Hints and Tips - Comments?

Craig wrote:

But the problem I was facing was getting nice clarrity of the objects. They
all seem out of focus, and I'm not sure how to better that next time.

Interesting stuff there. On studying most of the shots, I think your
problem is not one of focus sharpness, but camera movement. On most of
the images, there are some edges sharp, and others not, which points to
panning technique, in that the camera is not keeping the aircraft
stationary in the viewfinder, but is allowing what looks like camera
shake in some direction to occur.

This can be well seen in the last shot, of the 640mph pass, where the
leading edge of the fin is sharp, but the fuselage is blurred in a
vertical direction. This implies that the camera was moving down and
left, along the line of the fin so the leading edge is sharp, but the
downward movement has blurred the fuselage.

Noting that the lens was at 200mm, and your shutter was about 1/250
IIRC, it's not surprising, and certainly not a criticism of the camera.

You need a better day, shutter speeds of 1/1000 or greater - except for
helos - and then I think you will see better results.

For interest, here's a url to some 300D shots of various aircraft, just
to perhaps dispel any doubts you might have about the 300D.

http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...&keywords=300D

Colin D.

Mac Tabak wrote:
Always overexpose your shots by 1.5 - 2 F stops, i know sky will
blow out but it's not the sky you want!
Another tip....if plane is crossing from left to right, make sure you
position it in the frame on the left hand side,that way it gives the
plane a space to fly into.

Truer words...

Y'ever seen what a T-28 prop will do to the inside of your camera? ;^)




"Craig" wrote in message
...
A few weeks back, I came and asked for tips on taking photos at an
airhow, and one of the 'hopes and dreams' was that we'de get good
weather for photos. Turns out, it was rubbish weather! The old
planes cancelled the Battle of Britain flyby, and I think the better
ones took it easy (Except, of course, The Red Arrows!).

Anyways, this is how my shots came out.

http://www.thelisters.co.uk/viewgallery.php?id=50

Used auto focus, and.. the rest of the details are on each photo.
Not too happy, as most are not sharp, but it would be great if you
could 'crit' some photos.

Not bad for a first time though, I guess. Weather was really bad.
Dark and windy and rain. Not great...

Mac Tabak wrote:
Always overexpose your shots by 1.5 - 2 F stops, i know sky will
blow out but it's not the sky you want!
Another tip....if plane is crossing from left to right, make sure you
position it in the frame on the left hand side,that way it gives the
plane a space to fly into.

Truer words...

Y'ever seen what a T-28 prop will do to the inside of your camera? ;^)




"Craig" wrote in message
...
A few weeks back, I came and asked for tips on taking photos at an
airhow, and one of the 'hopes and dreams' was that we'de get good
weather for photos. Turns out, it was rubbish weather! The old
planes cancelled the Battle of Britain flyby, and I think the better
ones took it easy (Except, of course, The Red Arrows!).

Anyways, this is how my shots came out.

http://www.thelisters.co.uk/viewgallery.php?id=50

Used auto focus, and.. the rest of the details are on each photo.
Not too happy, as most are not sharp, but it would be great if you
could 'crit' some photos.

Not bad for a first time though, I guess. Weather was really bad.
Dark and windy and rain. Not great...

Mac Tabak wrote:
Always overexpose your shots by 1.5 - 2 F stops, i know sky will
blow out but it's not the sky you want!
Another tip....if plane is crossing from left to right, make sure you
position it in the frame on the left hand side,that way it gives the
plane a space to fly into.

Truer words...

Y'ever seen what a T-28 prop will do to the inside of your camera? ;^)




"Craig" wrote in message
...
A few weeks back, I came and asked for tips on taking photos at an
airhow, and one of the 'hopes and dreams' was that we'de get good
weather for photos. Turns out, it was rubbish weather! The old
planes cancelled the Battle of Britain flyby, and I think the better
ones took it easy (Except, of course, The Red Arrows!).

Anyways, this is how my shots came out.

http://www.thelisters.co.uk/viewgallery.php?id=50

Used auto focus, and.. the rest of the details are on each photo.
Not too happy, as most are not sharp, but it would be great if you
could 'crit' some photos.

Not bad for a first time though, I guess. Weather was really bad.
Dark and windy and rain. Not great...

Thanks Colin. Well spotted. I made a massive mistake in setting the speed
too slow, as I was looking at other shots before the show, and saw these at
lower speeds. However, looking back, they were of prop planes. Jets would
probably require faster speeds. Damn! A whole year till the next show!

"Colin D" wrote in message
...
Craig wrote:

But the problem I was facing was getting nice clarrity of the objects.
They
all seem out of focus, and I'm not sure how to better that next time.

Interesting stuff there. On studying most of the shots, I think your
problem is not one of focus sharpness, but camera movement. On most of
the images, there are some edges sharp, and others not, which points to
panning technique, in that the camera is not keeping the aircraft
stationary in the viewfinder, but is allowing what looks like camera
shake in some direction to occur.

This can be well seen in the last shot, of the 640mph pass, where the
leading edge of the fin is sharp, but the fuselage is blurred in a
vertical direction. This implies that the camera was moving down and
left, along the line of the fin so the leading edge is sharp, but the
downward movement has blurred the fuselage.

Noting that the lens was at 200mm, and your shutter was about 1/250
IIRC, it's not surprising, and certainly not a criticism of the camera.

You need a better day, shutter speeds of 1/1000 or greater - except for
helos - and then I think you will see better results.

For interest, here's a url to some 300D shots of various aircraft, just
to perhaps dispel any doubts you might have about the 300D.

http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...&keywords=300D

Colin D.

Craig wrote:

Thanks Colin. Well spotted. I made a massive mistake in setting the speed
too slow, as I was looking at other shots before the show, and saw these at
lower speeds. However, looking back, they were of prop planes. Jets would
probably require faster speeds. Damn! A whole year till the next show!

"Colin D" wrote in message
...
Craig wrote:

But the problem I was facing was getting nice clarrity of the objects.
They
all seem out of focus, and I'm not sure how to better that next time.

Interesting stuff there. On studying most of the shots, I think your
problem is not one of focus sharpness, but camera movement. On most of
the images, there are some edges sharp, and others not, which points to
panning technique, in that the camera is not keeping the aircraft
stationary in the viewfinder, but is allowing what looks like camera
shake in some direction to occur.

This can be well seen in the last shot, of the 640mph pass, where the
leading edge of the fin is sharp, but the fuselage is blurred in a
vertical direction. This implies that the camera was moving down and
left, along the line of the fin so the leading edge is sharp, but the
downward movement has blurred the fuselage.

Noting that the lens was at 200mm, and your shutter was about 1/250
IIRC, it's not surprising, and certainly not a criticism of the camera.

You need a better day, shutter speeds of 1/1000 or greater - except for
helos - and then I think you will see better results.

For interest, here's a url to some 300D shots of various aircraft, just
to perhaps dispel any doubts you might have about the 300D.

http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...&keywords=300D

Colin D.

Craig, do have a look at that url. There are some shots of aircraft in
flight that were taken with a 400mm lens at 1/60th, repeat 1/60th. But
the lens was an Image Stabilised lens, which worked amazingly well. I
was really impressed, also, with two shots of an F16 from another
aircraft, fantastic shots taken with the 18-55mm kit lens!!

Colin D.

Craig wrote:

Thanks Colin. Well spotted. I made a massive mistake in setting the speed
too slow, as I was looking at other shots before the show, and saw these at
lower speeds. However, looking back, they were of prop planes. Jets would
probably require faster speeds. Damn! A whole year till the next show!

"Colin D" wrote in message
...
Craig wrote:

But the problem I was facing was getting nice clarrity of the objects.
They
all seem out of focus, and I'm not sure how to better that next time.

Interesting stuff there. On studying most of the shots, I think your
problem is not one of focus sharpness, but camera movement. On most of
the images, there are some edges sharp, and others not, which points to
panning technique, in that the camera is not keeping the aircraft
stationary in the viewfinder, but is allowing what looks like camera
shake in some direction to occur.

This can be well seen in the last shot, of the 640mph pass, where the
leading edge of the fin is sharp, but the fuselage is blurred in a
vertical direction. This implies that the camera was moving down and
left, along the line of the fin so the leading edge is sharp, but the
downward movement has blurred the fuselage.

Noting that the lens was at 200mm, and your shutter was about 1/250
IIRC, it's not surprising, and certainly not a criticism of the camera.

You need a better day, shutter speeds of 1/1000 or greater - except for
helos - and then I think you will see better results.

For interest, here's a url to some 300D shots of various aircraft, just
to perhaps dispel any doubts you might have about the 300D.

http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...&keywords=300D

Colin D.

Craig, do have a look at that url. There are some shots of aircraft in
flight that were taken with a 400mm lens at 1/60th, repeat 1/60th. But
the lens was an Image Stabilised lens, which worked amazingly well. I
was really impressed, also, with two shots of an F16 from another
aircraft, fantastic shots taken with the 18-55mm kit lens!!

Colin D.

Craig wrote:

Thanks Colin. Well spotted. I made a massive mistake in setting the speed
too slow, as I was looking at other shots before the show, and saw these at
lower speeds. However, looking back, they were of prop planes. Jets would
probably require faster speeds. Damn! A whole year till the next show!

"Colin D" wrote in message
...
Craig wrote:

But the problem I was facing was getting nice clarrity of the objects.
They
all seem out of focus, and I'm not sure how to better that next time.

Interesting stuff there. On studying most of the shots, I think your
problem is not one of focus sharpness, but camera movement. On most of
the images, there are some edges sharp, and others not, which points to
panning technique, in that the camera is not keeping the aircraft
stationary in the viewfinder, but is allowing what looks like camera
shake in some direction to occur.

This can be well seen in the last shot, of the 640mph pass, where the
leading edge of the fin is sharp, but the fuselage is blurred in a
vertical direction. This implies that the camera was moving down and
left, along the line of the fin so the leading edge is sharp, but the
downward movement has blurred the fuselage.

Noting that the lens was at 200mm, and your shutter was about 1/250
IIRC, it's not surprising, and certainly not a criticism of the camera.

You need a better day, shutter speeds of 1/1000 or greater - except for
helos - and then I think you will see better results.

For interest, here's a url to some 300D shots of various aircraft, just
to perhaps dispel any doubts you might have about the 300D.

http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...&keywords=300D

Colin D.

Craig, do have a look at that url. There are some shots of aircraft in
flight that were taken with a 400mm lens at 1/60th, repeat 1/60th. But
the lens was an Image Stabilised lens, which worked amazingly well. I
was really impressed, also, with two shots of an F16 from another
aircraft, fantastic shots taken with the 18-55mm kit lens!!

Colin D.

Apparently Craig wrote:

Thanks Colin. Well spotted. I made a massive mistake in setting the speed
too slow, as I was looking at other shots before the show, and saw these at
lower speeds. However, looking back, they were of prop planes. Jets would
probably require faster speeds. Damn! A whole year till the next show!

You could always pop by Heathrow for some practice. [Just don't wear
a headscarf if it's cold]

(Actually rural airports will be far better/give you a wider variety
of 'planes)
--
Ken Tough

Apparently Craig wrote:

Thanks Colin. Well spotted. I made a massive mistake in setting the speed
too slow, as I was looking at other shots before the show, and saw these at
lower speeds. However, looking back, they were of prop planes. Jets would
probably require faster speeds. Damn! A whole year till the next show!

You could always pop by Heathrow for some practice. [Just don't wear
a headscarf if it's cold]

(Actually rural airports will be far better/give you a wider variety
of 'planes)
--
Ken Tough