Options
Air Show @ Andrews AFB
HarveyMushman
Registered Users Posts: 550 Major grins
This weekend Andrews Air Force Base hosted the annual Joint Services Open House air show. I stopped by for a few hours yesterday afternoon with my wife and our toddler son. I know little about capturing proper air show photos—my approach consisted of dialing in an aperture (f/8, usually), pointing my lens to the sky, and mashing the shutter button. C&C is welcome, especially from those of you with some insight into how to do this correctly. Enough words . . .
The early afternoon skies were gray and bland.
The planes are up there, Daddy (I told you I didn’t know what I was doing . . .
)
USAF Thunderbirds
High-G turn, with ‘burner lit
The pilot of the #6 F-16 (lower jet in this pic) is one of two female T’bird pilots, Maj. Samantha Weeks.
Maj. Weeks again, during a low-altitude, high-speed ‘burner pass right over the assembled crowd. Awesome.
Maj. Weeks yet again, this time on top and completely blind to her partner. :yikes
There are few people in this world of whom I am envious, and fighter pilots are on the list. What in incomparable thrill it must be to pilot these planes.
The early afternoon skies were gray and bland.
The planes are up there, Daddy (I told you I didn’t know what I was doing . . .
)USAF Thunderbirds
High-G turn, with ‘burner lit
The pilot of the #6 F-16 (lower jet in this pic) is one of two female T’bird pilots, Maj. Samantha Weeks.
Maj. Weeks again, during a low-altitude, high-speed ‘burner pass right over the assembled crowd. Awesome.
Maj. Weeks yet again, this time on top and completely blind to her partner. :yikes
There are few people in this world of whom I am envious, and fighter pilots are on the list. What in incomparable thrill it must be to pilot these planes.
Tim
0
Comments
Canon 60D
Canon Rebel XTi (400)
Canon 10-22mm, Canon 50mm f/1.8 II
MacBook, MacPro
I was using a Nikon D70 and the lens that hardly ever parts with it these days--Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR. It's almost cheating.
I was a little worried that 200mm wouldn't be enough reach, and there were plenty of good shots to be had with a 300-plus lens, but the planes actually flew close enough for my wee 200 often enough. I was just having fun anyway, and not at all envious of the guy stading next to me with a Mark II and big, white 500mm monster. He looked like he was working a lot harder than me.
We're agreed on the first pic--not sure how that one escaped the "editor."
My Gallery
That bag behind your son sorta looks like a puff of, um, gas.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
I'll spare everyone the diaper-change-on-the-Andrews AFB-tarmac photo.
The pic below is of one of the closing maneuvers, which has the four main T'birds flying out to the N, S, W, and E points of the compass and then converging in the middle of the field at considerable speed. The timing is important. :yikes
Wow Tim, excellent series
Looks like you had quite a successful day shooting.
These Air Shows are quite the crowd pleaser aren't they
Glad you had a great day, got yourself some awesome shots there Tim
... Skippy
.
Skippy (Australia) - Moderator of "HOLY MACRO" and "OTHER COOL SHOTS"
ALBUM http://ozzieskip.smugmug.com/
:skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin
Air shows are fun.
Nearby is this: www.flyingcircusairshow.com One of these summer Sundays I'll get over there . . .
Pax River NAS uses the high school I went to (Northern in Calvert) as a test drop zone, so we had planes flying over all the time. And, when I was a nerd in Honors Science Seminar our teacher's husband programed the flight simulators there so we got to go down and fly them. I'm pretty darn good at crashing an F-14 Tomcat into an air craft carrier. (The F-18 Hornet was easier.)
SmugMug Support Specialist - www.help.smugmug.com
http://www.phyxiusphotos.com
Equine Photography in Maryland - Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
The T'birds were practicing over the National Mall this afternoon, for a Memorial Day show I assume. By the time I walked to a clear vantage point (with my camera phone . . . ) they were done. :cry