Blue Angels, Huntsville, AL

[J.Alan]

These guys flew today at the Huntsville International Air Show, Huntsville, AL. We spent an hour and a half getting to the parking area and it was too hot for our youngest to walk more than 100 yards, or so. We decided to go back to the air conditioned car and watch from there. We lucked out and had perfect seats for the show, at the end of the runway.

This was my first attempt at shooting an air show, and I had strong back-lighting to work with, which I found it quite challenging. While I missed a number of shots, I got many more. I thought I'd share a few. Some were shot with my 70-200 f/2.8, while others with the 300mm f/2.8 Ai-S, hand-held.

170mm

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300mm

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200mm

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180mm

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110mm

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300mm

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300mm

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300mm

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Thanks for looking.

C&C Welcomed if you wish to say anything.

 

[Rich Gibson]

Excellent shots. 300mm hand held manual focus! My you are a daring soul!

 

[eastley]

It might be just me or the fact u took it at 300mm hand held focus, but I see a lack of movement in the pictures, planes look to still.

Sorry.

 

[J.Alan]

Thanks, Rich.

300mm hand held manual focus!

Not really much choice under the circumstances. Besides, I wanted a challenge. :biggrin:

 

[J.Alan]

eastly, thanks for

your input. Since this was my first attempt at this, I really was concentrating on freezing the action so I could study the detail. (Frankly, I did not even think about blurring any sort of motion).

Here is one of the few I was able to sort-of get with planes passing:

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[Muonic]

Nice job! As far as motion goes, I like to see the planes completely frozen. That's not too hard with jets, but it's more of a challenge prop planes, because the prop blur is what makes them look like they are actually flying. Usually around 1/200 will give you good motion blur on the prop, but then you have to practice your panning skills to freeze the plane. I've only shot a few air shows, and my results weren't very good. I guess it's a learned skill.

Jets are just so much easier than props. :biggrin:

 

[J.Alan]

Thanks for commenting, David.

As with any subject, familiarity with what one is shooting will help get the best shots. I would certainly like more practice with this, and hope I can get some.

Thanks!

 

[Spanky]

These are just awesome. You did a wonderful job processing these photographs. Thanks for posting

 

[Commodorefirst]

Joe,

well done on the pics, and some nice angel shots I must say, the head on peel out break off shot is pretty unique unless you are a press person on the runway!

 

[Leigh]

Joe,
You got some great photos. My favorite is #6. Wow, that's a great shot!

 

[PGB]

Joe,

Wonderful set! Thanks for sharing,

 

[Frits]

Very nice Joe. # 6 is just awesome - great perspective!

 

[petpoor]

#6 gets my vote also, I have shot several airshows and always seem to throw out way more pics than I keep. Good job, for more practice you can always tell the family you have to go down to Pensacola on July 12th to see more of the Blues:wink:

Tom

 

[Snake]

Good thing you were there on Saturday. Was a rough day today as the storm front came through. A five year old child was killed when a generator fell over. Our thoughts go out to the family and to all of the other people that were injured.

 

[Walt]

nice shots, the head on peel off is unique. I am impressed with you using a manual focus. I used a 300 autoficus and was glad to have it. Thanks for posting.

walt

 

[Sam Rettinger]

Very Nice

 

[J.Alan]

Thanks, Spanky.

It was a great day for the show... unfortunately my enthusiasm is dampened a bit due to the terrible storm on Sunday that caused loss of life of a 5 year old.

 

[J.Alan]

Wade, we were

nearly at the end of the runway and had a perfect vantage point for that one. I initially thought our seats would be bad, but we were in a perfect spot to see the action.

Thanks for commenting.

 

[J.Alan]

Thanks, Leigh.

It made the 2 mile, 1.5 hr drive to the parking area well worth it.

 

[J.Alan]

Thanks, Patrick.

Were you able to make it for the show?