This is the first time in my life (sounds incredible) that I take pictures at an airshow (my previous airshow was like 20 years ago) so please do'nt be too hard.
This shows what you can do when you cannot afford a D2X and use a D70 (just kidding ). I just wanted to share my enthusiasm as a beginner.
BTW as you will see, this was a 'soft' airshow, no jets and planes far away for safety reasons.
Hope you will enjoy some of the pics.
(All taken with 80-400 OS Aperture priority f7.1 down to f16 ISO200, most of them 400mm, a pity that we were quite far away for safety reasons... )
Since it was my first try, I shot at relatively high speed, freezing the propellers to play it safe. Later I did my first tries at panning, lowering the shutter speed...
Comments/suggestions welcome as usual.
First pic at the airshow
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5359.JPG
The pilot
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5380.JPG
Smoking
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5405.JPG
Flare
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5417.JPG
Crazy flying Turkish (pity a photo is not a video)
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5461.JPG
#2
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5488.JPG
The man who flew with birds (first time in my life I see this - BTW it was a french guy)
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5604.JPG
#2
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5619.JPG
#3
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5629.JPG
#4
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5633.JPG
#5
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5636.JPG
#6
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5659.JPG
Old Marchetti Belgian Air Force School
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5675.JPG
First (timid) try at panning
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5692.JPG
Second try
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5737.JPG
Crossing birds (weather was getting bad in the distance, dark sky, thunderstorm approaching)
http://users.skynet.be/van.hooveld/DSC_5716.JPG
Last pic: camera spotting: husband and wife parallel shooting (Minolta Stabilized with Bigma vs Canon with Tamron)
Good job for a first try. I've shot lots of airshows and shooting long lenses at fast moving aircraft isn't easy.
You did very well getting the crossing planes into the frame, its harder with jets, believe me.
I would try using shutter priority instead of aperature priority for this stuff. And of course try to shoot slow enough so the propellers are not frozen. (Most pilots and airplane folks really hate that.) It will always be a battle between a slower shutter speed and hand holding a long lens. Only practice can get you there.
You seem to have a feel for the proper lead to give the planes in the frame so that you weren't cutting the tails, or propeller spinners off. With more experience you can frame the shots without a need for much cropping. In other words, you can work tighter with longer lenses, etc., when the planes are closer, or further away from the spectator area. Safety set-ups will vary.
Try shooting with wider angles too. Often the plane's smoke patterns against the sky add to the photo giving that "flying" feel to your photo's viewer.
Try to plan your airshow shoots, if you can, to shoot the aerial photos and the ground shots from different locations. It will be easier to get clean photos of the aircraft moving on the ground with clean backgrounds if you are not always at "show center." Often at the center of the spectator area the other show aircraft can be parked. If you move up or down the flight line a little you may find it easier to find no background distractions. Nothing ruins a nice shot of a bi-plane with something distracting from the background appearing between the wings.
Thanks a lot for the comments. They are really helpful. I might have another opportunity in my neighborhood beginning of September, this time with jets... It's gonna be tougher.
). I just wanted to share my enthusiasm as a beginner.
)