Airshow photography tips

[Cratermaker]

So I have this D-SLR I'm playing around with and would like to take a stab at photographing planes in flight again. I didn't have much luck with film, way back when and my old digital camera didn't have the pixels or zoom for it.

I don't have great glass yet, but at least I've been doing my reading on RAW format and know all the camera settings pretty well now and I am in the habit of a least using P mode or AV (Canon settings) to do most of my shots. I found this site, which sounds like pretty good advice:

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Photography/Airshows/index.html

Any pros here or amateurs that can point me to other good readings specific to taking photos of planes in the air?

 

[Ferry_vO]

What camera/lens combo do you use?

I prefer to set my 400D to focus on the center point only when taking photos of flying aircraft, set the autofocus to 'AI servo' and the ISO setting to 400 or 800, depending on the light.

Ideal for my setup would be a shutter time of 500-1000 and a setting of f/8-11, but it remains mostly in 'P' mode so I don't have to constantly compensate for changing light when moving the camera from left to right. I save all my images as Jpeg's; the smaller filesize means that my camera will write them to my card faster. I always have my camera set to repeat so I can take 3-4 photos in a second, and up to 10-12 in a row in a clear blue sky.
The major benefit of digital is the option to delete whatever you don't like, so click away! Last airshow (Two days) I made over 1,600 photos, but saved less than half of those. I do carry 8Gb of compact flash cards with me though!

 

[Cratermaker]

Well I have the Rebel Xsi, which I think is marketed as the 450D everywhere besides here.

As far as lenses, I'm using what I had from my film SLR (at least 10yrs old):
24-85mm 3.5-4.5 USM
55-200mm 4.5-5.6 USM (not particularly great...)

Of course I have a APS-C size sensor which means to x1.6 the above focal lengths for 35mm/full frame equivalence. That really hurts me for wide angle stuff!

I have a wish list for better lenses, but I'll have to stick with those for now.

Is a polarizer any good for airshows or is it detrimental, since you are panning all over the sky?

Yeah, I like the RAW format for it's post processing and archival purposes, but it is something like 3.5x the storage space and I think I can only get 4 frames rapid fire before the buffer fills.

 

[luckydog]

My primary air-show rig is a Canon 5D (35mm sensor)...........
for aerials I use a 70 - 300 zoom and for static displays a 28 - 105mm.
I usually run on full-auto but sometimes play with shutter speed to freeze or blur props. My main concern is composition.
Any exposure / color enhancements are made later on the computer.

 

[cheezyflier]

the important thing to remember is to post all the photos here for us all to see, including links to the full sized images so we can make desktops out of the really cool ones.

 

[srgalahad]

Shutter speed is a consideration that can be manipulated to produce specific results. If you want primarily "record" or detail shots, a higher speed (1/500 - 1/2000 sec) will allow for a sharper capture of all the image but it does "freeze" a moment in time. As auto-racing photographers have learned, many of the impact shots work better with a lower speed (1/125- 1/250 and panning with the subject will allow a bit (or a lot) of blurred background which emphasizes the speed relative to the surroundings.

The more experience you get, the more you'll have a sense for what to use. The nice thing about digital in this regard is that you can shoot 'sharp' on one pass, check the results quickly and reshoot with a different setting on the next pass if it's a full routine.

Because airshows ( the flying part) happen quickly the ability to adjust settings whithout stopping to study the menu helps a lot.

For the static displays, my frustration level gets held down by a decent medium-wide lens where I can get in closer - reducing the odds of some mindless, unobservant clod wandering in front of me just as I press the shutter release.

Oh how I long for airshows to set aside a couple of hours of static time for 'adults only' so you don't have to dodge the know-it-all wannabe trying to impress his friends or kids, oblivious to all around him. Being able to get a press or trade pass used to make my life so much easier.

Rob

 

[Henry]

Personally i never like raw files
they take up more space
and time to correct them
most slr's are very capable of getting great images
and correct for them
I guess a lot of blue sky you could get some noise
in a high quality Jpg
but chances are you will convert them to Jpg's anyway
I have compared Raw, Tiff and high quality Jpgs
and see no great difference
thats just my personal opinion
others may vary and some do
The Lens will be the biggest factor in quality
H

 

[grumpos]

I wouldn't use a polariser when shooting flying subjects - it will suck up a couple of stops of light that would be far more useful in closing the lens down to give a better aperture or giving you a faster shutter speed. I'd also avoid program modes, at the end of the day its best to fix the shutter speed yourself, rather than hope that the camera selects the right one.

If you are shooting prop driven aircraft, remember that you will need a pretty slow shutter speed to blur the props, so practice panning well before the event so that you know what speeds you will be able to get away with on the day.

Best wishes
Steve P

 

[demorier]

In the composition department one thing I've read and it works is to place moving object towards the back one third of the frame. Makes the object look like it's going somewhere, rather than somewhere it's been. Seems to work pretty good on video.

 

[Moparmike]

My action shots are pretty horrible...most of them that I took at the airshow here last summer stunk but I did get a couple keepers. I can't pan smoothly to save my soul...

I prefer using a slower shutter speed and pan otherwise you get that still-prop look (just doesn't look right to me on an airborne plane). Here's a couple airborne shots taken at 1/125 and 1/90 & f22. 200mm lens on an APS-C (6.1MP Pentax DL) camera. I wish I would've had a longer lens as these were cropped down pretty good from the originals.
The B17 shot was also f22 but 1/60 and captured a beautiful prop blur. (This was the best moving shot I got all day).

As for RAW vs JPG. I shot in JPG since my camera records RAW very slowly, but especially with the lack of lens length I wish I'd have tried more RAW shots. RAW will give you a little more detail to work with, but JPG works too.





<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/moparmike90/3084974829/" title="IMGP1870_compressed by moparmike90, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/3084974829_6e165623f4.jpg" width="500" height="393" alt="IMGP1870_compressed" /></a>

 

[Snuffy]

The most important thing is to remember to take pictures of the aircraft when at an airshow!

 

[redriver6]

The most important thing is to remember to take pictures of the aircraft when at an airshow!

best advice out there...just take lots of picutres...flying, sitting still, taxiing...

 

[luckydog]

Great shots Mopar & Red !!!

Hopefully, I'll get a few good ones this coming weekend at "Wings Over Wayne" (Goldsboro, NC).

 

[kilo delta]

I use a nikon D80 with a 70-300mm VR lens for aerial shots along with a 18-70mm and a 50mm F1.8 for statics. The cropped sensor on the D80 gives me a range of around 450mm and the Vibration Reduction is very handy at eliminating camera shake. Props require a slower shutter speed in order to avoid a static prop on the image. For fast movers I tend to shoot in continuous (burst) mode. My camera is also fitted with a grip which holds 2 batteries and I carry a spare battery in the bag. Memory cards are very cheap, so carry a few and I'd highly recommend shooting RAW as you can post process the image much easier if its in this format. (I tend to shoot RAW + Jpeg and get roughly 420 images to an 8GB card at maximum resolution).
I've just had a bunch of my pics featured in this months edition of our national flying magazine too.....not bad for a newbie

 

[Ferry_vO]

I agree that prop blur looks nice, but when I have the choice between a blurred prop or a sharp photo I always take the last. I do have some photos of aircraft doing engine runs on the ground, and with image stabilizing I can get down to 1/20 or 1/30 seconds without loosing the sharpness.

These are two of my favourite blurred prop photos:

You can still barely make out the prop and the cooling ribs on the cylinders, there's plenty of action but the rest of the photo is very sharp.

No prop blur in this photo, but the aircraft is very sharp, hardly any motion blur visible:

It's always gives a kick to nail a shot like this, pretty hard to time well!:

Another favourite: You can see the heat comnig from the engine ,the afterburner and the smoke, the background is slightly blurred to give a sense of speed yet the aircraft is pretty sharp. This is only one image of a serie of three or four, but the only one worth saving:

Airshows here last all day, with the best photo locations near the fence, quite close to the flightline. That means there will be a lot of panning to do all day, with the sunlight always changing. This is why I prefer the 'P' mode on my Canon, and I vary the ISO settings between 200 and 800 to keep the camera taking shots at F6.4-11 and at 1/320 - 1/1000 seonds.

 

[redriver6]

really good sharp pictures..
you really get the feeling of high speed in that F-16 picture.