Jun 17, 2010 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp6016.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
It’s just me, but I typically don’t get excited about shooting the more “modern” jets. But today this L-39 Albatros in the afternoon light was just darn cool so click I went.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5960.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
At first I tried to make interesting clicks of it coming and of it going but after a couple of orbits, I decided I wanted to do better than the norm so decided to get shots that looked like I was shooting down on the plane. This meant seeing into the cockpit.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5955.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
To get that shot meant being in the right place when the L-39 banked to shoot around the pylon. I didn’t quite get it but I do like this shot. So, it’s something I’m going to pursue the rest of the week. Which me luck. Oh yeah, it’s going by at 400-500′ doing 540mph. Not bad panning if you ask me :)
Photos captured by D3s, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 17, 2010 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp6016.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
It’s just me, but I typically don’t get excited about shooting the more “modern” jets. But today this L-39 Albatros in the afternoon light was just darn cool so click I went.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5960.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
At first I tried to make interesting clicks of it coming and of it going but after a couple of orbits, I decided I wanted to do better than the norm so decided to get shots that looked like I was shooting down on the plane. This meant seeing into the cockpit.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5955.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
To get that shot meant being in the right place when the L-39 banked to shoot around the pylon. I didn’t quite get it but I do like this shot. So, it’s something I’m going to pursue the rest of the week. Which me luck. Oh yeah, it’s going by at 400-500′ doing 540mph. Not bad panning if you ask me :)
Photos captured by D3s, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 17, 2010 | Aviation
You might recognize #33, it’s the T6 that has been in a lot of my aviation photographs. The owner is Dennis who actually has three of his planes in PRS this week. But he’s not flying #33.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5570.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5706.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Now I don’t know if it’s ethical or not, but I was naturally rooting for Dennis even though he was racing. There is no racing going on, no laps and not timers. The pilots are here to get use to the course, test out their planes and just have a great time. #43 in the hands of Dennis has won the races in the past, I’m pulling for him to repeat. Only Sept will tell. I’m excited because I’ll be in #43 flying this week along with some other planes. Be sure to stay tuned for the excitement!
For those who are wondering, to get the blurred prop, you need a shutter speed at most 1/250. To get that speed, this is the only time I use Shutter Priority.
Photos captured by D3s, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 17, 2010 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5204.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Yeap, we flew from TX to Reno to be here for PRS (Pilot Race School). This is just a great event with great planes in great skies with great friends. Oh yeah, damn great photography too! Here’s just a small example of the fun and photography. #94 belongs to my good friend Dennis, the pilot of the T6 I fly with to do a lot of air to air work.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5253.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
So this is the first kind of photography I go after, the basic coming and going shots. As the pilots are practicing for the races in Sept, they fly the course as we photographers are standing at the pylons photographing them going by. My good friend Richard taught me my first time out that there is more to shooting then just them coming down the course at us. Turning around and getting them as they go away can yield some cool stuff too. My friend Tom is here for the first time and all he did all day was smile. I took that as he thought the planes just 500′ screaming by were cool. It is!
Photos captured by D3s, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 8, 2010 | Aviation
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dappofm0514.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Yeap, directly overhead! One thing I AVOID with a passion is looking right down the lens barrel at the sun. So when the F-86 was just a heartbeat before going in front of the sun to a heartbeat after, I just laid on the hammer and let the camera blast so the mirror flapping as fast as possible.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dappofm0479.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
And my favorite shot, the F-86E is just about as close as it can be to being in front of the sun without having the sun in the frame. That caused the dramatic underexposure making the sky so blue (I was already shooting at -1 to blue up the sky). What I’m still wondering is, where’ the flare? Surely some bit of the front element was struck by direct light from the sun, how could it not since I was pointing the lens bloody straight up (my neck is still kinked)? That is supposed to be one of the attributes of the new coatings on the lens but up until now, I hadn’t tested for it. To be honest with you, I’m not a big backlight photographer but now I’m curious. That’s the best part about photography, always learning something new!
Photos captured by D3s, 200-400VRII on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 8, 2010 | Aviation
The majority of the time when I shoot, I level the camera to the subject and not the planet. There are times you have to level to the planet but more often then not, titling the camera makes life so much more interesting. Photographing planes in flight is no exception.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dappofm0484.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
So after the first couple of passes and seeing what we were and weren’t going to get, I decided to completely change up my grip on the camera so I could change the angle of the flight relative to the viewfinder then the earth.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dappofm0498.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
During the presentation, they talked about the differences between the F-86 and Mig 15 with one being the F-86 smokes on take off, the Mg 15 doesn’t. Well I hopped it did because I thought it might be something that would add interest in an otherwise “plane on string” photo. It did smoke but the amount got less and less the more it flew so soon, that little extra was no more.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/dappofm0583.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
So with the loss of smoke I went to shooting simple, clean graphics. The swept back wings of the F-86 are really quite striking so making a clean shot really took more than to think about it and hold the camera accordingly, panning with it as it flew overhead. As we like to say, making lemonade out of lemons.
Photos captured by D3s, 200-400VRII on Lexar UDMA digital film
