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First off - 3200 shutter speed is just not fast enough! Must Go Higher! (I'm going to try to get better shots today.)
Second - because of my practice with BIF, I was able to do a good job of tracking/panning to keep up with the jets.
Third - I need a faster card! The card I have does not have a high enough write speed. (Come on ....write,write,write! They're coming back! Hurry up.)
Fourth - What a rush to have them flying overhead!
Also, I was caught completely off guard when they showed up overhead. Pulled off to the side of the street and proceeded to take shots for about 1/2 hour.
(I got the strangest looks from people driving by. LOL)
Too many things wrong with this shot so I'm not going to ask for CC. Ha ha ha
1/3200 should be plenty fast enough, Deka... I like the composition you got here, even if the sharpness isn't perfect... and a lot of that is likely due to the sky and lighting conditions, not your technique!
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, the sky and lighting were less than perfect.
I'd never tired to photograph a jet before so it was more of an experiment/learning experience for me.
I look at it as --- I didn't completely fail but I didn't completely succeed either. Ha ha ha
I'm looking forward to another opportunity to give it another try.
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, the sky and lighting were less than perfect.
I'd never tired to photograph a jet before so it was more of an experiment/learning experience for me.
I look at it as --- I didn't completely fail but I didn't completely succeed either. Ha ha ha
I'm looking forward to another opportunity to give it another try.
Deka
Photographing jets is just like shooting birds in flight, only easier... the jets are much larger, and don't change direction nearly as quickly! Normally, if you can keep the focus point on the subject, a shutter speed of 1/2000 is plenty fast enough. The trick is if they're coming right at you, you need to be using AI Servo (or the Nikon equivalent) because they're coming at you at something around 500 feet per second, and the camera needs a good focus lock to track properly. Most airshow demonstrations are flown at between 250 and about 400 mph, though sometimes they'll do a "high-speed pass" at 550 mph or so. If you can pan with them, though, you're in good shapel
That gray sky is probably more the culprit than anything else, if your images are soft. The dull light robs contrast, which is what AF systems depend on, and it also tends to force lower shutter speeds if you're shooting in Av mode or Auto. But even with the gray light, if you shoot in shutter priority, you can get good shots. The nice thing about jets is, you don't have to slow the shutter down to blur the propeller - shooting a passing aircraft at 1/160 and keeping the plane in focus is a lot tougher than at 1/2000 or more! Here's one I got last summer at an event at Paine Field at 1/2000 shutter speed...
Rocky, thank you for the wonderful information!
Being fairly new to photography, every new experience adds to my knowledge base.
Panning is much easier with jets than it is with birds. Ha ha ha Although jets can turn pretty fast too.
It never occurred to me to shoot in shutter priority. I was shooting in manual mode with auto ISO, f 8.0 and 3200 ss.
There is so much to learn.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with me!
Rocky, thank you for the wonderful information!
Being fairly new to photography, every new experience adds to my knowledge base.
Panning is much easier with jets than it is with birds. Ha ha ha Although jets can turn pretty fast too.
It never occurred to me to shoot in shutter priority. I was shooting in manual mode with auto ISO, f 8.0 and 3200 ss.
There is so much to learn.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with me!
Deka
Shooting manual at 1/3200, f/8, auto ISO should work fine, IF you have good light... That shot was taken at ISO 3200, with flat, dull light.. that's a large part of why your image seems a bit soft. Back off the shutter speed to 1/2000, or even 1/1600, let your ISO come down to, say 1600 or 2000, and I think you'll see a definite improvement. What lens were you using?
I'm using the Canon 7DM2 and the Tamron 150-600mm lens.
The lens has had the firmware update.
I normally do not use the Tamron unless I have really good light but I was so excited about the jets, I just had to try. Ha ha ha
I neglected to pay attention to the light which is the first thing I should think about when pulling the camera out to take a shot!
But then, I've always required good light for the Tamron so I've never experimented with less than perfect conditions. My bad!
Thank you for helping me understand my mistakes. I knew they were there, I just didn't know why. (yep - a newbie Ha ha ha)
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Normally, if you can keep the focus point on the subject, a shutter speed of 1/2000 is plenty fast enough. The trick is if they're coming right at you, you need to be using AI Servo (or the Nikon equivalent) because they're coming at you at something around 500 feet per second, and the camera needs a good focus lock to track properly. Most airshow demonstrations are flown at between 250 and about 400 mph, though sometimes they'll do a "high-speed pass" at 550 mph or so. If you can pan with them, though, you're in good shapel 