Cosmonaut X
Member
Some good shots there, and I think you're right - the last shot is the best. I like the framing (you even managed to get another aircraft arriving/departing, I think!), I like the light on the fuselage and I like the angle of the plane. Given that you're shooting with a relatively short lens - 210mm isn't bad, but at a larger airport you'll be pushing it to get closer shots shooting outside the wire - I'd be happy coming away with those images.
Ideally, I aim to shoot at ISO400 or lower for better image quality but it will depend entirely on available light. One thing to consider is to try for panning shots on days with poor light - ramp the aperture up to f14+, drop the ISO to 100 or 200 and get your shutter speed down to 1/125 or so and have a mess about panning with the aircraft. Use whatever continuous autofocus mode you have on your camera so you can hold on the moving aircraft and keep focus locked and get a nice smooth pan going while you run off shots. It's the same way I would shot prop aircraft, but it works for jets too as you can get a fantastic sense of motion from blurring the background and having a crisp aircraft in the frame. You'll end up with a load of clunkers initially, but it won't take long for you to get the idea of panning - nice, smooth movement from the waist while you hold the camera steady to follow the subject, and follow through like you would driving a golf ball - with a bit of practice (and for practice, you can do what I do - open my window and sit inside practicing on cars passing the house
)Yup! It's one of the first things I learned about aviation photography - bright, cloudless days give you loads of light to work with, but they make for boring backdrops for the aircraft. As you say, you could go for filling the frame, or you could look for interesting scenery/landmarks to spice up landing/takeoff shots. The final image above is a good example - you've got the aircraft on the ground from an interesting angle, some interest around it, and you've got another aircraft arriving/departing. I'd be happier with that than another dozen shots of aircraft against a cloudless sky!
Afraid so :-/ Heat distortion can be a huge issue, as when shooting aircraft at airports/airbases you will be taking shots:
a) Over a long distance, making the effect more visible
b) Over large, flat, exposed areas where the effect is more pronounced
Perversely, the effect can be worse on cold days as it is - if I remember correctly - to do with temperature differences between the ground and the atmosphere.
Best advice if you find you're noticing it on the day is to either make it a feature of your shots that day, get closer to the planes on the ground, or concentrate on shots of the aircraft in the air.
A tripod will certainly give you a nice stable platform to work from, but you can get good results handheld with practice and good technique. I still struggle to get sharp shots all the time, but once you get a sense of how aircraft move and get used to tracking and holding focus you can get some great shots without a tripod. I still tend to lug my monopod with me, as I find it strikes a reasonable balance between extra stability and ease of use/bulk, and with a quick-release plate I can drop it at a moment's notice if I need to shift position and work handheld.
Could be, or could be spotters. My local RAF base always has a mix of people outside, from spotters sitting with radios logging flights in/out and callsigns used, to photographers there to snap a shot of a particular airframe for their collection, to people like me who are just looking to get interesting aviation shots.
Definitely worth a look - if they're photographer-friendly and you take a tripod to allow you to get long exposures for indoor exhibits you'll be able to get some interesting shots. You might find the owners/employees will have tips about locations for photography or aviation events too, so it's another one to think about.
