I love a challenge. I love even more knocking them down and making them, if successful part of my shooting arsenal. Last year shooting at Pylon 8 which is at the end of the Valley of Speed, I was challenged with shooting planes scream past at 400+mph vertically. Even with the D3, you’re lucky to get a 6-7 frame burst before the planes have come and gone. You do the math how much time you’ve got the bird in the viewfinder.
This is one hot image for me, one of my best so far in my two years. The F4U Corsiar is on the tail of that P51 Mustang, it’s a vertical image, tack sharp and the blur on the prop works for me. My only nit with it is the prop blur is not a full 360, but I’ll live with that. I can’t wait to print this one up!
Then there is that P40, oh, she’s a sweet plane! I’m not sure what it is about it, but I basically ignore every other plane in the sky when I see it. Because the Unlimited Class screams by, you have to sight them a mile out and plan which plane(s) coming up you’re going to concentrate on.
Then there is the Vampire. I like it because it is a little funky looking and in my mind, a bit of the underdog out here. It’s last couple of lap it passed planes, hugged the ground and came in on this steep angle. Cool!
To finish my salute to shooting speeding planes vertically is this one of the Blue Angels. I love the top image a whole lot more! Now if you’re wondering just how difficult it is to shoot vertical panning shots of planes, head out and give it a try. Better yet, head out and perfect the technique for your own photography! mtc
Photos captured by D3, 200-400VR on Lexar UDMA digital film