. The smoother you are, the better IS can help you. I like to cheat a little and set my feet so that the center of my panning arc is where I intend to shoot. This way I'm not leaning awkwardly over either foot. This is especially true if I think the shot will come beyond show center.

You're a little hampered by a slower frame rate so you'll need to anticipate your shots a bit more than those who have 6, 8 or 10FPS.

Don't bother with a tripod or a monopod. Both are too limiting in terms of freedom of movement. Also, do not use a CPL. Since you're panning, you're changing your angle off the sun and the amount of polarization will change nearly frame to frame. Really frustrating in post processing... I assume you'll be shooting RAW? Hope so. That makes getting your White Balance dialed in after the fact much easier.

Look for things outside the norm. If you're in a good position on the crowd line, the "march down" is nice for shots of BA Pilots interacting with their crew chiefs. The Salutes and Handshakes are done really quickly so be ready!

Are you fairly familiar with the sequence of maneuvers in The Demo? If not, they'll be alternating between passes by the Diamond and the Solo ships culminating in the six-plane Delta formation. Cast an eye over your shoulder from time to time and you can get some nice head on shots from the Solo Sneak Pass (don't flinch!) as well as the Trail to Diamond maneuver.

Above all else, have fun! We're fortunate to have the Blues out here in the desert for their winter workups but I haven't actually seen them fly an airshow in several years. Good Luck!!

(Shameless Plug: EXIF is available for most of what's on my website .. Link Below if you'd care to crawl around my Aviation galleries...)

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11263780
Howdy... Allow me to offer some thoughts if I may!

The TC will help with small solo acts but I'd dump it for the Blues. Frankly, since you have significant cropping power in the 5DMkII, I'd forgo the TC completely and let the AF do its job but go with whatever makes you comfy.

I prefer to shoot in Tv mode, Evaluative Metering and usually dial in +1/3 to +1/2 EC to avoid crushing the shadows. Better to pull your exposures back some in post than to have to boost them and add noise.

I'd start out at 1/320 or so and work slower from there for props (better a sharp shot with minimal prop blur than a blurry mess with a full prop arc) and don't hesitate to bump your ISO to 200 or even 400 to get maximum shutter speed for jets. The light tends to go away fairly quickly in the late afternoon this time of year.

Mode 2 IS will help with panning however you have to do as good a job as possible in keeping a straight line going while panning. The smoother you are, the better IS can help you. I like to cheat a little and set my feet so that the center of my panning arc is where I intend to shoot. This way I'm not leaning awkwardly over either foot. This is especially true if I think the shot will come beyond show center.

You're a little hampered by a slower frame rate so you'll need to anticipate your shots a bit more than those who have 6, 8 or 10FPS.

Don't bother with a tripod or a monopod. Both are too limiting in terms of freedom of movement. Also, do not use a CPL. Since you're panning, you're changing your angle off the sun and the amount of polarization will change nearly frame to frame. Really frustrating in post processing... I assume you'll be shooting RAW? Hope so. That makes getting your White Balance dialed in after the fact much easier.

Look for things outside the norm. If you're in a good position on the crowd line, the "march down" is nice for shots of BA Pilots interacting with their crew chiefs. The Salutes and Handshakes are done really quickly so be ready!

Are you fairly familiar with the sequence of maneuvers in The Demo? If not, they'll be alternating between passes by the Diamond and the Solo ships culminating in the six-plane Delta formation. Cast an eye over your shoulder from time to time and you can get some nice head on shots from the Solo Sneak Pass (don't flinch!) as well as the Trail to Diamond maneuver.

Above all else, have fun! We're fortunate to have the Blues out here in the desert for their winter workups but I haven't actually seen them fly an airshow in several years. Good Luck!!

(Shameless Plug: EXIF is available for most of what's on my website .. Link Below if you'd care to crawl around my Aviation galleries...)

I understood most of what you're saying, but the abbreviations are killing me...

TC? CPL? not familiar with all the jargon/abbrevs yet, so if you could help me out with those i'd be much obliged.

I'm very familiar with the Blue Angels routine, so anticipation should be pretty easy for me. I'm always ready for that "buzzing the crowd", he's a sneaky bastard, but I have a keen sense for when he's coming!

thank you for taking the time to write this, and I've seen your website (from the F-16 Viper thread you posted) and you have some of the most incredible jet shots I've ever seen, the reach on your 500 with the 1.4 is just amazing! I really like that 700mm reach you had on those Viper shots.

I'm torn whether I want to buy the 100-400 and get the 1.4x or 2x extender or if I want to get the Sigma 50-500 with the 1.4x or the 2x extender.

and yes I ALWAYS shoot in RAW.

Thanks for the very kind words regarding my efforts. It's a serious addiction / job on my part.

TC = Teleconverter = Extender
CPL = Circular Polarizer

I honestly think you're giving up too much in terms of image quality and auto focus assistance by using an extender. At least I've never had what I would term satisfactory results from marrying either extender to the 100-400. As for the 50-500 + TC, I don't have any personal experience with the Sigma "uber zooms" but most of the guys I know who use them don't really trust them beyond about 420-450mm. The quality hit all the way out at 500mm is (in their opinions at least) quite noticeable.

At 21Mp, you've got nearly twice the cropping capability of either of my bodies so I'd be inclined to use my glass "naked" and max out the quality.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11264142
At 21Mp, you've got nearly twice the cropping capability of either of my bodies so I'd be inclined to use my glass "naked" and max out the quality.

Very true. I was able to do some serious cropping on my airshow images and still retain a lot of detail. Just make sure you have tons of memory cards. I filled up 56GB of cards. If the 5DMKII could shoot faster I am sure I would have needed more!

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

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11264142
Thanks for the very kind words regarding my efforts. It's a serious addiction / job on my part.

TC = Teleconverter = Extender
CPL = Circular Polarizer

I honestly think you're giving up too much in terms of image quality and auto focus assistance by using an extender. At least I've never had what I would term satisfactory results from marrying either extender to the 100-400. As for the 50-500 + TC, I don't have any personal experience with the Sigma "uber zooms" but most of the guys I know who use them don't really trust them beyond about 420-450mm. The quality hit all the way out at 500mm is (in their opinions at least) quite noticeable.

At 21Mp, you've got nearly twice the cropping capability of either of my bodies so I'd be inclined to use my glass "naked" and max out the quality.

haha I know what you mean on the addiction part, it's a rather good thing that it's not an illegal addiction, or we'd both be in serious trouble! I could honestly photograph airplanes and airshows all day everyday for the rest of my life and never get bored.

ah my mistake on the Sigma, I for some reason thought you were shooting with the Sigma 50-500, but I see now from the exif data you have the amazing Canon 500mm fixed lens with the extender.

I shall not use the extender then, I can use it for some other photographs I have planned that aren't at the airshow. I hope the "reach" of the 100-400mm by itself is enough to get in nice and tight with lots of detail.

timeasterday wrote in post #11264279
Very true. I was able to do some serious cropping on my airshow images and still retain a lot of detail. Just make sure you have tons of memory cards. I filled up 56GB of cards. If the 5DMKII could shoot faster I am sure I would have needed more!

that's where I'm in big trouble, because I only have an 8gb and a 4gb card right now (i'm waiting on a 16GB to show up but it's not gonna make it in time for the airshow) but not to worry, in between acts I have my trusty laptop and I can download all the RAW files and erase the card, and be ready to go again. I was astonished the first time I used my 5D-MkII and after only 270 images my car was full....I was used to getting a 1000 images on my rebel XTi before I had to switch cards, but w/ more megapixels come larger file size.

Don't erase the card in the computer...

Format it in the camera.