# Taking Photos at Airshows



## Mattieuk (Oct 26, 2005)

Next weekend I'm going to The Royal International Air Tattoo. 

I've done some searching of the interweb on hints and tips on how to take good airbourne shot, but wondered if you gents had some advice or experience that could help me get the most out of my camera.

Cheers :thumb:


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

Take lots of memory, take lots of shots, take Ibruprofen for an aching neck:thumb:


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

ps if the Red Arrows are present, you'll be in for a treat, they love being photographed.


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## freon warrior (May 31, 2006)

I am going to the Farnborough Airshow and found this site useful: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/airphot.html
or here:http://www.profotos.com/education/promag/articles/jan2004/airshow/
Cheers

FW


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

You will need a long lens and pan with the plane, if they are low and moving fast thrn just before you want to click the shutter you will want to get a little ahead of the plane, if you don't do this you will end up chopping the nose off as it moved that tiny bit out of frame.

Use centre weighted instead of matrix metering this way you will get a better expsoure of the plane as matrix will try to expose for the sky and the plane itself will be a bit dark.

Finally you must have a fairly fast shutter speed so don't be afraid to up the ISO to achieve this, it's better to have a bit of noise (which can be reduced later in photoshop or similar) than a blurred image. On that note it might be worth turning off "High ISO Noise Reduction" as it will lock your camera up and you might miss some shots cos your camera is still trying to process the last one.


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

When taking shots of high-speed aircraft use manual focus and set it just below infinity. Even if your camera has real fast focus you might just get caught out by something in the foreground when panning, especially low level flying.

One tip if your taking pics of the Red Arrows and want to catch the head-on cross-over thing they do then keep both your eyes open, follow one plane through the viewfinder and use the other eye to 'spot' the other. I took three shots of them using this technique and got all three at exactly the point they crossed. I'll be honest and say that I was amazed given that the closing speed is something like 500+mph


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

parish said:


> *When taking shots of high-speed aircraft use manual focus and set it just below infinity. Even if your camera has real fast focus you might just get caught out by something in the foreground when panning, especially low level flying.*
> 
> One tip if your taking pics of the Red Arrows and want to catch the head-on cross-over thing they do then keep both your eyes open, follow one plane through the viewfinder and use the other eye to 'spot' the other. I took three shots of them using this technique and got all three at exactly the point they crossed. I'll be honest and say that I was amazed given that the closing speed is something like 500+mph


That's a good bit of advice:thumb:


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

Parish's tips on manual focus and keeping one eye on the action are spot on, one more tip, make sure your camera body and lens are as clean as possible, you'll have a fair amount of sky in your images which will show up every speck of dust especially when using a small aperture.

Timing is the key, this one was a nano second out:wall:


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Mattieuk said:


> Next weekend I'm going to The Royal International Air Tattoo.
> 
> I've done some searching of the interweb on hints and tips on how to take good airbourne shot, but wondered if you gents had some advice or experience that could help me get the most out of my camera.
> 
> Cheers :thumb:


Or stuff the airbourne shots and concentrate on the static park, which is fooking massive and will offer plenty of photo oppos.

Thats what I'll probably concentrate on.


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## Mattieuk (Oct 26, 2005)

rmorgan84 said:


> You will need a long lens and pan with the plane, if they are low and moving fast thrn just before you want to click the shutter you will want to get a little ahead of the plane, if you don't do this you will end up chopping the nose off as it moved that tiny bit out of frame.
> 
> Use centre weighted instead of matrix metering this way you will get a better expsoure of the plane as matrix will try to expose for the sky and the plane itself will be a bit dark.
> 
> Finally you must have a fairly fast shutter speed so don't be afraid to up the ISO to achieve this, it's better to have a bit of noise (which can be reduced later in photoshop or similar) than a blurred image. On that note it might be worth turning off "High ISO Noise Reduction" as it will lock your camera up and you might miss some shots cos your camera is still trying to process the last one.


RM..Would AF-C be of benefit when panning so the camera re focuses as the planes move by?


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

S500 said:


> Timing is the key, this one was a nano second out:wall:


Just need to turn back time mate :thumb:


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## ADZphtg (Mar 23, 2008)

Top tip, Turn your camera to manual, F stop low as poss and set your shutter speed as high as poss for jets and lower than 1/200th for heli's, Take a meter reading off the grass. 
If you use any form of auto metering the chances are you will get a very under exposed shot.

Adam


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

Mattieuk said:


> RM..Would AF-C be of benefit when panning so the camera re focuses as the planes move by?


Generally you will be so far from the subject that the camera won't need to constantly re-focus however, as I said, if you're panning and there is something in the foreground, e.g. PA system speakers on a pole, that the AF 'sees' you could end up with the subject being out of focus.


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

Mattieuk said:


> RM..Would AF-C be of benefit when panning so the camera re focuses as the planes move by?


Yeah continuous auto focus is the one to use out of the focus options for stuff that isn't moving too quicky, however parish's tip of focussing just below infinity will be quite useful!


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

ADZphtg said:


> Top tip, Turn your camera to manual, F stop low as poss and set your shutter speed as high as poss for jets and lower than 1/200th for heli's, Take a meter reading off the grass.
> If you use any form of auto metering the chances are you will get a very under exposed shot.
> 
> Adam


Say his lens has a max aperture of 5.6 @ the long end and a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000th surely this in cloudy or over cast conditions would result in some underexposed images unless the ISO was seriously high.

I am not disputing you being a pro and myself an amateur - just thinking out loud, but i would have come to a bit of a compromise with shutter speed and thought 1/500 - 1/1000th would be sufficient as 1/4000 is bloody quick even for planes. with that sort of speed not only would you stop the plane but also the prop!


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## IGADIZ (May 21, 2006)

Sorry parish but if you have a large zoom or telephoto lens, your technique produces poorly focused images. 
If you have a focal length of 400mm or over, set your camera to continuous focus, and follow the plane as it goes about, just make sure you have surveyed your surroundings, so that you know when to stop AF as the near obstacles come in to frame. The advice Adam has given you is pretty much spot on, Specially metering off the grass and setting a 1/200th sec shutter speed, which will give you beautifully blurred propeller blades (on heli's and prop planes). Just make sure your panning is smooth as silk.


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

IGADIZ said:


> Sorry parish but if you have a large zoom or telephoto lens, your technique produces poorly focused images.
> If you have a focal length of 400mm or over, set your camera to continuous focus, and follow the plane as it goes about, just make sure you have surveyed your surroundings, so that you know when to stop AF as the near obstacles come in to frame. The advice Adam has given you is pretty much spot on, Specially metering off the grass and setting a 1/200th sec shutter speed, which will give you beautifully blurred propeller blades (on heli's and prop planes). Just make sure your panning is smooth as silk.


Thanks - I'd not thought about the length of the lens


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## ADZphtg (Mar 23, 2008)

ha ha Mr Morgan, Yeah, Badly described. 
Attempt 2!!!
Meter off the grass or tarmac, Set aperture at widest possible and shutter speed to balance.
IF photographing heli's or prop aircraft then a shutter speed of 1/200th and no higher and adjust the f no accordingly.


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## ADZphtg (Mar 23, 2008)

I will be at RIAT myself so if anyone wants to meet up for a masterclass over a beer or two it would be good to meet.

Adam


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

ADZphtg said:


> ha ha Mr Morgan, Yeah, Badly described.
> Attempt 2!!!
> Meter off the grass or tarmac, Set aperture at widest possible and shutter speed to balance.
> IF photographing heli's or prop aircraft then a shutter speed of 1/200th and no higher and adjust the f no accordingly.


I understand what you mean now, the way you worded it confused me:thumb:


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## ADZphtg (Mar 23, 2008)

:thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## IGADIZ (May 21, 2006)

ADZphtg said:


> I will be at RIAT myself so if anyone wants to meet up for a masterclass over a beer or two it would be good to meet.
> 
> Adam


I'll be at the Farnborough International Air show from the 13th to the 19th (for trade week). PM me if you want to meet.


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## IGADIZ (May 21, 2006)

parish said:


> Thanks - I'd not thought about the length of the lens


No probs Parish is easily overlooked


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

matty IIRC you have the Fuji 5700

The multi burst mode comes in handy


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## Mattieuk (Oct 26, 2005)

andy monty said:


> matty IIRC you have the Fuji 5700
> 
> The multi burst mode comes in handy


No mate I have a Nikon D40X which is very new to me....hence all the questions


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## freon warrior (May 31, 2006)

I know this is quite an old thread, I am off to RIAT on Saturday so some further thoughts or advice would be great. Also have a Breitling enclosure pass!

Thanks guys.


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