Military Aircraft: airshows, operational, whatever, lets see what you have!

Hi Matthew.
Cracking shot sir, the light striking the leading edge really highlights the contours, not something I've seen in this detail before. (If someone has posted a picture showing this before, it is my powers of observation at fault, not your image!) ;D I'm also not a fan of the 70-200 + 2xIII, cloud really hurts it but I don't find it to be the combination I hoped it might have been even in bright light and clear skies, but that probably says more about my ability and expectations than the gear! I keep looking at biiiigg whites on craigslist and wishing I had a couple of grand to go pick up a 400 f2.8 (yes I know for that price it is probably a scam :'()

Cheers, Graham.

dhr90 said:
That shot of the Hercules is really impressive!

Final few shots I'll share here for now from the Clacton airshow :) Comments and criticism welcome as always. Cloud meant I lost a lot of shots, not happy with the performance of 70-200 and 2x under those conditions really, only kept shots of the Vulcan and Chinook from that day, everything else turned up the next day in bright blue skies!

3.

Avro Vulcan XH558 by Matt, on Flickr
 
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Not the greatest shots but something a little different...

Inside a KC-135. Built in 1959 this one from the Hawaiian Air National Guard still has a sextant ...although the pilots admit to not knowing how to use it ;D If you're claustrophobic and/or have a fear of heights, the refuellers job is not for you!!
 

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The B-52 is showing its age but the bomb bay is still an intimidating place :)
 

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A random selection ...
 

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Valvebounce said:
Hi Matthew.
Cracking shot sir, the light striking the leading edge really highlights the contours, not something I've seen in this detail before. (If someone has posted a picture showing this before, it is my powers of observation at fault, not your image!) ;D I'm also not a fan of the 70-200 + 2xIII, cloud really hurts it but I don't find it to be the combination I hoped it might have been even in bright light and clear skies, but that probably says more about my ability and expectations than the gear! I keep looking at biiiigg whites on craigslist and wishing I had a couple of grand to go pick up a 400 f2.8 (yes I know for that price it is probably a scam :'()

Cheers, Graham.

Thanks, but I think LesC just posted a far better picture showing that detail than mine does!
I have caught some good shots in clear skies with it, but recently have moved away from using the 2x and cropping if I can get away with it, it seems to give better results for me even if it means more processing.
I did wonder whether to get a 100-400, but wouldn't like to carry both lenses, and buying that (or even a big white) just for airshows doesn't make sense for me. Maybe a 7DII or 5DIII would help me, if not my wallet ;D

I've got one more airshow I intend to go to (weather permitting) this year, going to try to test it properly with and without the 2x I think. EDIT: or not, tickets have sold out. No debating whether it will be worthwhile standing outside the airfield in the hope some planes fly that way.
 
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Thanks for the kind comments folks :)

I have to admit the Rapide was cut out of a boring grey sky & added to the much nicer sunset but both photos were mine so I feel acceptable.

As to the 70-200 + extender debate, I find the 70-200 F4L IS + 1.4 extender works well on a cropped sensor - enough reach, AF still works & no noticeable drop in IQ ...
 
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LesC said:
Thanks for the kind comments folks :)

I have to admit the Rapide was cut out of a boring grey sky & added to the much nicer sunset but both photos were mine so I feel acceptable.

As to the 70-200 + extender debate, I find the 70-200 F4L IS + 1.4 extender works well on a cropped sensor - enough reach, AF still works & no noticeable drop in IQ ...

Interesting. Gives me a travel telephoto option too. Not sure I can justify having more than one 70-200 and I'm just too attached to my f2.8 to give it up. Some people have children they're in love me, I have my telephoto zoom lens ;D
 
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Roo said:
LesC said:
I have to admit the Rapide was cut out of a boring grey sky & added to the much nicer sunset but both photos were mine so I feel acceptable.

You killed the magic...you may as well have told me Santa Claus doesn't exist :'( ...but seriously it's a nice image :)

Really interesting, I also did a similar thing many pages back stating that the background sky was taken on the same day but not at the same time. I think it's important to state that otherwise for me it puts into question all other submissions. I asked the question at the time, for those of you really really into aircraft photography, is doing this an absolute no no or as Lesc I think suggests is tolerable? Is this basically the same debate as occurs within wildlife photography or am I making a fuss over nothing? :-\

Never got to Scottish Air show Ayr, family problems, gutted :(
 
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Today we had a flypast of hurricanes and spitfires...

I missed it >:(

but thankfully you can get a glimpse of the spectacle from a local paper.

http://onthewight.com/2015/09/15/battle-of-britain-flypast-spitfires-hurricanes-isle-of-wight/

and

https://www.facebook.com/BBCSouthToday/photos/ms.c.eJw10FsSRDEEBNAdTXkE3fvf2Fwin6cQLZQiLCUYIOvHtouNI9YfjWb5nOg6wOsjPo6zTrYLuA5NS4sj67TZl777sqY~;auul6H6TXId~_~_xW~_~_wrVdX3zsLG8~;Agfl67JsW1~_nuh9rrZG9fspPqacznuweSjJ8f4HD9n9wvv~_F77vr8x7P1Nm3nXnOf9RBvwB6FtMTw~-~-.bps.a.907982599292331.1073742844.153132638110668/907982605958997/?type=1

apparently there were 40 of them!.. fantastic to see so many together.
 
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zim said:
Roo said:
LesC said:
I have to admit the Rapide was cut out of a boring grey sky & added to the much nicer sunset but both photos were mine so I feel acceptable.

You killed the magic...you may as well have told me Santa Claus doesn't exist :'( ...but seriously it's a nice image :)

Really interesting, I also did a similar thing many pages back stating that the background sky was taken on the same day but not at the same time. I think it's important to state that otherwise for me it puts into question all other submissions. I asked the question at the time, for those of you really really into aircraft photography, is doing this an absolute no no or as Lesc I think suggests is tolerable? Is this basically the same debate as occurs within wildlife photography or am I making a fuss over nothing? :-\

Never got to Scottish Air show Ayr, family problems, gutted :(

I think it is important to state something that major has been changed. Personally I think that is a step too far, whilst I will adjust crop, exposure, saturation, sharpness and noise levels, the most I will change of what I would call the content captured is using the spot removal to get rid of a spot of dust or something similar, rather than a particularly major part of the scene. I do try to get it right in camera and keep the editing to a minimum, but I'm just not good enough to manage that, hopefully I will get there one day.

rfdesigner said:
Today we had a flypast of hurricanes and spitfires...

I missed it >:(

but thankfully you can get a glimpse of the spectacle from a local paper.

http://onthewight.com/2015/09/15/battle-of-britain-flypast-spitfires-hurricanes-isle-of-wight/

and

https://www.facebook.com/BBCSouthToday/photos/ms.c.eJw10FsSRDEEBNAdTXkE3fvf2Fwin6cQLZQiLCUYIOvHtouNI9YfjWb5nOg6wOsjPo6zTrYLuA5NS4sj67TZl777sqY~;auul6H6TXId~_~_xW~_~_wrVdX3zsLG8~;Agfl67JsW1~_nuh9rrZG9fspPqacznuweSjJ8f4HD9n9wvv~_F77vr8x7P1Nm3nXnOf9RBvwB6FtMTw~-~-.bps.a.907982599292331.1073742844.153132638110668/907982605958997/?type=1

apparently there were 40 of them!.. fantastic to see so many together.

3 of them flew over my workplace so I ran out to watch them fly past, no camera sadly. Good to see, but not the same as 40!
 
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Hi Folks.
I was at Goodwood for this event on Tuesday, it was not quite as the hype suggests, I don't think it actually got to 30, definitely not 40. They took off in single file, grouped up in fours, and I think the most we had in formation at any one time was 8 (2 x 4).
This is not to say it wasn't a fantastic thing to witness, and the "I was there" value is great.
There were a couple of scares, both Spits. An aborted takeoff, I think it just about bunny hopped off the runway, sputtered, coughed and popped so the pilot cut power and made a safe abort with tons of runway to spare. We think it had overheated as it was held for a long time at the start of the runway, he went back to the apron and returned a few minutes later making a successful takeoff. The early Spits were airbourne within about 1/4 to 1/3 of the runway, the slightly heavier later marks just a bit later.
The other was a pass with one only undercarriage down, I think it was a "tower please confirm undercarriage status" he cycled (raised and lowered) the gear and both came down, followed by an incident free landing.
In the main I think the disappointment comes from media and management overplaying what we were going to get, not the actual sight of so many planes at once.
After departure from Goodwood the planes split in to flights (3 or 4) and went to do their respective fly past routes, with the exception of 8 doing a circuit round the Isle of Wight.
There was a program that aired on channel 4, no doubt it will be repeated, it is also probably available to download.
I think it was called "Battle of Britain, the return of the Spitfire" or something similar.
Edit.
http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/prince-harry-to-attend-unique-battle-of-britain-aerial-tribute
End edit

Pictures from the event (and the Goodwood Revival air shows) to come as soon as I can get them done.

Cheers, Graham.

rfdesigner said:
Today we had a flypast of hurricanes and spitfires...

I missed it >:(

but thankfully you can get a glimpse of the spectacle from a local paper.

http://onthewight.com/2015/09/15/battle-of-britain-flypast-spitfires-hurricanes-isle-of-wight/

and

https://www.facebook.com/BBCSouthToday/photos/ms.c.eJw10FsSRDEEBNAdTXkE3fvf2Fwin6cQLZQiLCUYIOvHtouNI9YfjWb5nOg6wOsjPo6zTrYLuA5NS4sj67TZl777sqY~;auul6H6TXId~_~_xW~_~_wrVdX3zsLG8~;Agfl67JsW1~_nuh9rrZG9fspPqacznuweSjJ8f4HD9n9wvv~_F77vr8x7P1Nm3nXnOf9RBvwB6FtMTw~-~-.bps.a.907982599292331.1073742844.153132638110668/907982605958997/?type=1

apparently there were 40 of them!.. fantastic to see so many together.
 
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Click said:
I really like the second picture. Well done, Keith.

Thanks Click :)
Shooting with the 5DS has other advantages in when it comes to shooting aviation stuff- no need for longer lenses. ::)
Interestingly, the 5DS at ISO 400 looks like film grain. Beyond that, it looks OK and noise reduction can be used a tad more and still retain a reasonable sharpness.
 
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Last year I went to RNAS Culdrose air show in West Cornwall, first time taking photos at an air show but I think I came away with some good shots.

All taken with 7D w/ Sigma 120-400
 

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