Plane Photography

[uneven fog]

Thank you though man

They just call as pony 1 flight of whatever?

[pine summit]

Something like that

[brisk hinge]

@brittle bridge what airshow were you at this weekend?

https://x.com/combat_learjet/status/1827788052141343045?

Combat Learjet (@Combat_learjet) on X

CRAZY footage from the McConnell AFB Airshow today. A microburst did some damage.

Twitter · Aug 25, 2024, 7:20 PM

this was McConnel AFB in Topeka today

check out that Bamboo Bomber slamming into the car

[brittle bridge]

Defenders of air and space Airshow

At offutt afb

[brisk hinge]

ah ok

[brittle bridge]

Super nice show

I got dust on like all my pics

sad

[brisk hinge]

rip

[brittle bridge]

oh well

learning

[delicate silo]

That's how my airshow went

Came in with freshly cleaned sensor and lenses

And somehow got dust in every photo

[brittle bridge]

same

I cleaned all my gear before

ai heal works wonders

[delicate silo]

Yeah

[uneven fog]

Pretty much spot on

Was insane

Ppl are mad bc they couldn’t fly over Boston

Seemed like a critical planning failure

Boston approach/ tower wouldnt clear them into the bravo to do the flyover

[brisk hinge]

they did a cool flyover in DC last week

[quiet python]

what do you think

[delicate silo]

Do you just go to airshows all the time?

[delicate silo]

blank sky isnt visually great

[uneven fog]

Actually only 1 this year

[delicate silo]

Got alot of shots from it

[uneven fog]

I caught the Italians at the mil/civ field about an hour away

[delicate silo]

Ah

[uneven fog]

They spent the night here after flying over Newport and (trying to) Boston

[delicate silo]

Didn't want to drive along time to go find em lol

[uneven fog]

spent 6 hours waiting for them to show up

[delicate silo]

Ah

[delicate silo]

Haha

The things plane photography makes us do

[uneven fog]

Was so worth it though

Probably the only time I’d ever see these guys in my life

The only thing that would have made it better is if they used colored smoke

[delicate silo]

Yeah I waited 7hours for 4 f18s to take off

Was not infact worth it

Got some cool shots of them on the ground though

[iron nebula]

F35 F35

[delicate silo]

Oo

[sage cape]

bring back bunga

KP sucks smh

[brittle bridge]

niceeeeeee

[delicate silo]

I assume this is allowed

[viscid elbow]

Is that a P8 Poseidon?

[delicate silo]

Rc135

[iron nebula]

F18 F18

[viscid elbow]

Oof the flare cut off. It would of been so cool with flare( in my opinion)

[iron nebula]

Yes very unfortunate

[sage cape]

havent seen a super since NWAS23 :(

saw F22s tho 😼

[shy horizon]

any little tips for going to shoot my first airshow? Im hopefully going to see one soon, and i want to get prepared if possible lol
I just have a 55-200mm(82.5-300mm)

[rare vector]

Use fast shutter speed

lmao

[shy horizon]

guess that works lol

how fast should it be at 300mm? im guessing the planes wont go over like 600kmph?

[rare vector]

Not too sure, when I was photographing landing military planes I was only at 1/500th

I'd say like 1/1600th max but at an airshow you'll habe enough opportunities to change settings if the pics arent 100% sharp

This was at 1/500th 480mm ffeq

[shy horizon]

oh thats 480mm? i guess ill have to do loads of cropping lol

[delicate silo]

@shy horizon for propeller aircraft you want 1/200 or so and 600/1000 for jets in my opinion maybe somebody else here knows more than I do

[brittle bridge]

erm actually thats a plane video

not plane photography

🤓

[delicate silo]

[brittle bridge]

that goes in videography louge

🤓

[delicate silo]

[brisk hinge]

Props at 1/320-1/200, jets at 1/1000-1/2000

[delicate silo]

2000 is wayy too high

They come out like silhouettes

On a cloudy day

[brittle bridge]

I shoot in 1/2k

[delicate silo]

I did once ruined all my shots

1/1000 is sharp

[rare vector]

obviously depends on iso and aperture too

For birds I often use 1/3200th so their wings are still sharp and theyre still correctly exposed

[brisk hinge]

wrong

[delicate silo]

1/2000th f5.3 ish

[brisk hinge]

my picture was 1/2000s f/7.1 ISO 400

[delicate silo]

1/1000th is sharp

[brisk hinge]

I had instances where it wasn't

[delicate silo]

Odd

[brittle bridge]

Skill issue

[delicate silo]

How

Ig wrong shutter but it was my first time

[uneven fog]

Look at those bags

[uneven fog]

For aviation other than commercial spotting you need atleast 400mm

Anything under that is to small

[shy horizon]

im going to get 100-400 on christmas

and do you think f/12.7 is enough for spotting? lol
I thought about getting a teleconverter, but that will be soo dark

[uneven fog]

No that’s likely to dark, especially for airshows

For the jets a shutter of 1/2000 is the sweet spot, so that’ll make it really dark at f 12.7

If it’s a bright sunny day with zero clouds maybe you could get away with it

I don’t really know Nikon products so someone else can probably tell you what a good lens would be to pick up

The sigma 150-600 is a very common lens for aviation photography

[uneven fog]

That was 1/2000

Pretty cloudy day

F/8

200 iso

That’s the unedited

A little dark but not too bad

[brisk hinge]

that sounds awful

maybe for prop planes in bright daylight at 1/200 but anything else is going to be miserable

[shy horizon]

okay

i dont think i would need 800mm for planespotting anyways

i just want it as a fun thing to be able to zoom so much

[delicate silo]

Yeah don't shoot at f12

[iron nebula]

At that focal range, pretty much all your shots are going to be severely affected by heat haze - and with a teleconverter you’re losing a lot of quality in your image. Stick with a 100-400, shoot what’s in that range.

[brittle bridge]

I can vouch for this

[delicate silo]

If you can afford it get a 150 to 600

400 isn't enough

[viscid elbow]

What is a good apature for this ?

[iron nebula]

Only if on low res full frame

150-600s can’t resolve APS-C. But 100-400 on APS-C should suffice anyway

[delicate silo]

I have a 100 - 400 on ff its not enough

[brittle bridge]

if ur on apsc yes

[brittle bridge]

i mean it can if u get a good copy

[teal junco]

If you get a jay copy it could also resolve the 40mp apsc sensor of an xt5 lol

[uneven fog]

400 is enough for most commercial spotting you’ll ever do

Good for most airshows, might struggle a bit for beach shows bc of the extended crowd line to show line

You can get some good shots with a 100-400 tho

[delicate silo]

Commercial not military

[delicate silo]

Meh not really it's fine for airshows

[uneven fog]

I had no problem with it at a ground show

Haven’t tried a remote show but probably still fine

Only thing 400 is short for is probably canyon stuff and even then

Just depends

[delicate silo]

It was short for my airshow

Most shots will need to be cropped

[copper tree]

Anyone use the RF 200-800 f6.3-9

I’m debating that or the EF 300 f2.8 with extender

But just curious if y’all like 600mm or do further for some of the incredible pics here

[iron nebula]

what body are you on?

[shy horizon]

I dont mind cropping up to 3x, as long as its a small enough iso its good

[delicate silo]

600mm is good for aviation 400mm is short for military

[stray blaze]

This was cropped from 600mm, doubt you would need much more than that

[uneven fog]

Yall use ND filters?

[delicate silo]

Yeah

When possible

Otherwise the shots turn out soft

[rare vector]

How would a nd Filter make your pics sharper

[delicate silo]

Otherwise for lower shutter speeds, you have to increase the aperture

[uneven fog]

I’m thinking about investing in one

Especially with winter coming up

^ that seems kinda odd but very common for the sun to burn off all the clouds up here

[delicate silo]

Yeah I bought a pack of 3 for $50 ish but you reallt only need an nd 4 or something

[uneven fog]

I was gonna get one of the variable ones

[delicate silo]

Ah I just use an nd8

A nd4 - 6 may be better though

[copper tree]

Gonna bring my camera out to the runway today for some of my buddies departing on XC flights. Just wondering what I should have camera settings at for best images. Will be using the 70-200 f2.8 and reading that sweet spot for prop blur is 1/250-1/500? Should I shoot in shutter priority

Also seeing people say to go down to 1/60

[brisk hinge]

for props i’d start at 1/320, and when you feel comfortable with your panning you can drop to 1/250 or 1/200

[delicate silo]

Yeah I usually have mine around 1/200th for prop blur depending on the speed of the props

[brisk hinge]

shutter priority is probably the simplest mode to use

[delicate silo]

You can go lower than 1/200th if you feel comfortable, but fewer shots may come out well

If you have an nd filter, now would be the time to use it. If not, you can increase your aperture to get a well lit shot

[copper tree]

Speed will be 2000rpm

[delicate silo]

Try 200 if you want more blur you can go lower or if you want less go higher

[sage cape]

no

if youre going to buy a lens, for sure try and get something long, but you dont NEED 400mm

[sage cape]

giotta go slow for choppers and props so you get that juicy prop/rotor blur

[uneven fog]

Personally 1/200 doesn’t make too much sense on a hovering heli

Shot from this angle

if it’s moving from this angle then it’s cool

Or if it’s more of an under shot in the hover it’s cool

[uneven fog]

For pretty much any airshow stuff 400 is the sweet spot to have

Commercial stuff it’s obviously gonna vary airport to airport

But 400 is gonna let you get some unique shots

[delicate silo]

Yeah thats what I said?

choppers from my experience you need to go below 1/200th like 1/125th or something

[delicate silo]

400 isnt enough

pay the extra $200 and get a 150 - 600

[uneven fog]

400 is enough when they’re on the show line within a quarter mile

Once they start doing loops n shit

And whatever else 600 comes in handy

[delicate silo]

400 isnt enough

[rare vector]

bullshit lol

[delicate silo]

For military aviation?

400 isn't close at the base I'm near

[rare vector]

Youre not supposed to photograph into the base anyways, can get you in trouble

For starting/ landing yeah 400 can definitely be enough, especially with cropping

[delicate silo]

Not at all bases

[delicate silo]

At 2/3 bases I've been to there have been areas to watch and take photos

[rare vector]

Yeah depends on the country too, in germany its tolerated but in some other countries you can even get arrested for it lmao

Uncropped not even 200mm on apsc so around 300ffeq

All of these either uncropped or cropped a tiny bit between 200-300mm

[delicate silo]

Lucky you're able to get that close

Closest I've been able to get is lakenheath

But the bases by me I'm like 2000 ft away

All depends where you live ig

[brittle bridge]

Yes it is

[brittle bridge]

I shot at 300.

[teal junco]

400 is enough for some people and not enough for others. All depends on your circumstances

[delicate silo]

[delicate silo]

I shoot 400 and it's not enough for me 🤷‍♂️

[brittle bridge]

Get 150-600

Ez

[delicate silo]

Yeah I'm thinking about it

[brittle bridge]

what body do you have?

[delicate silo]

D750

[uneven fog]

If ur shooting aviation they won’t give a shit for the most part

Especially if it’s a civ and mil field

If it’s strictly mil they’ll care a bit more

Especially if there’s some classified shit in there

I know most of yall are British tho so u don’t needa worry about that

[uneven fog]

I wanna get one of these bad but everyone says the AF is really bad when you go EF to RF

I’m also on a cropped sensor so my 100-400 is really like a 160-960

Wait does that go the reverse way

I’ve never understood that

[teal junco]

Your 100-400 would be a 160-640mm ffeq

At least on an r50

[teal junco]

AF will probably be fine but its not really sharp on apsc unless you get a really good copy

[brittle bridge]

oh okay

i have apsc so 300mm was enough

[delicate silo]

Ah

400 isn't enough on ff for me

[brittle bridge]

yeah usually the rule from what ive seen is: 150-600 on full frame and 100-400 on apsc

but i got 150-600 cause i am pretty sure im going some sort of full frame

and 900 ffeq

[delicate silo]

Yeah

I haven't tried 600 yet but I think it'd even be short

[brittle bridge]

damn how far away are you

[delicate silo]

2000 - 3000ft but it'd be great for most airshows until they go into an unrestricted climb or something

[brittle bridge]

I use 150-600 on apsc for 40000 feet

[delicate silo]

Hm

[brittle bridge]

This was on 70-300mm

[delicate silo]

My 400 is faulty

[uneven fog]

This was at 400 on an apsc

Not really cropped to be any bigger just cropped the sides

They’re probably a half mile from center point

Or half mile away from

Me

And at like 1500

[delicate silo]

400 on ff not the same

and those are 4 f16s not a single f16..

[uneven fog]

Still would be an acceptable shot if it was 1

It being 4 doesn’t make it any bigger

[delicate silo]

ig

would likely require a crop in most cases

[sage cape]

fast shutter speeds on helis look shit

I never use anything above 1/100

frozen rotors make it bleh

[delicate silo]

yeah

agreed

[uneven fog]

Nah I’m not saying use a fast one

Just saying out of all the possible shots that’s the lamest imo

[sage cape]

That Seahawk was taken at 1/60 not 1/200

[delicate silo]

How

it looks like its falling out of the sky

[pine summit]

I've been away for a bit and am just catching up on messages. I've seen a lot of debate about shutter speeds mentioned recently, so I figured I'd throw in my advice (having been shooting aviation for quite a while now, and usually with media access to airshows or on their photo teams) on shutter speeds and general airshow tips. Stay tuned, as there'll be a few messages following due to character restriction.

Static Aircraft Displays:

• Always take your time and pay attention to your surroundings. This includes paying attention to the direction of light, what effect you're going after, your alignment to the subject, what background you're choosing, and how many people are around.
• If there's a lot of moving people nearby, toss it on a tripod and set for a long exposure. That should eliminate most foot traffic from your shot. Another method is shooting intervals and doing a lot of post processing. Take advantage of either method for how much time you're working with.
• No matter what, use a wide angle lens. I've found that something in the range of 24-70mm works the best, but if you can't get close, switch over to something like a 70-200. You can capture some great detail with that extra reach as well.

1/6

Daytime Airshows:

• If the airport is misaligned with the path of the sun, it's easiest to stay in shutter priority. Keep your ISO limited to a small range befitting the lens you're using (I usually keep mine limited to 400) and let the camera make the aperture adjustments. *Note - If the images are too dark with a low ISO, consider a slower shutter before widening the range of auto ISO.

• If it's perfect/unchanging light all day, you can move more into manual mode and control all the things.

• No airshow venue is alike. Sometimes you'll end up too far from the action and wish you had longer than "normal (being 100-400mm)" reach. Pay attention to the venue map and show line, as some are set diagonally (due to airport restrictions).

• Going back to paying attention to the show line, pay attention to the path of the sun. Be sure to set up on the side where the sun will be on the front portion of the aircraft for as long as possible.

2/6

Twilight Airshows

• It is critical that you choose the proper gear for this. Aim for the lowest aperture possible for the range you desire. A 400mm f/2.8 works extremely well. Yes, not everyone can afford that lens, but if you really want the shots, try a rental. Additionally, not all cameras perform well in low light situations. Do your research and understand your chosen camera's capabilities (and rent if needed).
• If there is a fireworks show, go with a wide angled lens with a low aperture. Use a tripod. Get creative with your long exposures. My favorite has been the 28-70 f/2.
• Pay attention to the weather. Often times, it can get quite windy after dark (regionally applicable, of course). You may have to either shorten your shutter speed or abandon long exposures completely.

3/6

General Shutter Speed Settings

For Propeller-Driven Aircraft:

Solo Act in Air - Start around 1/250 to get the shot clearly, then start moving the shutter speed down. The lower the better, IMO. Once you hit 1/80, you'll start having the opportunity to capture full discs. You may have to drop it down to 1/60. It all depends on how hard they're pushing the throttle.

Solo Act on Ground - Keep your shutter speed low. 1/125 or lower. Many pilots are barely pushing it, as they're usually interacting with the crowd while taxiing. I've gone as low as 1/6 handheld.

Heritage/Formation Flights - Start around 1/320 and lower it once you have your keepers. Angles and slight varying speeds will wreak havoc on keeping them in focus, so expect to toss a bunch as you drop your shutter speed.

4/6

For Jet-Powered Aircraft:

Solo Act in Air - Feel free to shoot as fast as you want, but make sure your camera is able to compensate for it. If your shots are too dark, drop the shutter speed. If you start hitting 1/640 and it's still too dark, make sure your aperture is at its lowest numbered setting (wide open). If it is, readjust your ISO (and auto ISO range if applicable).

Solo Act on Ground - Play around with it, but don't shoot too fast. Again, these pilots are often times interacting with the crowd as they're taxiing back to the hot ramp, so make sure you don't shoot too slowly to where their waves to the crowd are blurred. I'd say anywhere between 1/250 - 1/100 works out fine.

Formation/Opposing Hits (Jet Teams) - For the most part, shutter speed won't be an issue here. 1/800 is a nice start. Increase the shutter speed as your gear is able. The faster the better when it comes to opposing hits, and pay attention to your timing. Not all cameras can keep up with rapid fire and the buffer can become an issue.

5/6

For Rotor-Driven Aircraft:

General Guidelines - The bigger the rotor, the slower your shutter speed needs to be. Ospreys, in particular, are troublesome. When shooting those, aim for 1/60 to keep a good amount of rotor blur in the shot. For others in this category, you can aim your shutter speed to around 1/125 and raise/lower it based on your preference for blur.

TLDR - 1/60ish for full discs, 1/100-1/200 for prop blur, 1/320 for Heritage Flights, 1/800 starting point for jets. All are gear/skill dependent.

6/6

[brisk hinge]

[uneven fog]

I disagree with the lowering the shutter thing

Shutter is like the number one thing when it comes to aviation

Set the shutter u want and adjust ur iso off that

[delicate silo]

This needs to be pinned! Mind if I ask how you get media access? do you work for something that allows you to get it or

[pine summit]

I have to wholeheartedly disagree with you on this. Especially when working as media, you want the guaranteed shots first, then move toward what speed you really want.

[pine summit]

Obtaining media access varies wildly. Some shows grant it easily, others have a select few and don’t want to expand their circle.

I’ve put a lot of time into developing the relationships with performers, and they’ve done the leg work for me at times.

[delicate silo]

👍

[glass charm]

Sunset shoot, not all of them are the best quality or anything special but it's one of my favorite ways to spend my evening and the results aren't too bad imo

[iron nebula]

Airside recently

[glass charm]

Nice shots! Which airport are you at there?

[iron nebula]

BNE

And ty

[sage cape]

isnt that just from the new viewing platform?

or am i being dumb

[iron nebula]

No, they shelved plans for a new viewing platform with T3 construction starting

This was from a competition I won, where they took a group of 20 of us airside in front of the new runway

[sage cape]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_okQh9zmbG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

was it this?

cause thats what i meant

cause that post says theyre building a new spotting area there

[iron nebula]

They ran 2, I was at the other one

[sage cape]

ah yeh

[iron nebula]

When was the post?

[sage cape]

september 8

[iron nebula]

Because we were told they had shelved plans

[iron nebula]

From BNE?

[sage cape]

yeh

and APD Aus is a very trustowrhy source

[iron nebula]

Oh yeah I see

It says eventually

That’s what we were told

So once things are sorted with the new terminal, somewhere around there is set to become the new spotting area

[sage cape]

yeh nice

[full junco]

Did a little edit of one of my favorite planes

[delicate silo]

I don't mind it actually

Cool livery too

[iron nebula]

Flight of Dreams, Nagoya

[delicate silo]

biggg plane

[plucky cedar]

https://tenor.com/view/brain-meme-you-did-not-have-to-cut-me-off-gif-498898395089837096

[brittle bridge]

nice shot

[viscid elbow]

Dreamliner ?

[viscid elbow]

The jet and moon 🔥

[viscid elbow]

In my opinion The American Airlines being blurry is not a great design

[full junco]

The bottom one?

[viscid elbow]

Yeah. I feel it would be better solid and not blurred

[full junco]

Yeah I was thinking the same I was trying to make sure it wasnt to blurry but I was trying to add like its moving with the motion of the plane.

[full junco]

so like this basically

[viscid elbow]

The AA logo yes. but the word above the plane, I liked the flag color. But yeah

also just realized the the second word is eagle( I was reading the E as an F)😂😅

[iron nebula]

Yessir, the first 787 to roll out

[viscid elbow]

Cool !

[brittle bridge]

How did you add that?

[full junco]

I used photoshop

Added a text and creates a mask of the plane then subtracted the mask from the plane and then added a gradient

[brittle bridge]

Gotcha

Might try that

[pine summit]

Not a purposeful photo of A-10 shells, other than to say a project is in the works…

[delicate silo]

[full junco]

Y’all think it’ll fly?

[uneven fog]

Gritter?

Nvm gritters looks similar but not the same

[uneven fog]

Looks actually fairly airworthy except for the prop

[full junco]

it’s in good condition I think they just had something wrong with the prop but I’m not for sure

[full junco]

With and without text of a recent picture I took

[blazing bronze]

Not bad for a 20 year old flight sim

[rotund heath]

Have you seen what BMS has been able to do with the 26 year old Falcon 4.0

[blazing bronze]

No. What did they do?

[rotund heath]

They have just upgraded the hell out of it. Go look at release Falcon 4.0 screenshots and then watch the latest BMS update trailer

https://youtu.be/7q_R2P5cxW4?si=J9RK-G9THYcXCJj4

https://youtu.be/h2dl6r0tYes?si=mTj_uNzSHTH-QMUk

[floral stratus]

was that va beach? i was there too if so

[brisk hinge]

That was in Oshkosh, but I did see then in Washington DC the same day you did

[floral stratus]

oh that’s awesome lol i live in va and never have been to dc😂

[brisk hinge]

You should go! That day, I spent the entire day by myself in the city just walking around and taking pictures of things

(unrelated to the flyover, I didn’t know about it until that day)

[floral stratus]

i want to go, i really wanna see the air and space museum, i might wait till im free from work and my girlfriend doesn’t have school and we’ll go up for a few days

my best friend took the amtrack up there and spent 2 days and had a great time,

there’s a deftones concert in october so i might go then

[brisk hinge]

go to the Udvar Hazy one instead of the one on the mall

or both if you can

but its way better than the downtown one

Metro is half price on the weekend, and theres free parking all around either on sat/sun or just sunday

i think its sat/sun

[uneven fog]

The mall one is under construction rn I think

Udvar hazey was sick though

[brisk hinge]

I think it's done

but it's mid compared to the udvar hazy museum

[alpine vale]

Some shockwave action

[uneven fog]

Very well could be, I just know it was still in construction when I went in April

[blazing bronze]

pretty impressive. the one from 1998 looks surprisingly good too

[brittle bridge]

Holy the vapors

[pine summit]

If I’m correct, you haven’t seen the beginning of vapors. Central Coast Air Fest was incredible. The A-10 Demo was vaping as it flew straight. Even the Mosquito (and other warbirds) managed to elicit vapes.

[brisk hinge]

yeah, I saw some insane pictures from there

[rare vector]

why does that happen, high humidity?

[uneven fog]

🫡

[brittle bridge]

You should send me some pictures

[pine summit]

I’ve only just begun scratching the surface of what I captured. Off to Salinas tomorrow for three days as media for their show.

[brittle bridge]

gotcha

no rush lol I just wanted to see if you had one

[pine summit]

It’s a combination of a few factors. High humidity, g forces, and even time of day can cause/show them.

[pine summit]

I have many. Just none that I’ve really touched. Doing the first pass of mass deletions.

[brittle bridge]

Gotcha

[sage cape]

🫡

managed to get a few when it came to sydney

[uneven fog]

Only caught one with my camera

[brittle bridge]

I didn’t get any pics 😕

[glass charm]

So sad it's not going to come back 😭

I forgot my memory card because I was in such a rush to cycle there to see it so I ended up not getting any pictures. I did get one when I came to Sydney the 2nd last time luckily

[uneven fog]

that’s why I always keep one empty one in my bag at all times lmao

Leave my main one in the computer way to much lol

[full junco]

Caught the southwest canyon blue flying behind the sun today

[glass charm]

Oh nice

Plane eclipse

[uneven fog]

Haha we had it here yesterday too

The dedication pass

[brisk hinge]

(black smoke is from a wall of fire that went off just before this)

[delicate silo]

Sick

Wish I got vapor shots lol

[viscid elbow]

The black really makes it stand out. Sick shot 🔥

[wanton bramble]

this is natural noise in the sensor

tbh i like it, gives a natural look

this also

muah

[tacit flame]

holy smokes (literally)

[delicate silo]

Great banner

[uneven fog]

These guys did all their patterns today gear down

That’s a shot from the downwind

They even got told to do a 360° for spacing and they kept em down

[tardy compass]

A few from duxford BOB 14/09/24

[brittle bridge]

How did you turn the sky black?

[brisk hinge]

it's smoke

[brittle bridge]

ohhh

[brittle bridge]

that’s sick

[sage cape]

nice edits

[delicate silo]

Dramatic sky but looks cool

[pine summit]

When you’re gifted a top tier pass for the final action at Reno by performers…

Cultivate those relationships!

[delicate silo]

[pine summit]

First fruits from Reno

[delicate silo]

Oh wow great shots

[pine summit]

Thanks!

[brisk hinge]

that's so cool

but it's not good etiquite to be posting pictures passes, expecially while they're still valid

who was it though?

[brisk hinge]

insane shots!

[uneven fog]

Saw the fire one briefly in my Facebook feed I think

[brisk hinge]

Vicky reposted it

[pine summit]

They were scanning the QR codes for access. Once scanned, unusable if reattempted. Besides, the image had the QRs purposely partially cut off.

[brisk hinge]

I see, no worries then!

[rotund heath]

lol

[delicate silo]

Great vapor and angel

Clouds look cool too

[vernal lion]

My only thing I might change is the bottom right feels too dark, feel like it throws the image off balance

[delicate silo]

Easy fix

[sage cape]

shouldve gone to pacific instead the conditions looked so good.......

[delicate silo]

Might go to stuart but unsure cause of the hurricanes

[delicate silo]

Nice sky in the bottom one

[glass charm]

Brilliant

All of them

[uneven fog]

I’m a sucker for vapes so I’d give this one more room

Especially cause they stand out pretty good there

[delicate silo]

what lens?/settings

the detail and sharpness is great

[sage cape]

me when YWLM

[delicate silo]

pretty cool shots

[sage cape]

thanks

[eager mulch]

I took photos of my first air show. Any tips you guys can share when editing?

[delicate silo]

Editing is pretty straight forward

I normally just raise the shadows maybe touch texture

You can raise the temperature/ saturation on after burners

Sometimes I touch the cockpit glass

Or increase the texture or color on vapor

Although if your airshow gets hazy due to smoke from planes or weather/fires it's far harder to recover shots

Sometimes I'll change the sky

And I might make it black and white if it's an older plane

[eager mulch]

How’s this? Too much blue?

[delicate silo]

Personally I'd dehaze the land and kr crop it to be horizontal

[eager mulch]

I’ll try that

[pine summit]

And I know these two aren’t planes, but I never expected whales this morning, or a super photogenic sea lion.

[sage cape]

very nice

Fleet Week SF?

[pine summit]

Yes

[uneven fog]

Are you on Alcatraz?

[pine summit]

Nope. Fridays only

[uneven fog]

Ah

[delicate silo]

Holy vapor

[uneven fog]

It could be a dry ass day and the Raptor would still make crazy vapes

Razz is the best pilot to fly that demo and probably will be of all time

I hope that they make an F15E or EX demo so bad

I think it’s possible they make an EX demo

[delicate silo]

Not here not here

Most vapor I got

[uneven fog]

Oh damn that’s not a lot

Looks like it was fairly wet too with the clouds

[delicate silo]

yeah it rained shortly after

[uneven fog]

This was like an hour after some crazy heavy rain

[delicate silo]

ooo nice

[sage cape]

Cabo was pretty good

Im just annoyed the new RAAF F35 demo pilot this year is pretty mid

The old guy was so good

[eager mulch]

@pine summit Awsome photos! Nice to see someone from the area.

[delicate silo]

Do they differ much?

Don't they all do the same stuff

[delicate silo]

Yeah I haven't seen other demos from other pilots but razz puts on a show

[uneven fog]

the demo I saw from razz was a lot better than the one I saw from Cabo

[delicate silo]

Demos change based on location though

Not denying razz is great

[uneven fog]

That’s true

Just feel like razz flies that jet harder than anyone else

Also brings it around for cool photo and pr ops

[delicate silo]

Yeah

Sad they can only have two years as the pilot but it makes sense

[brittle bridge]

Rizz larsen

[sage cape]

no

kinda

Each display pilot gets to choose their display routine and what they fly

KP (the new RAAF guy) flies a fairly short display and his display window is very small

meaning if ur not at airshow centre then you’re not seeing very much

[uneven fog]

Beo had like 4 with the f35

I guess she didn’t really enjoy it to much either

[delicate silo]

Ooo

[delicate silo]

Oh??

[delicate silo]

Oh??

New information to me

[uneven fog]

I think EU is different

Like for the Raptor they can tweak the sequence and the repositions but I believe all the maneuvers stay relatively the same

[delicate silo]

👍

[sage cape]

They can choose to omit/add new manoeuvres, as well as flying the same manoeuvres quite differently

I know the Australian pilot flies the min radius turn slower than the American F35A demo so he can sequence other manoeuvres better

The new Aussie demo pilot doesn’t fly the loaded roll either 😭😭

Legit the best maneuvre

[uneven fog]

Raptor has a more restricted demo bc some of its capabilities are classified

[delicate silo]

Funny composition

[brisk hinge]

I was trying to show the National STOL trailer in the background too

[delicate silo]

I see

[delicate silo]

This is the first post of some of my favorite photos I've taken. After much back-and-forth, I decided on a watermark... 🤷‍♂️ 🌇

[brittle bridge]

The watermark

[uneven fog]

Oh boy

[rare vector]

If you wanna use a watermark dont put it in the middle of the pic and why is there a discord logo lol

[delicate silo]

Less watermarks more photos. . .

[sage cape]

Yeh guys I’ve got a new watermark as well

What do you think

[uneven fog]

I aswell also have a new watermark

[delicate silo]

🙄I didn't want to use my regular one but if yall don't want to see them I'll stop posting

[uneven fog]

I’ve caught 205 aswell

[brisk hinge]

oh neat!

where was this?

[uneven fog]

Must be one of the crappy ones they give for the demo

[uneven fog]

Brunswick Maine about 2 months ago

[brisk hinge]

Ah neat

this was at NAS Oceana a couple weeks ago

(their home base)

[uneven fog]

Was that the demo or the AirPower demonstration?

[brisk hinge]

Rhino Demo

(I think)

if my tags are correct

[uneven fog]

Single ship?

think the AirPower demo was like 6 jets and the e2 or sum

[brisk hinge]

i'm 98% sure it was rhino demo, not air power demo. Though both are based at Oceana

both groups were flying, and there were even more F18s that day so it all runs together

[uneven fog]

yea

That was a show I wish I coulda got to this year

[brisk hinge]

air power was neat to see (especially with the pyro), but it was slow and not very exciting

[uneven fog]

That one, st Louis and Pensacola

Woulda been my top 3 this year

[brisk hinge]

Pensacola would be neat to go to

you should go to the season finale

Blues and T birds will be there

[uneven fog]

yea but it’s just a hard show to go to if ur not from the area

[brisk hinge]

yeah for sure

[uneven fog]

No hotels really close

and Pensacola isn’t the nicest city

[brisk hinge]

haha yeah

i haven't made a show there yet but I've been to the base a few times

[uneven fog]

Yea

I think that show is usually like super packed

[brisk hinge]

I can imagine

[uneven fog]

some of the videos from the beach airshow earlier this year give me like second hand distain

It’s like elbow to elbow when the blues are flying

[brisk hinge]

yikes

[uneven fog]

Cause they won’t let ppl in the water

[brisk hinge]

ah yeah

[uneven fog]

Guess it’s considered part of the box

[brisk hinge]

yeah that makes sense

the Blues fly a pretty large box

[uneven fog]

Fort Lauderdale they didn’t care

[brisk hinge]

ah interesting

[uneven fog]

But it also felt like they were a little further out

[brisk hinge]

probably so

[delicate silo]

Is the rhino demo good?

[brisk hinge]

i thought so

[brittle bridge]

Yeah i really like it

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1205473267763253329/1295054681755746515/IMG_0082.jpg?ex=6711de69&is=67108ce9&hm=6c8a481f9230c938bebce560c5cd95c63d4225a1a4a5255811f46f728ba65427&

[uneven fog]

I saw their flat show

I actually saw their high show also

Their flat show is average maybe below average

Their high show is pretty sick tho

[delicate silo]

Why do they have two?

[brisk hinge]

different weather conditions

if there's a low cloud ceiling, they'd have to fly their low show

(that's probably what lev means by flat show)

[delicate silo]

That makes sense

[viscid elbow]

This is a fire photo ❤️‍🔥

[uneven fog]

I’m not positive but I think they have 3

Most teams have 3

High low and flat

[brisk hinge]

what would the difference in flat and low be?

i haven't dug around on this at all, so don't take anything I say as gospel!

[uneven fog]

Rhino weather mins

Blue angel mins

[brisk hinge]

ah I see

that makes sense

[delicate silo]

not bad

[uneven fog]

Suprised it didn’t crash

[delicate silo]

❤️‍🔥

[vernal lion]

Hard hats on

[blazing bronze]

i like the photo but the crops looks odd

[blazing bronze]

what do y'all think

[sage cape]

needs a lot of dehaze

[delicate silo]

that airshow mustve sucked :(

[blazing bronze]

yeah they only got two f-18s flying

[delicate silo]

rip

[blazing bronze]

i went there a day ahead to look at the aircraft land and it was pretty cool

[viscid elbow]

This is a cool angle ❤️‍🔥

[uneven fog]

Not really a good shot but a cool one

[uneven fog]

Caught the presidential helicopter

And now I got the presidential airplane

[delicate silo]

W

[uneven fog]

4th time I’ve seen a VC25 this year

[delicate silo]

oo

Anyone going to stuart?

[glass charm]

Definitely not the best photos || considering I'm shooting on a 50mm it's not half bad || but it was an enjoyable day

Also my first time photographing an airshow

[delicate silo]

50mm woww

[sage cape]

NOT AN AIRSHOW IT WAS A FUCKING OPEN DAY RAHHHHHH

[glass charm]

Same thing and I didn't get tickets so I didn't get to see any of the other things on show that day

[sage cape]

That AW139 photo is illegal btw

it’s chill cause it’s an open day but you can’t spot from there outside of that time or you’ll get your card wiped and kicked out

[glass charm]

"illegal"

[sage cape]

yes?

military spotting is very different to just spotting at Sydney airport

[glass charm]

yes

[sage cape]

You can and will get arrested

[glass charm]

But it wasn't illegal because as you said it was an open day

[sage cape]

yes

but no

it is base infrastructure

they won’t care because they closed all the hangars and stuff for the open day but the photo is illegal

[glass charm]

It took off during the 12:30 to 3 period?

[sage cape]

defence act of 1903 section 82

All photography of defence infrastructure is illegal

it’s technically illegal, they won’t care since it was the open day, if you go back in a random Tuesday and spot there they will care

that’s all I’m saying

[uneven fog]

that’s crazy

You guys need a boost of freedom

[sage cape]

its the same in the us tf u mean

richmond is one of the more strict air force abses

williamtown is really chill

[glass charm]

dam

probably because it's also a commercial airport

[sage cape]

because the easily accessible area has very little view of base

also slightly that

[rare vector]

Daaamn lmao

Noone cares in germany, the people bring ladders to photograph over the fence

As long as the ladder isnt leaned against the fence its fine

Like they dont care at all

[delicate silo]

Jealous of yall in Europe

I have to be 2k ft from the runway

[rare vector]

Lool that sucks

[uneven fog]

Yea that’s why you need a boost of freedom

Even at lakenheath they be chill

Cause lakenheath has Americans

They have freedom

[uneven fog]

We got ppl that park next to the fence n stand on they trucks

[delicate silo]

FRR

It's like 300ft from the runway

So jealous

[uneven fog]

Yea there’s not many places in Britain I wanna go but lakenheath is one of em

It’s like our nellis

But active all the time

[delicate silo]

Yeah it's amazing

[sage cape]

There are a bunch of US Air Force bases that are stricter than what I was saying

[pine summit]

Don’t bother with Lemoore. Even with base PAO approval, security forces came by and tried to delete cards, on public land.

[sage cape]

yep

and then you’ve got Miramar, point mugu which also suck

[brittle bridge]

the crop is goofy imo

[sage cape]

there’s ten photos there which one

And it’s probably cause they’re all 1:1 for instagram

I would crop 3:2 but they look shit on Insta

[brittle bridge]

oh gotcha

[rare vector]

Why dont you just upload in original aspect ratio

Insta doesnt have to be 1:1

[sage cape]

3:2 looks shit on insta

gets compressed to all hell then looks shit on your page because the grid is only 1:1

[blazing bronze]

I'D say it's pretty chill here we can wave to the pilots while they taxi to the runway but i don't think we can bring ladders

[uneven fog]

If you do 1:1 does it not compress?

[sage cape]

it does compress, but just less. Instagram will always make the bottom of your photo 1080 pixels, so if you start at 3:2 and explore an image that’s 3000 pixels across it’s gonna compress it really bad, and especially make the vertical side really small. If it’s 1:1 the vertical side is also going to be 1080 pixels and your bottom side is going to start at less pixels so need to be compressed less

[blazing bronze]

i didn't know they could open their window while flying

[pine summit]

They absolutely can. I’ve done it during an A2A.

[uneven fog]

ours don’t open like that unfortunately

One of em doesn’t have a lock so it just closes again when u open it

And the other gets held about 30 degrees open

Not all the way up like that

and then the Cherokee window is about as big as my fist

[blazing bronze]

You have an aircraft or pilots license?

[uneven fog]

Student rn

[delicate silo]

Oo

[pine summit]

I don’t know what happened to this image, but it shows up badly pixelated and dark.

Side note: I would’ve loved to have seen even a little bit of rotor blur.

[uneven fog]

It also appears bro was hella far away

I have a couple of shots like that

don’t rlly care about the image quality too much just being able to see whatever cool airplane it is

[sharp silo]

Didn't know you could blur the propeller 😔

[sage cape]

That looks like a lowish shutter anyway

I’m guessing like 1/400

Looks good

[delicate silo]

good shot

its hard to blur on side shots anyways

these were 1/200th

barley any blur from the side

[sharp silo]

You were only a bit off, 1/500th

[sharp silo]

Thanks

[uneven fog]

That was 1/100

[uneven fog]

Brotha this aspect ratio is crazy

[delicate silo]

What

[uneven fog]

The first pic

[delicate silo]

What's wrong

[uneven fog]

Looks shorter than 16:9

And 16:9 is already pretty narrow

[delicate silo]

[uneven fog]

I used to be a 16:9 shooter

till I repented

[rare vector]

Some people even use 21:9 for some scenarios

Can look sick

[delicate silo]

Its However, I chose to crop it ig

[uneven fog]

This should realistically be punishable by death

Especially for aviation

[rare vector]

Nooo, you dont have to stick to the basic stuff

Saw some sick pics with unusual aspect ratios before

We had a whole contest about ultra wide pics a while ago

lemme see if I can find it

[delicate silo]

There's a time and a place for every aspect ratio

[rare vector]

#contest-submissions message

[sage cape]

1/60

[delicate silo]

impressive

[sharp silo]

what aperture

[uneven fog]

Those aren’t aviation tho

[sage cape]

f18

[glass charm]

Definitely worth it for some delicious prop blur

[sage cape]

100%

[sharp silo]

It's sad that I'll have to wait until summer for the next airshow 😔

[delicate silo]

yep..

If im being honest

I prefer spotting at bases than airshows

but ive only been to one airshow so

[sage cape]

depends how good the base is and how well lit the airshow is

airshows r cool af but seeing jets do what they do naturally is cooler

[delicate silo]

yeah

[sharp silo]

I live 5 minutes away from an airport but only see military planes like months apart

[delicate silo]

Yeah

National guard bases are usually the best bet

But few and for between

[sharp silo]

I live in Quebec so we don't have that, and I've been searching around and can't find anything near me lol

All the good stuff's in Ontario

[delicate silo]

Ah that sucks

Most military aircraft land an hour or two from me so unfortunate aswell

Or most near me ig

[sharp silo]

Toronto is a whole 7 hours by car so it'd just be easier to go to the US

I can reach the border in 50 minutes

[delicate silo]

Yikes yeah

[uneven fog]

Airshows r better overall just bc there’s usually more and there’s a better chance you’ll see sum

But base spotting is sick when sum does finally show up

[blazing bronze]

Top Aces A4 skyhawks in northen Canada

[delicate silo]

better chances at pics yeah

[sage cape]

if you know how to base spot it’s better

A lot harder tho yeh

[delicate silo]

At least for me I had huge expectations for the airshow I went to but base spotting expectations are set low and are normally far exceeded

[uneven fog]

Best days to spot are on military bases the Thursday before a show

Usually you’ll still have whoevers at that base running missions

And you’ll have all the airshow statics showing up

[sage cape]

Revive thread

[grizzled spruce]

This was 100% shot by me and I will NOT send any proof

[sage cape]

goblin my beloved

[viscid elbow]

Dang, not the myth, the legend itself ! The parasite fighter 🤯

[uneven fog]

This crop hurts my sole btw 😞

[delicate silo]

This

[sage cape]

2:1 swipe post for Insta 😹

[uneven fog]

Still bruh give the nose more room

And the wings

[uneven fog]

Finally caught one of the aggressor Talons

[tardy compass]

Just a quick re-edit from RIAT, before I dig into the post display season edits

[uneven fog]

Wish I could see a phantom still flying

Is it just Greece that still flies them?

[sage cape]

turkey and iran as well

[uneven fog]

I doubt Iran has many that are airworthy

Same with their Tomcats they supposedly have

[blazing bronze]

cockpit of a vans rv4

[uneven fog]

Dynon 👎

that’s such a big turn off for like everyone buying an airplane

[sage cape]

looks cool ☹️

[uneven fog]

Garmin is the standard for any glass in a cockpit

[blazing bronze]

Why is it bad?

[uneven fog]

Most people have more experience with them

and when you buy a new plane these days no matter what it is it’ll have garmin avionics in it

Assuming it’s not like a kit

Kinda like a coke vs Pepsi thing

Sure Pepsi is good but most ppl would rather have coke

Witnessed an IFE today

Engine issues

And min fuel

Plus 3 other T38s approaching min fuel when the runway got closed

[delicate silo]

They need to retire that thing

It shouldn't be flying

But then again there's no replacement in large enough numbers

[sage cape]

why not

the talon is eternal

[delicate silo]

They are so different from modern jets for them to be used as trainers Isn't great

Aswell as their safety issues

I don't know there's no replacement ready so

They gotta use em

[sage cape]

huh

[sage cape]

They’re building the Boeing Saab redhawk

I think they want enough of them by 2030 or something

Saying the T38 has safety issue though is HERESAY

[uneven fog]

It’s an A model too

I don’t think they’ll even be the first to get the red hawk

I think it’ll be the ENJPT guys

those T38s literally get so abused tho

[delicate silo]

they keep getting delayed though

and like the t38 was out dated a while ago

[uneven fog]

the Cs aren’t TOO bad

The As literally have no gps or anything is what I’ve heard

No glass in the cockpit

[delicate silo]

imagine training in that and then going to like a 35

or 22

[uneven fog]

Yea or even a f15e

atleast the E you get an instructor

[delicate silo]

yeah

[sage cape]

They should’ve supplemented the talons with hawks

[delicate silo]

yeah

or began making a new trainer long now

[uneven fog]

First time we’ve not been in a war

Not gonna shell out a bunch of money for new trainers when we have a need for actual combat jets

[delicate silo]

I guess but now they have a problem training new pilots

takes forever and theres a shortage of them

[uneven fog]

True

imo we should not be training nato pilots

I’m not sure what the return for us is?

If those countries are paying us sure but I doubt they are

Could actually be something I see Trump changing

[uneven fog]

I think the other issue with this is there’s so little ppl qualified

And the ppl who are will get paid better elsewhere

And quicker

[delicate silo]

Yeah

Aswell as a 8 year commitment

And 2 years of training

[uneven fog]

right that too

more than 2 for some ppl

[delicate silo]

Oh?

[uneven fog]

idk abt Air Force but Navy it’s not uncommon for 3 from going to OTS to finishing flight school

or whatever the navy calls officer school

[delicate silo]

That's a long time

[uneven fog]

OCS?

[uneven fog]

Yea

I thought abt it but have since decided against it

Not the lifestyle for me

might do part time guard later in my career

[delicate silo]

Yeah I don't love the commitment

[uneven fog]

flying fighters is also such a lifestyle

and so little flight time which hurts later in the career

fly heavies and you do an 8 hr flight with little brief or debrief

fly fighters and do a 2 hr brief and a a 2 hr debrief for an hour long flight

[sage cape]

Remembrance Day today, yay there’s a flyover

The flyover proceeds to fly from Adelaide to Sydney, 90 minute flight btw. Enters a holding pattern, then does the flyover at 2k ft above the fucking clouds

I saw it’s shadow

This MIGHT be the pacific airshow

[sage cape]

Thought about it and applied Friday gone

😃

[uneven fog]

Brutal 😭😭😭

[viscid elbow]

What would it be simulating as an “aggressor”? Like which aircraft is it tryna play as. In These Aggressor things?

Or that called “aggressor” livery because it looks similar the Russian ones?

[uneven fog]

Bingo

the 7th FTS uses the T38 to play as an adversary against the F22

that’s why they get shitter jets

cause they’re not actually training anyone

[delicate silo]

LOLL

F22 toying with it's food

[sage cape]

t38 could take a f22 in a dogfight 🤷

And it would have a bunch of adversary electronics to mimic the electrical systems of modern Russian and Chinese jets

[delicate silo]

From any range it stands no chance

[sage cape]

In Australia our red air is flown by learjets, still a formidable target because of a shit load of electronics

[sage cape]

Yes in a real fight but this isn’t a real fight

it’s a fight waged in real jets but everything’s run on computers

So you can just alter the T38’s “stats”

And it is formidable

[delicate silo]

Ig

[uneven fog]

Almost always in combat exercises the F22 will have a large disadvantage

The British Typhoons claim to have shot down an F22 but it was a BFM fight and the Raptor had external tanks on

[delicate silo]

I heard someone say it's like a desk job most of the time is this why?

[sage cape]

wasn’t that a French Rafale

[uneven fog]

oh it definitely could have been

[sage cape]

It’s a lot of work for not much flight

You’ve got to be perfect

[uneven fog]

My briefs for the Cherokee are more intense than what they do btw

[sage cape]

Im still applying for it tho 😃

[delicate silo]

Yeah

[delicate silo]

Usafa? Or

[uneven fog]

I literally can basically tell the future

[sage cape]

RAAF

[delicate silo]

Ah

Gl

[uneven fog]

like today I predicted I was gonna have a hard landing, and what did I do?

[sage cape]

But yeh the Australian version of the Air Force academy

[uneven fog]

f18s rahhhh

[sage cape]

We don’t have a big enough Air Force to have its own institution so it’s the defence for academy

[sage cape]

👅

[uneven fog]

Do u guys use f18s for Air Force

Wait do you guys have aircraft carriers

[delicate silo]

I'd assume they do like Switzerland or canada

[uneven fog]

Odd

Just buy F15s at that point

Better airframe for the purpose

[delicate silo]

[sage cape]

supers and growlers yeh

[uneven fog]

Or the F35 now but I believe they have bought some

[sage cape]

we retired our classics and got 35s

We’ve got the second most f35s of any country

[delicate silo]

W

35s are pretty cool

[uneven fog]

And not even as many as our marines have 🫣

[uneven fog]

I hate the B and Cs with a passion

Fat Amy is cool tho

[delicate silo]

Australia doesn't have 30t in debt 🫣

[delicate silo]

Why

[uneven fog]

uh the C just looks funny it makes me angry

And it can only pull 7.5

The B can’t go supersonic without breaking

And hovering is for helis

And helis pilots r bums

[delicate silo]

Oh god yeah the enlarged wings

[sage cape]

A the best fr

[delicate silo]

I like the b

[uneven fog]

Yea more than 8 G’s they’re ripping at the crease

[delicate silo]

And a ig

[uneven fog]

the gun pod on the B is so dumb

[sage cape]

We’ve got 63 delivered rn with 9 more to come

And a possible 24 extra