Point taken

Good observation on my reply but happily it isnt in the obbsessive behaviour pattern and nor is it likely to be.My analogy of getting one over was purely meant to express my satisfaction of being able to match if not better sometimes a reult that could have been obtained with say a fast 2.8 Nikon F/F lens.
The image I have in my mind of what shot I,d like to have before I go out is the most important point of focus I have before I go out and my thinking around a means to an end includes trying to adopt small things in my mind to help me get that shot I am after and maintain concentration towards getting the frame I want.

Once years ago at a practice day at Barton aerodrome I managed to get a ticket to watch the days events,it was awe inspiring and there was a few well known names with cameras wondering about and speaking with some of them made me miss some fantastic shot of an Avenger beating up the airfield with some really low banking passes.The moral of my small story is since that time I had decided to concentrate on my camera and what I had brought it for and had instilled into myself something to think about to keep me focused in getting a good image.Even they didnt bother to lift their lenses up for some shots and when i had asked them why they said they had plenty shots of that aircraft!!. They had dropped there guard on there main focus and rested on their laurels and it had taught me to have some strict way of maintaining my concentration so as not to let the same happen to me.

There was a period a few years ago when a lot of people were all guity of this behaviour and it was at the time when digital was in its infancy on the internet and most people were using the old 35mm format of film and slide.It was awsome sometimes to look at some photos on the forums that were so clear and well detailed and many of the members of the particular forum would ask the particular contributor were they using a Leica or top of the range Nikon.This questioning would often be met with a wall of silence as to how the contributors photos could have “got one over” on their contemporarys on the thread at the time.

Of course now some years later the cat is well and truly out of the bag and manufacturers know there is a massive market out there for people to ” get one over” on the other photographer by an endless amount of very good equipment being made ,with no end in sight of where it will all end as the megapixel battle will always attract the discerning photographer.

On a different tack but one which highlights the value of things and the path we are on now leads me back to the new language of money over morality.Its a sad world where a girl can get her breasts out and earn a million and a war hero who fought in WW2 can hardly pay his food or heating bills due to the outlook the government have on business,similarly a brilliant musician like mark knopfler can have one of his brilliant songs rejected in prefernce to a song from say the Spice Girls who cant even play a tune because it might make more money.I know it doesnt seem to have much in common with your original reply but I have just wanted to point out where my values and focus are in general and run my values along the same lines with thoughts on my hobby with the photography and hope both sets are equaly as healthy .

Seems like we all have a rant and that was mine ,thanks for reading.:rolleyes:

Photo based sites

Perhaps its a better idea like what you have done to send good shots to dedicated sites that deal with the image and the image alone.The photos such as mine are looking a bit like pop up shots in some moral computer game.

Seems like photos from the past where aircraft flew low towards the crowds and over them bring some warm nostalgic glow to those good old days without these crowds of ranters anywhere around.You wouldnt have heard a word 15 years ago when nobody said a word about the low flying at Biggin Hill as the photo opportunities there were brilliant and so was the flying.

What does get me is that on a daily basis large jet aircraft fly over massive housing estates in London and theres none of this lot of ranters up in arms at the peril of the homeowners who are sometimes just 75 feet below in danger of a jets fuel pipes freezing up at the last moment and then what happens.If we look at the ratio of continual flying 365 days a year compared to 6 afternoons a year and think that a few people in the way of a small aeroplane constitute a greater danger than an estate full of occupied houses constantly having airliners flying above them with hundreds of people on board then I give up.

The heart of the matter though is money and they think by destroying other peoples enjoyment it will solve the problem,they are wrong.There are lots of areas anyway around that particular site that afford good vantage points it just means I,ll have to buy a more powerfull lens.So unless the ranters get the whole area banned unless they are going into the show it wont stop me from getting that little bit different image.

Lets face it we all do it for a hobby to enjoy, as there are thousands who do it but only a handful who ever make any money or full time work from this activity why try and spoil something we enjoy.An aircraft in the air can be just as dangerous from the moment it takes off to the moment it lands.

Come to think of it I can recall more aircraft coming to grief or near miss after landing,Lanc,Fury,are 2 that I recall and these were both inside the airfield boundry.The lanc one as I recall made a lot of people jump out of some scaffolding erected to help photographers get better shots.Where were all the ranters then.:confused:

Well done

Good answer Scotty and well thought out.This thread is becoming a little like Robby Burns and the spider in the cave,and the spider managed to make good of the thread,web.
Thanks Again.JB.:)