2010 Royal International Air Tattoo

[camera shy]

Hi guys.

Okay so I photographed my first airshow yesterday at Fairford. Weather was cloudy for the first half of the flying display but I got a little burned during the second half. Cracking day though, loved it!

Just skimming through the photos today and overall I feel quite pleased. I was preparing myself for disappointment and true enough it was difficult to keep up with those super jets - the Raptor is amazing by the way - with plenty of empty sky or just the tail etc but there are few nice ones out of the 1,100 I shot!! Really could have done with more zoom (x18 on the Panasonic) for some of the shots but was reluctant to use my extra zoom (up to x35 at 3mp) so carried on with x18 at 12mp.

I didn't shoot in Raw/JPeg mode because I noticed my camera was preventing me using the burst shooting mode which I thought would help an inxperienced snapper like me. Unfortunately I can't really say I experimented too much with the camera settings either and I was mainly using shutter priority for most of my shots. Although I did try to reduce the shutter speed down for helos and props my images were generally quite blurred.

I just need some assistance now with the processing. I am trying to put a few of the ones I like on to my PC but I have no clue how to go about what to do or indeed what software to use. Panasonic kindly provided me with a software disc but I expect these are some of the more basic tools, am I right? What is the best software programme to use and is it nice and easy to understand? Also before I use such tools pre editing is there anything I need to do to protect the original or does the programme cover this? I won't be offended if somebody refers me to gimp!

With limited experience in this field what do I do once I have put them on my PC and edited them? Do I just delete them off my memory card or should I put the protect option on those I really want to keep and just delete out the genuine trash?

I would really appreciate any help.

Craig.

ps I've got the taste now. I was thinking of going to the Leuchars show later in the year.

 

[subscuck]

Everyone has their own personal choice in editing software. Many will suggest gimp because it's free, others will suggest something from the Adobe family. In any case, they are not "nice and easy to understand". That's what books and tutorials are for. Whatever you decide on, you'll need a teaching aid to go along with it. Photo editing software is not intuitive, and editing, like photography, takes time to learn.

Here's a little breakdown:

Gimp. Free, books and online tutorials available, editing oriented. I'm not sure if it's non destructive editing like PS, as I've never used it. #1 reason I usually see it recommended is, "It's free".

PS Elements. About $70-$80US, books and online tutorials available, editing oriented, but very limited compared to Photoshop.

Adobe Light Room. Around $300US, give or take. Organization and workflow oriented, editing is, again, limited compared to PS. Books and tutorials available.

Photoshop. $700US. All the editing capability you could want, but very pricey, and honestly, a lot more than the casual/hobby photographer needs. Books and tutorials available. In fact, there are a ton of them.

This is just a thumbnail sketch of what these programs do, research them further on your own and choose the one that best fits your needs/budget.

 

[subscuck]

With limited experience in this field what do I do once I have put them on my PC and edited them? Do I just delete them off my memory card or should I put the protect option on those I really want to keep and just delete out the genuine trash?

Sorry, missed this part! I never keep pics on my memory cards. Once I have them on my HD, I format the memory card. I then go through the pics on the HD and cull anything I know I will never edit edit. There's no reason to keep garbage. I know my backup solution is lacking, but I archive on DVD and nothing else. At some point I'll get around to purchasing an external HD or two and have two backup sources.