Chicago air show attempt

1ibandit

Some day I will get good glass... many more at www.1ibandit.com

I shot 100% manual mode, some times it paid off other times it didn't.

DJ-S1

You've got some good ones there - B-1, sltealth fighter, 4 plane Air Force Heritage Flight (P-51, F-4, F-15, F-16), and of course the Blue Angels. Looks like a great show! I have to say I was a bit thrown off by all the beach photos in the beginning though...:D

Full manual is tough at air shows, at least for me. The conditions change very rapidly - I have used Av mode and it seems to suit me. Maybe give it a try at next year's show.

Also there's a blue color cast to some of the images; the shot you posted above has a bit of it. The Blue Angels are a pretty rich blue and gold, this one's a little too baby blue. That can be fixed pretty easily with editing software if you are into that sort of thing.

You may not have "good glass" but you did a fine job with what you had.

gluwater

You got some good shots in there. I think shooting manual in this situation is not the best. Many of your shots look overexposed. The light was changing very rapidly, from cloudy to midday sun. I used Av and it did a good job. It looks like you were in the same area I was but I was further back from the beach in front of the North Beach concesion stand. I'm still going through mine from Sunday but if you want to take a look they are in these galleries. You definitely got a better angle on the jet skiers than I did.

1ibandit

DJ-S1 wrote:

You've got some good ones there - B-1, sltealth fighter, 4 plane Air Force Heritage Flight (P-51, F-4, F-15, F-16), and of course the Blue Angels. Looks like a great show! I have to say I was a bit thrown off by all the beach photos in the beginning though...:D

Full manual is tough at air shows, at least for me. The conditions change very rapidly - I have used Av mode and it seems to suit me. Maybe give it a try at next year's show.

Also there's a blue color cast to some of the images; the shot you posted above has a bit of it. The Blue Angels are a pretty rich blue and gold, this one's a little too baby blue. That can be fixed pretty easily with editing software if you are into that sort of thing.

You may not have "good glass" but you did a fine job with what you had.

Thanks for the comments.. I just uploaded all the pictures I took that day. I will be moving the others, beach/sea show to areas more fitting.

My lens is just the 75-300 4-5.6 and didn't do to bad. The reason I went full manual is after reading on how to shot an air show I found that there is no perfect setting so I picked manual so I had a better chance of being under exp. Next show if I don't have my good glass I will rent some..

1ibandit

gluwater wrote:

You got some good shots in there. I think shooting manual in this situation is not the best. Many of your shots look overexposed. The light was changing very rapidly, from cloudy to midday sun. I used Av and it did a good job. It looks like you were in the same area I was but I was further back from the beach in front of the North Beach concesion stand. I'm still going through mine from Sunday but if you want to take a look they are in these galleries. You definitely got a better angle on the jet skiers than I did.

We make it a day at the beach.. left wisconsin at 5:15 to get the best spot we could. We don't go center stage, because I think being off center is better for most of the shots.

I checked out some of your shots, and they look real nice. Are they right from the camera, or edited some. I have started to play with some of mine, but I don't post one's that I have edited most of the time.. Also what camera, and lenses did you have?

gluwater

I shot in RAW and did minor editing including slight exposure adjustment and sharpening. All the shots except the F-16 were either full frame or close to it. The F-16 is about a 50% crop. I used a 20D with either the 400 f/5.6 or 300 f/4 IS. I also used the Tamron 1.4TC on a lot of the shots.

Awais Yaqub

: Great keep posting

Skippy

1ibandit wrote:

Some day I will get good glass... many more at www.1ibandit.com

I shot 100% manual mode, some times it paid off other times it didn't.

You did pretty good 1ibandit...... I see some folks have already commented about your images below.

You soon discover very quickly at these Airshows what lenses you need don't you ...... I had nothing wide enough, and nothing long enough when I went last year.

I put it down to experience, next time I go I now know a lot more than I did the last time I attempted to shoot planes in the sky

Thanks for sharing your experience..... Skippy (Australia)

moose135

Nice shots from both of you - beach shows can be tough to shoot, it can be hard to get a good close spot, the light off the water can cause some "interesting" reflections, there is always someone with an umbrella getting in your line of vision...I shoot a lot of aircraft, and normally use Av mode. I'm shooting with a 300D, and usually have the 100-400L IS mounted. If the light is decent, I shoot at about f 7.1 or 8.0 at ISO 100, and like to underexpose 1/3 of a stop if it's a bright sky (sometimes even 2/3). That gives me a shutter speed around 1/500. That's usually sufficient for most subjects, but I may use a faster shutter speed for real fast-movers, or slow it down to get some prop blur on warbirds or helicopters.

Here are some shots from the Jones Beach (Long Island) air show this past Memorial Day weekend. The light was horrible - high over head, hazy skies, but I'm happy with most of them.

1ibandit

moose135 wrote:

Nice shots from both of you - beach shows can be tough to shoot, it can be hard to get a good close spot, the light off the water can cause some "interesting" reflections, there is always someone with an umbrella getting in your line of vision...I shoot a lot of aircraft, and normally use Av mode. I'm shooting with a 300D, and usually have the 100-400L IS mounted. If the light is decent, I shoot at about f 7.1 or 8.0 at ISO 100, and like to underexpose 1/3 of a stop if it's a bright sky (sometimes even 2/3). That gives me a shutter speed around 1/500. That's usually sufficient for most subjects, but I may use a faster shutter speed for real fast-movers, or slow it down to get some prop blur on warbirds or helicopters.

Here are some shots from the Jones Beach (Long Island) air show this past Memorial Day weekend. The light was horrible - high over head, hazy skies, but I'm happy with most of them.

Moose:
Real nice pictures... are most of them croped? Also I love when the planes are on the gound.. at the chicago air show you only get to see them in the air...

man I need real glass... Oh come on chrismas.....

moose135

1ibandit wrote:

Moose:
Real nice pictures... are most of them croped? Also I love when the planes are on the gound.. at the chicago air show you only get to see them in the air...

man I need real glass... Oh come on chrismas.....

Thanks...some of the shots of the smaller aircraft are cropped, but nothing major. We got there around 7am, and staked out a spot close to the water, plus the 100-400 helps bring them in.

The bad thing about beach shows (well, besides getting sand in your camera!) is not having a static display to go along with the air show. With the Jones Beach show being two days, several of us staked out Republic Airport one day, where the Blue Angels and most other performers staged out of, to get some take off/landing shots, as well as the ramp shots of the Blues, then headed to the beach the next day.

Fred W

Hi 1ibandit. Nice shot posted and great shots in your gallery. Your Blue Angels pictures look almost the same as the ones I caught in Atlantic City two weeks ago. I quess it's same routine, different city for them.:D