I thought I'd share a few grabs from an adventure earlier this week off the coast of San Diego; deck quals on the Spanish Navy's newest high-tech frigate, the Mendez Nunez (F104). A civil helicopter operator with some unique capabilities will support the ship during its sea trials and this was the helo pilots opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency to the ship's crew.
Love that last shot, Dan! From the great rotor blur to the fact that the cabin is perfectly positioned below a clear space in the rotor disc, to the crisp focus in panning... Wow!
I picked up the engine for my C-150 yesterday. I'm going to hang it on Monday and then after some extensive taxi testing I'll take her out and do the annual.
Found a 200-400, used but in "mint" condition, from a seller who appears to have an excellent reputation. Given the description and the deal offered (including three days to inspect and test, etc.), the price seemed to be from fair to generous.
So... gulp... bought it.
Now, I'll be taking that lens to Oshkosh. What kind of support would you recommend for shooting ground-to-air such as airshows? I'm open to any suggestions.
Congrats on the new lens!!! I know how hard they are to come by lately. But You'll love it...
As for a support when shooting airshows; Quite often I'll hand hold mine but it becomes a load pretty quick. I tried a monopod but that was quickly determined to be a silly and completely unworkable option. But a couple years ago I broke out my Wimberley head (http://www.tripodhead.com/) that I had for my 600 f4. And ya know, it was pretty slick. The lens and body just floats there until you're ready to shoot. It's real fluid in all directions but does pose some limits to shooting straight overhead and high speed passes can trip ya up. It's not perfect any means but in most situations it's really pretty cool rig.
A couple years ago at Chino I overheard some "Joe-photographer" telling his buddy what a "limiting" setup I had. Well, I invited him to try it. Two weeks later I got an email from him telling me that he had purchased one to use with his big glass.
Now granted, you're not quite as mobile with a tripod and dragging it around shows isn't much fun. But I have always been a huge believer in tripods and use them when ever I possibly can. When used correctly it's the one item that will improve your image quality more than any other single accessory. I don't use mine at every airshow but it's always in my trunk just in case.
Yes, I think there just might be a full Wimberley in my future. But since I'm going on a three-week safari in the first part of July, the biggest question becomes... how do my tripod and other gear get from Guatemala to Oshkosh, without going through Africa?
I begin to see that, as the quality of my shooting sloooowly improves, I start getting multiple similar shots of the same aircraft with decent quality. Somewhere in my future then, is the ability to garner enough of these shots to start selecting better ones from this pool. Slowly, the light dawns: stellar photography is an attainable dream, and an iterative one at that.
Edited by Rodolfo Paiz on Jun 03, 2007 at 09:28 AM GMT (Reason: Humility. Looking for better pictures to post.)
Dan is right on the money with his advice. I have handheld my 500/4 and 600/4 with good results but your arm trembles at night. I bought a Wimberly, (they're proud of it $$$$$$) and it adds more equipment to schlepp, but it's a nice tool. You're going to love your new lens, congrats!
Jim, I'd like to go back to the ideas we threw around previously on how to learn more about aviation photography. First off, I'm still cocked and locked for the weekend-type seminar where we work our butts off. But second, I really think we ought to take advantage of opportunities like Oshkosh. Is there any way that we can run some sort of class, or get credentials for a small group to shoot together for one day, or something?
And if there's too little time or too few people to set this up at the moment, let's at least all get together for dinner while we're there! I'll be happy to help organize and do logistics. And of course, the first round is on me.
Edited by Rodolfo Paiz on Jun 04, 2007 at 08:25 AM GMT (Reason: spelling)
I went through my Red Bull pictures to confirm what my intuition told me about needing more reach. This is what I found:
Images shot at each focal-length range
----------------------------------------
Shorter than 100mm: 94
From 101 to 200mm: 162
From 201 to 300mm: 150
From 301 to 339mm: 24
At max zoom 340mm: 758
All of a sudden, I feel a lot more comfortable with my gut decision to buy the 200-400...
Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
Hopefully I haven't bored anyone to tears yet with Red Bull shots...
No, you haven't. That shot with Paul Bonhomme is niiiiice! The whole background completely filled with nothing but vertical rock face really gives it something different and special.
Ditto That Rodolfo! Keep 'em coming!! I flew my son to Wichita Falls yesterday to pick up his new Cub. It's a 1945 used by the Navy to look for subs, you learn something new every day!
JW: congrats on your sons purchase. Is it something you'll get to fy? I love Cubs.
Rodolfo: Congrats on the lens purchase. I am finally stepping up and getting the 70-200 2.8 VR which should arrive next week. I have a 2x TC already, but I really wonder how well it will work on the 70-200. I have used the 2x on the cheapo 70-300, so I know all about MF and high F #'s. The biggest thing is this will be my first stabilizing lens, so I can't wait to bring her on board and start to swing her around the aircraft.
KrautFed wrote:
I have a 2x TC already, but I really wonder how well it will work on the 70-200.
Go take some shots and find out! Compare the results of an image @ 200mm without the TC to one with the TC, then make up your own mind as to whether the image softening is worth the extra reach. Many people say the 2x causes too much softening, but then "many people" may be either very demanding pros or just snobs who can't tell the difference anyway. So tell us what you conclude.
KrautFed wrote:
The biggest thing is this will be my first stabilizing lens, so I can't wait to bring her on board and start to swing her around the aircraft.
Swing her around on something else first! I made that mistake, and it cost me some nice shots. Using VR takes a little getting used to, like anything new and useful. In less than a second after you press the shutter release halfway, the VR will lock on and you should notice a much steadier image in the viewfinder. Do that a few times on stationary photos. Then, set the camera's motor drive to continuous, set the focus to continuous, start panning on your target and get the real benefits of image stabilization.
Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
Swing her around on something else first! I made that mistake, and it cost me some nice shots. Using VR takes a little getting used to, like anything new and useful. In less than a second after you press the shutter release halfway, the VR will lock on and you should notice a much steadier image in the viewfinder. Do that a few times on stationary photos. Then, set the camera's motor drive to continuous, set the focus to continuous, start panning on your target and get the real benefits of image stabilization.
Thanks for the advice. I already have quite some time with the 70-200 VR in the camera store. Two seperate times I've gone in just shooting around the store + outside the store at traffic, etc. I definitely like the use of VR and can't wait.
Just finished an assignment at The Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola and back in February the Navy hosted a breakfast and private tour of the facility for us as part of the ISAP Symposium 2007. We're partial to the Navy in this family, my Dad flew a Hellcat and carrier qualified in it in the early 40's.
I haven't flown Jim's Cub yet, he's been in it with my good friend "The Great Dobransky" getting his tailwheel legs. We're taking it to an antique fly-in this weekend so I'll probably get some time in it during that. Apparently the Navy used these Cubs to spot subs in WWII. They were hung from blimps or the back of carriers.
I just love the concept of hanging a Cub from a blimp, then dropping it for an "air-start."
Jim, did you see my earlier post (just before "Paul plays chicken with rock wall") about the idea of doing a class, or group shoot, or dinner, or something together while at Oshkosh?
Looking for better pictures to post.)