Blue Angels, and airshow photo help.

Braineack · Nov 4, 2015

The problem I see with using that slow a shutter speed is that most of the time you're giving up having a sharp image to have blurred blades (as seen in the above albums) ...

I had one chance to get this shot. I went with getting the shot over blurred blades:

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Aluminum Overcast" by The Braineack, on Flickr

ouch, i just cut my finger on how sharp that image is...

PropilotBW · Nov 4, 2015

Braineack said:
The problem I see with using that slow a shutter speed is that most of the time you're giving up having a sharp image to have blurred blades (as seen in the above albums) ...

I had one chance to get this shot. I went with getting the shot over blurred blades:

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Aluminum Overcast" by The Braineack, on Flickr

ouch, i just cut my finger on how sharp that image is...

That's an awesome shot! Your props still have a slight bit of motion blur. Minus 2 points for sharpness! :lol:

That was exactly my problem. Inexperience/first try. I over-read the blogs and website suggestions for shooting airshows. I was really trying to get the hang of panning at 1/125th of a second.
I was lost for what settings to use for my equipment and lighting conditions.
I'd say it's a nice challenge to get back out there and get a do-over. ....someday.

Mr.Photo · Nov 4, 2015

PropilotBW said:
Nice albums! There are some really good pics and nice vibrant colors in that Sugarbush Airshow album!
What type of editing did you do to those photos, if any?

Not really much in the way of processing. It just so happened that it was perfect conditions for shooting. It was a late mid summer day with the sun at my back over my right shoulder.

Braineack said:
The problem I see with using that slow a shutter speed is that most of the time you're giving up having a sharp image to have blurred blades (as seen in the above albums) ...

I had one chance to get this shot. I went with getting the shot over blurred blades:

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Aluminum Overcast" by The Braineack, on Flickr

ouch, i just cut my finger on how sharp that image is...

I agree that this is a very sharp image, but it looks as if the airplane is merely gliding with the engines off. As an aviation enthusiast I want the sense of motion of the airplane. This is where the prop blur is critical as well as having the airplane sharp. This is where practice makes perfect. 1/125 to 1/250 is plenty adequate for getting a sharp photo with practice. While I'm still no pro at panning, I take every opportunity to practice and sharpen my skills that I can. I go to the dog park occasionally and practice panning on the dogs running. As a motorcyclist I go to a popular road in the area and photograph the fast riders going through the corners. I've even stood out near the highway and photographed cars as they go by.

The trick is learning how to adjust to various distances and closing speeds. The closer the aircraft is to you (or the tighter you're zoomed in) makes tracking the target much more difficult, but if you can master this than everything else gets much easier. Occasionally I get in to a really tight spot and if I feel that there's a risk I might get a blurry shot I will ditch getting a nice blurred prop disk and push the shutter speed slightly to no more than 1/320 as I know I'm much more consistent at that speed. This will still produce a decent prop blur, any faster than that will start to create static prop blades which in my opinion kills the shot.

Braineack · Nov 4, 2015

correct on all points.

charchri4 · Nov 4, 2015

Both shots are beautiful but I was just wondering if there is perhaps a middle ground between the B17s props stuck and the Pitts prop nearly invisible? Something like the Mustang on OPs post?

BTW I hear you on the only 1 chance to get the shot. On the other hand you can always say the shot was planned that way for artistic reasons

LOL!

Mr.Photo · Nov 4, 2015

charchri4 said:
Both shots are beautiful but I was just wondering if there is perhaps a middle ground between the B17s props stuck and the Pitts prop nearly invisible? Something like the Mustang on OPs post?

BTW I hear you on the only 1 chance to get the shot. On the other hand you can always say the shot was planned that way for artistic reasons LOL!

The invisible disk is partly due to the colors used on the prop blades, and the way the light hits them as well as the background. With a nice bright sky as the background the prop disk will show much better than it would with the darker background like I had in the Pitts shot.

PropilotBW · Nov 5, 2015

charchri4 said:
Both shots are beautiful but I was just wondering if there is perhaps a middle ground between the B17s props stuck and the Pitts prop nearly invisible? Something like the Mustang on OPs post?

BTW I hear you on the only 1 chance to get the shot. On the other hand you can always say the shot was planned that way for artistic reasons LOL!

Man, that's a SWEET bumper!!! lol