More great pics Teej.

2nd one is my favourite.

Martin

Some nice pictures. I like the images of Rainbow/Balbo, Spit and Buchon.

Martin

I am one of these people take shots by rapid fire.

I could take up to ten shots of a jet in a single pass. Maybe I do not have to worry to much about the composition changing too much if the aircraft decides to do a top side or a role and they are usually a bit further away. I have no idea how many of my photos are printable but most of the time I do seem to get the shots within two to three frames of what I want. I would print about two per cent at most. I shoot in RAW. The first thing I do is check the sharpness.

Piston engine aircraft can be much more awkward if you judge the situation incorrectly. If the aircraft is in level flight, it is all within the frame. If it suddenly turns top side quite close then the composition of the image changes very quickly with the wings from tip to tip being longer than the fuselage and too big for the frame. At Duxford FL the Spitfires were top siding just to the right of me, edge on in front, and top side just to the left on right to left passes. I was using a 500mm lens which in hindsight was the wrong lens. I could only get a top side at the extreme left of the panning angle at the point at which it becomes jerky to use. As a result most of my Spit tail chase shots of this type were blurred. I would have much preferred if the Spits starting their display coming round the corner from the left on a steady trajectory or a bit further away to get the angles I want. Fortunately I do not make these mistakes too much.

I should have moved back further to the Air Space museum to take these shots or used the 100-400 lens instead.

One thing is that an image may be in focus but not useable simply because the sun is shining on the aircraft at an angle which reflects a lot of glare and washes out the detail and only a part of the aircraft will look in focus. Every object to a lesser extent reflects light like a glass building, particularly aircraft with glossy paintwork that also reflects words/details from the fuselage on to the wings. Get it at the right angle and you should have a clear image of most of the aircraft but at air shows you have to take the best you can get at the time. Sometimes, a better image is obtained when the Sun is not out but in reasonably even light.

Of course you should also bear in mind is that as whilst you would may want the props blurred as much as possible , if you use a shutter speed that is too slow there is a risk of the ends of the wings or tail being blurred if the aircraft suddenly turns, roles or pulls up.

Just seen the USAF B1 go overy my house.

Martin

The rain on Wednesday would not in itself have been enough to cancel the show.

However, on Thursday though the weather forecast was for sunny spells/intervals and the odd light shower, from late afternoon there was persistent and sometimes moderate rain which did not clear until late evening. Before then the ground had been drying out very slowly on Thursday but I left the eastern Park and view with the ground in a state soggier than I had arrived. The M4 was bone dry on my way home.

Friday, I was in the FRIAT stand. There were several showers, some heavy and the last one was long lasting with the ground becoming even more soggy. Later, friends advised me that water had started coming out of the drains in the eastern Park and View enclosure and much of it was flooded and they had to retreat toward the burger stand.

Overall the ground never stood a chance of drying out. Not enough sunshine and too much rain.

If the weather had gone to forecast on Wednesday, I think there may have been a chance of a show at the weekend.

Martin