The Chicago air and water show is this weekend and i was going to go and take some photographs.
The only lenses i have are the 18-70 kit lens and a 70-300ED lens.
I figure that i would use the 70-300 and i was woundering if there were any tips to improve my chances to get some decents shots with this lens?
i have been searching the boards for info and have found many good tips that will help me out but none for this particular lens, i think for obvious reasons
i am wounder if i should leave it wide open or step it down a couple of stops?
what mode is best to shoot in Aperture, Shutter or just stay in Auto?
is single focus or dynamic focus better for these situations if i use the continuous auto focus?
I also thought i would use the center weighted for exposure does that sound right?
Thanks for this info i am hoping it will help shorten my learning curve alittle so i can work on panning and maybe have a base point to start from.
This is alot to ask but i'm sure any info will help out
Thanks again
Dave
Edited by Sunhouse on Aug 14, 2005 at 09:19 PM GMT
I'd say shoot aperture priority, f/5.6 to start out, if shutter speed is really fast, then maybe stop down to f/8 or so. Put camera on continuous shooting mode, and AF-C focus, center AF point selected, center weighted. see how it works, pay attention to your histogram and adjust as needed.
I'd say every time something interesting happens, burst out 3 shots or so.
For aviation, you want to shoot in shutter priority.
Prop planes, you want prop blur. Otherwise it will look like the plane is going to fall out of the sky.
When the prop is under load, ex. taking off or doing maneuvers in the air, you want to shoot at 1/400 max. With prop planes idling on the ground or coming in for a landing, 1/250 max.
Use +ev for dark planes and -ev for bright or aluminum skinned aircraft.
Jets, you can shoot at 1/1000 or better.
Feel free to check my www link and the EXIF info that is included with most of my air show pics.
Kevins advise is sound , always listen to a pro .
Done a few , center weighted , shutter priortiy on prop planes , depends on the lighting but between 1/200 and 1/300sec. to blur the prop , that'll put the aperture typically about F13-16 depending on the sky , so a compromise is needed sometimes , practise on something unimportant first , remember when pannning , like cars start before you press the shutter , pan smoothly using your hips and keep shooting after the pan has finished so you don't end up with blurred final shot .
Suncreen and an umbrella. Some sort of portable shade maker is a must. I got roasted pretty good at the McChord air show two weeks ago. Click on any of the pics below to see how I fared.
I've done a lot of aviation-related shooting so here's a few more general tips that should help - some of which has already been mentioned by other FM'ers:
- Practice your panning with something easier, like moving cars before you go to the airshow. You'll find aside from getting appropriate exposures that smooth and consistent panning will save you more times than not in getting that "money shot".
- Use some added camera support. Unless you're in really good upper-body shape you'll find that angling the camera up above the horizon for an entire airshow will wear you out fairly quickly. Thankfully you're not hand-holding up a hunk of glass like a 300mm f/2.8 or something similar but your body will still appreciate the extra help. There are a couple ways to do this inexpensively:
David and Sanford make a "Steady Stick", which was originally designed for small video cameras but I've successfully used it (and I've seen other event shooters use them) several times at airshows to help hold up the beastly bodies I shoot (1Ds, F1-N, F5 etc). It's completely adjustable, costs under $100 bucks and will save your body-holding arm for all-day long shoots. Or a Monopod. It takes a bit of practice to pan smoothly with a one of these but it too is an inexpensive method of getting more support.
Here's a really cheap, effective albeit goofy way to pan easily and give yourself more camera support: take a light office chair, preferrably one without wheels or, locking wheels. I know this sounds crazy (until I saw a guy actually doing this and then tried it myself) but it really works. If you get a chair that allows you to lean back a bit, it allows you to be in an upright pointing position, the armrests give you extra support and you can swivel the chair left or right with your feet and follow the action really smoothly - I mean, really smoothly! Laugh if you will, but just try it once and you'll be hooked. I've done it twice now using smaller lenses like the one you'll be using and it's just "plane fun". Get it? (laughs)
Now about exposure; shutter priority is best for getting prop-er (more word play there) propeller blur, but if you're shooting in an automatic mode then you're going to be at the mercy of the camera's meter cosntantly changing values as you pan - and this can cause you to not get nailed exposures on the subject. Here's what I suggest to avoid this issue:
If you have a handheld meter, use that instead to get some accurate average readings of the light or, take some test shots in shutter priority, chimp and look at exposures, pick the one that has a "nailed" exposure, set the camera on manual with that exposure setting and keep that EV setting thoughout the day. This way as you pan with your subject, the camera won't be changing EV values on you and you won't end up with varied exposures while you pan. If however you're in a cloudy or partially cloudy day where the subject goes in and out of sunlight, then you've got no choice but to shoot in shutter priority and let the camera make the corrections on the "fly".
If your lens came with one, use the lens hood - always. If it didn't pick one up.
Also, don't be afraid to break the rules with getting the subject sharp. Play with long exposures while panning. Some of the most dramatic imagery of aircraft I've seen is where the shooter panned with the plane and purposely used a slow shutter. This will not only give tons of background blur which will enhance the sense of speed, but sometimes getting the aircraft blurred will also give the same feel to the image. Airshows are one of the best places to catch man & machine doing dramatic things, and sometimes it's just not very dramatic when the aircraft is completely sharp and frozen from movement in the image - cut loose and get some drama man!
With that lens I imagine you will want to stay around f8 to get the most sharpness out of it. The D70 ISO 200 will give you fast times anyway if its sunny out. Just adjust aperture to get slower times for the props. Your rig is a very lightweight one as well so no need for monopods. Check my WWW-link to see some shots from Fairford. All shot handheld with a D2x + 300 f2.8, no pods or anything. Just cram your elbow in under your chest if you need support, then pan along with the aircraft. The D70 meters solid, I always shot it in matrix mode, and used +-1/3 EV every now and then. Oh, and shoot RAW! And bring plenty of memorycards! Shoot like crazy, and you'll come home with plenty of sharp shots.
