those are great, Jan-Arie. Personally, I really like that shot of the B2, with the hole in the clouds behind it like that. What an unreal aircraft. --Lars
I find a monopod just gets in the way most of the time. Just ordered a sidekick and thought i'd try it on my monopod just to see if it helps or adds to the mess.
While its not technically air to air - my wife and i just spent a weekend on the beach and our room was on the 17th floor of the condo. I tried to get some shots of the planes going by but the results were dissapointing at best. At least the helicopters went by at about the right altitude. My 100-400 was all I had with me and it didn't cut through the haze as well as I had hoped.
This is all I got - and I'm even embarrassed to post it here among everyone else' great work - go ahead and critic' it - i'm open to suggestions.
We don't allow our contributors to be embarassed! You were out there experimenting and perfecting your craft, keep up the good work. Your asessment of monopods, or anything else you bolt to the camera is exactly right. Our type of photography just doesn't lend itself to anything but handheld. You have to develope a balance and feel for the camera and many times hold it up until (and way past) it hurts. I'm sure someone standing next to me when I'm shooting the 500 or 600 would think I'm getting the stuffin' beat out of me from the sounds I make. It's just part of what we love to shoot. Heck, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Well, everybody is doing it, your job is just to do it better.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Heck, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Well, everybody is doing it, your job is just to do it better.
That cracked me up, thanks! And it's sooooo true, too, though I'd never really looked at it that way.
But fear not, do it better we (eventually) shall! With the help of God, some barbells, and the teachings of our Masters here, we shall overcome the marauding hordes at the crowd line, and the crushing weight of Big Glass too.
I just found the shots of way way back when I went to the Volkel Air Base with my dad's Canon AE-1 Program, a 70-210 mm Panagor manual focus slide zoom lens and a single 36-shot roll of film. We're talking summer of '89 and me being 13 years old.
Now, will I be able to get my hands on a flatbed scanner?
Hey thanks Jim - sometimes I think my 300 2.8 is going to break my arms off - but i prefer hand held to monopods any day - for just about everything except low light. I guess Rodolfo is right - we need to spend more time in the gym!
Rodolfo - the camera was a 20D with a 1.4x on a 100-400L Canon. Hand held. The shutter was 160 and the aperture was set as high as it would go - the exif say f 57.0. For some crazy reason the ISO was all the way up to 800 - which is why the aperture was so high...Hey I was on vacation... my head gets checked at the door when I'm at the beach! I hadn't noticed how dirty my sensor had gotten over the last few shoots and when I looked at most of my weekend shots - it added to the disappointment. Just spent about 1.5 hours cleaning the sensors on both my cameras and I'm ready for this evenings charity Celebrity Golf Scramble here for Lee Elder and Dr. J. We'll see how slower moving stars show up on the sensor!
You can see the rest and larger sizes at: http://jonberryphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2965252#160337505
I gave up on my Epson 4870 flatbed for film and slides and bought a Nikon 5000 film/slide scanner. I love it!... just that task of scanning old film though gets a bit tiring... so much so - it really makes you critique which ones you want to bother with. Don't let anybody tell you its easy.
Thanks you all for the nice comments here are a couple more to keep in trent with the topic's name here is another shot of the Gunfighter Mustang shot last year at the pre midland Caf Show in Midland
The Second one is one of the most amazing things ive seen until now the V22 Osprey
And the third one a Mig 29 OVT at the RIAT 06 to bad that is was a little to far away but nice anyway
Since its weekend over here and i'am in the mood i will post a couple more
Then it's somebody's elses turn.
The first one Modern militairy hardware the F18E SuperHornet screaming along the crowd line taken at the Miramar Airshow last year.
Second one another P51 flown by Ed Shipley at the Riat 06 after the heritage flight.
Its the P51 named Twilight Tear
And the thirt one another Classic the Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIX
I'am kind of a warbird nut going this year to the Fighter Legends show at Duxford Airfield In the UK and i will also be attending the Gathering of mustangs and legends in September after visiting the Reno Airraces.
One of my dreams is maybe sometime to photograph a mustang air to air.
Have a nice weekend you all
I'm about to launch into my sensor cleaning mode, ugh! The sensor on my 1Ds MkII is filthy and I did a shoot last week, most of which was f/11 or better. I created a Photoshop nightmare for myself! My MKIII is supposed to be in this week, I'll be so glad.
Nice to see this thread continues to thrive and new folks are jumping into the fray. It's fun to see all the different work.
Rodolfo - your latest helo shots are sweet. You've been keeping them under wraps... And Jan's work I'm familiar with from over at FenceCheck. Nice to have ya join in over here, too...
Here's a follow up to my last post a week or so ago; This time we were off San Diego about 80 miles with the Norwegian Navy. Here, a civil B407 working for a defense contractor makes an approach to the deck. I shot this from the open door of a B412 as we "shadowed" the approach flying a 90-degree crab.
Is anyone going to the Thunder over Michigan airshow? Given that there are a lot of large bombers I think I should be fine with the 1D2n and 100-400 as far as reach goes, unless someone thinks otherwise.
Any suggestions on IS settings? I have been using mode 2 for lower shutter speeds with prop aircraft, but is IS even necessary for panning with the fast jets?
IS mdoe 2 will help you when panning but its not necessary - try it out and check the results on site.
I have another question. How do you reduce the light if there is nice and sunny and you want to shoot at shutter speed of 1/160? Should i mount 1.4x TC or use some filter to take away some light? i tried today but aperture f/32 started to blink... bummer.
MarkoB wrote:
I have another question. How do you reduce the light if there is nice and sunny and you want to shoot at shutter speed of 1/160? Should i mount 1.4x TC or use some filter to take away some light? i tried today but aperture f/32 started to blink... bummer.
Apart from a ND filter, there's not much you can do except make sure you're at the lowest ISO setting.
