Redding Airshow (2011)

[Gnomey]

Cool shots Dave!

 

[rochie]

great stuff Dave

 

[evangilder]

Nice stuff, Dave! I recognized a lot of those performers from my neck of the woods. The colorful Canadian F-18 looked great.

Nice shooting, Dave!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Dave, you will not ever hear me say I don't enjoy your shots. Excellent work my friend. You were talking about a slower shutter speed due to the overcast. If you don't mind me asking, what was you shutter speed because I shoot at 1/125 for most of mine and that may be why mine are never as sharp as I would like to see them.

 

[GrauGeist]

Thanks Karl, Eric and Aaron!

I thought you might recognize a few of these, Eric!

Aaron, I was using my Sigma 70-300 ranging between f/6.7 (1/350) to f/8.0 (1/250) for the statics and f/8.0 (1/500) to f/9.5 (1/750) for the flights...

The problem I was facing was the varying contrast with the cloud cover...if I opened up to say, f/4 for better light, I got a decent image of the aircraft, but the clouds looked over exposed. Also the cloud cover was terrible, light in one spot and dark in another...and that was constantly changing.

Perhaps we could turn to the expert and see what Eric does on overcast days

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I had the very same cloud problem at the Abingdon show. Light changing constantly. It'll drive you NUTZ!!!

 

[Njaco]

Excellent pics. That one shot of the Warthog looks like a painting!

 

[mudpuppy]

Really enjoyed these, thanks for posting.
Derek

 

[Airframes]

Great set of pics dave, especially considering the lighting conditions. Thanks for posting.

 

[DBII]

Nice shots. Most of the airshows in Houston are cloudy also, I hate it. I would love to see the Yak 9 and the biplanes.

DBII

 

[Thorlifter]

Lots of great pics. thanks for sharing.

 

[evangilder]

Changing lighting conditions happen at every airshow, guys. Whether or not there are clouds, you get different light in the morning than in the afternoon. If you are having funky exposure issues, play with your metering settings. One most cameras, you have the choice of spot or matrix metering. Matrix metering will try and meter throughout the frame, which can be inconsistent and end up underexposing your subject. Spot metering will meter from the center. You may get a little over-exposure from the light behind it, but the main thing is that the airplane doesn't end up as a silhouette. I use shutter priority so that I can control the shutter speed to get the prop blur I am looking for. Aperture priority looks good for statics and things that aren't moving, or moving as quickly. Of course, it is all about what the shooter likes to do, but I happen to find shutter priority works best for me.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Eric, the problem that I had at Abingdon was in one pass the lighting could change four or more times due to cloud density. I can deal with light change of a period of time but in a span of ten to fifteen seconds I can't operate the camera fast enough and shoot photos to. It ends up being a crap shoot, no pun intended.

 

[GrauGeist]

Great advice, Eric and I use Shutter Priority and Aperature Priority more than any other.

I was constantly changing the settings during the airshow to try and stay one step ahead of the constantly changing light conditions...I was bouncing between f/8.0 and f/9.5 and then adjusting the shutter speed accordingly.

Not sure if that's a good Airshow technique, but I'm in the habit of setting the Aperature and Shutter manually for landscapes. I was in AP mode when the flight demo first started, but I quickly discovered that the skies were just way too dark so I went to manual after that.

 

[evangilder]

You have to watch your metering too. When you are using shutter priority, it will usually adjust the aperture accordingly. Using spot metering will give you metering based on the center area, where you are focusing. The reason I let the camera do the aperture based on shutter speed is for conditions where there are dark and light skies, with varying degrees on each pass. Chino this year was a great example of challenging conditions. Not all of them will work (true even on sunny bright days), but that's been what works for me. The one thing you may also have to contend with in that situation is when the shutter speed isn't slow enough to let the light in. Then you have two choices; 1. Get out of your comfort zone and go slower on the shutter speed, or 2. Up the ISO setting and deal with some grain. Both have benefits and drawbacks. BUT, getting out of your comfort zone can bring you shots that you may never have even attempted before. My Mustang pan shot at Riverside a few years ago was WAY out of my comfort zone. The result was a shot that has been a good seller and the most views on airplane pictures. I did that one on a dare, and it worked.

So practice shooting out of your comfort zone at other times, and when you need it, the knowledge will pay off big time. Kamikaze Kamera taught me how to take shots where I couldn't put my head (like leaning into a cockpit to get a photo of the cockpit, or shooting directly behind me).

 

[N4521U]

Isn't she too old to fly yet????????????

I was at the Hamilton Air Base air show many years ago when she got married in a DC3 while in formation with a bunch of planes. Quite the show. Been around for a very long time in that plane.

 

[evangilder]

She is still as feisty as ever. I love Julie, she's a great performer and a neat person.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Apparently I haven't had a comfort zone have I Eric?

 

[nuuumannn]

Excellent pics despite the weather; at least that Canuck special scheme makes the Hornisse stand out, otherwise it'd be pretty grey. 9th picture from the top of the opening page; imagine the confetti if the C-17 suddenly started its engines!