Official Aviation Thread...

[M-technik-3]

Hell I would of taken that vantage point...next year on the inside of the course. Great shots. Friend of mine Harland was out there picking up some spars for a P-51C he is rebuilding.

[BlackbirdM3]

sweet! its kind of a bummer that from your vantage point the airplanes are always tilted away from you instead of toward.

you might try changing the crop a little so the airplane is flying into the picture instead of centered.

i would definitely return the lens if you think there is an issue. especially if it is still under warranty or within the return/exhcange policy of wherever you bought it.

i have purchased a couple new lenses that were doa. the last one came from my local best buy. it was really a convenient way to get a new one that actually worked.

I bought the lens from Adorama, the second week of last month. I don't know if its me or the lens however. I don't want to blame the lens for bad results if its me that is screwing things up. Still, when a U2 flies over and you shoot it at 1/400, it should be tack sharp, and my shots are not. (Serious WTF?) I may or may not shoot the Santa Rosa airshow this weekend, after that I can send the lens back.

I've gone back and forth about how to crop the pics, but one well known aviation photographer suggested I center the crop on those. Yes its a bummer that the light is a little wrong for shooting at that location in the afternoon, and the vantage point could be better, but still, its the closest you can get to being on the course and looking down on the planes. I love the spot since very few people shoot from there.

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Hell I would of taken that vantage point...next year on the inside of the course. Great shots. Friend of mine Harland was out there picking up some spars for a P-51C he is rebuilding.

I was shooting from the pylons, I just haven't processed any of those shots yet. The experience is really cool, but you have two choices for backgrounds. Blue sky or a pylon. Hmm, well, everyone shoots the pylon so how does one shoot something different? I went for cockpit shots. I've got some cool stuff.

Will

[flyboyx]

did you get any quartering frontal pics? those could be cool.


you are hand holding the camera and not using a monopod?

i am right handed but left eye dominant. this works out to my advantage for stability. i shoot across my body to the left instead of shooting straight ahead. i brace my left elbow against the side of my rib cage. i also hold my right elbow in tight against my chest. my head is turned to the left and i look across my left shoulder. my foot stance is like a right handed quarterback getting set to throw a football. left foot facing the same direction as the camera lens, right foot set back a little more than shoulder width and perpendicular to the front foot. the view finder goes to my left eye and i always shoot with my right eye open.

[BlackbirdM3]

Hand holding the camera, no other way to do it. You can't use a monopod. (I can't at least, its not flexible enough to pan with.) I have some quartering shots from inside the pylons. I haven't processed any of the pylon shots yet.

This is a good example of what I'm trying to work around. It should be far sharper than what it is since I'm shooting 1/400. Its like it won't lock on correctly.


Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Apparently one of the two seat trainer U2s out of Beale crashed into Sutters Butte this morning. One pilot dead. Bummer. I don't think there are many TR1-Bs out there.

Will

[mrsleeve]

Will have you tired a micro focus calibration of that lens to your body??? I know out past 3/4 zoom on my Tamzooka it will hunt for a focus lock sometimes...

[Vtec?lol]

#chemtrails

Are they real? If not what are those long streaks left behind?

[ThatM20Guy]

While were on the topic of the Blue Angles might as well post some pics that I took when they came to KC last summer. These were shot with a D7000 and a Nikkor 18-140 1:3.5-5.6 lens. My favorite shot by far is the 4th picture. I have heavily considered getting that one sent of to be printed to like a 36x48" posted but not sure the resolution would be there if you blew it up that much.

[flyboyx]

Cool. For me, the best one is number 2

[flyboyx]

#chemtrails

Are they real? If not what are those long streaks left behind?

In the case of demonstration teams, i think the smoke coming out the back is oil injected into the tail pipe of the engine.

[BlackbirdM3]

When all you brought was a 200-500mm lens...


Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Taken from Pylon 2 Sunday afternoon.

Will

[jpod999]

http://jalopnik.com/chill-as-fuck-pilot-somehow-still-chill-after-terrifyin-1786875797?utm_campaign=socialflow_jalopnik_facebook&utm_source=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Scary!

[BlackbirdM3]

http://jalopnik.com/chill-as-fuck-pi...ium=socialflow

Scary!

Thom Richard is a really cool guy. He is plagued with bad luck when it comes to racing. He owns the unlimited racer "Precious Metal". The first year he raced it the Rolls Royce Griffon ate its cams. He got it fixed and finished 7th. The following year they got some things sorted out and were looking good for a solid 5th place finish when one of the inner gear doors departed. A new door cost him $25K or something. 2013 they had a brand new race engine run for a total of 10 min before spinning a rod bearing. They thrashed for 36 hrs straight to build another engine that would work. They got to the races with 15 minutes before the deadline to enter. Had to race their way into the gold heat. 2014 they were back, with the pieced together engine from the year before. In the final race was called for a boundary cut that turned out to be a bogus call after reviewing the film and GPS data. They had finished 3rd but were disqualified. 2015 he set out for Reno in Precious Metal running a brand new race prepped Griffon with lots of new stuff. The plane was running better and faster than ever (The team members are pretty confident they would have won last year.) At the first fuel stop in northern Florida, the plane caught fire... reason unknown. Severely damaged the plane will require a new wing and fuselage. This year while in his Formula 1 plane, he gets taken out on the runway at the start. The guy needs some good luck (although he had some when he got out of PM when it caught fire as he was headed for the runway to takeoff, and this year not being any more injured than a broken hand after that mess.) I really feel for the guy. He is super cool, and very bright when it comes to making planes go fast. I can't wait to see what he does with PM in the rebuild. I hope he can get "Hot Stuff" fixed before the next race in Thailand. (There is an international Formula 1 series. He won it last year.)

I shot some really good stuff from the pylons this year. I just haven't processed it yet.










Will