Tips On Photographing Aircraft

You'll shake your head sadly, but for the type of ranch / barn shooting we need to do it's going to be a Tamron 28-300. But I did some study on the Tamron and I think the performance will be acceptable.

Eventually I'll spring for decent Canon lens. I've been using them on a friend's Canon D1 MK II and am really amazed. You can't take a bad shot.

The Viking Cub shots were all practice with the XTi and beater lens. I figured out the prop blur shutter speed but then had the iso set too high and it limited the ap (computer controlled) so they were all washed out.

Borrowed a friend's Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens for a couple minutes today and used it with the new 400D (XTi)
WOW! Mucho' bettero' than the old worn out 35-135mm Canon. I was beginning to wonder if I was doomed to always have slightly "off" pictures. Nope, the lens is the key.
The Tamron on back order (from New York...) wont equal this image stabilized hot rod but it's got to be better than the old one.
I just saw the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS for around a grand... Next Christmas!

http://sparky.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14144&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent

Cub Max,

I sure like that lens and the shots you took with it. I did a lot of research before buying mine and just hope I can be worthy of the lens some day.



Take Care - Jerry

You'll shake your head sadly, but for the type of ranch / barn shooting we need to do it's going to be a Tamron 28-300. But I did some study on the Tamron and I think the performance will be acceptable.

Click to expand...

I wont shake my head. I have a Tamron on two of my cameras. I also have some High Dollar Nikon Lenses. The most expensive is my 12-24 for y D-100. It Sucks, I wish I would have saved 600 bucks and bought the same lens (Size wise) from tamron. You know what I could do with 600 Bucks today?

Jerry and Grant,

I got a chance to use the XTi with the new 28-300mm macro lens last Sunday. It turned out to be a Sigma, not Tamron and the reviews I've read really like the lens for a do-it-all-walk-around.

Did a shoot of a grey 260 hp Bellanca Cruisemaster (for sale - of course - He wants the "H" word) over Pelican near Breezy Point. Even zoomed way out I was pleased with the performance. So all in all happiness is! Later we posterized the vertical overhead shot in Photoshop and made a big print of it for Ben. It turned out great!

http://sparky.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14211&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent

Brad

Nice, Nice Photos.....

Brad - Glad you are happy with the lens. The shots look great.

Just curious - did you posterize the background or the whole shot. I've never tried that feature and just found it under image > adjustments and started fooling around with it. I could spend the rest of my life learning that program.


Again - good shooting and nice plane by the way.

Take care - Jerry

Good grief, endless hours could be spent playing with Photoshop.... :-?

This is a posterization of the whole shot:

http://sparky.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14214&size=big&cat=514&limit=recent

We only did the one shot with posterize (I messed with it and then a pal messed with it) and you can see the difference between the two. Although artificial in feeling, it punched the airplane out from the background. (and you can see Gary's shirt buttons better) It made a nice 14x20 picture though. I like how it brought out the tailpost light.

If you wanted to get really subtle and spend a LOT OF TIME you could probably get a more natural feeling shot and still punch the airplane out a bit.

Brad

( Glad you guys liked the shots, I wondered if a grey airplane on a black and white background would elicit howls of derision...

I just tried a free download for panorama stitching called "autostitch.

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html

It works great. It has a simple setup and out performs the software that Canon put's out. Plus it's free.

Here's eight shots, 3 of which involve chunks of the supercub. Find the seams.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14509&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1022

Also playing around with multiplicity:

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14510&cat=500&size=big&ppuser=1022

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14495&cat=500&size=big&ppuser=1022

Happy shooting!

Jerry

My tip:

Hang out at the end of a runway a lot

Nice photos!! Pat.

OMG it's AKPM.

Whattup dude? Shouldn't you be skiing?
Good spellcheck over here.

Bio-smear

Jerry-

The first pass thru this thread, I just looked at the photos and didn't read the commentary. Now that I read what you wrote, I am amazed that those shots are long exposures at night. What exposure settings are you using? Low ISO I imagine, but what F-stop? And how to you get the shutter to stay open on the Bulb setting hands off? Remote? I don't think they call them cable releases anymore. I can't wait to try one of these here on a clear(er) night in the Portland area. Thanks for the idea.

I know most of you guys aren't really the Burning Man type, but what a place to take photos! The nighttime scenes there are a night shooter's dream. One in particular I took was an exposure where I rotated the camera around in an arc with the shutter open, during which some guy blew off a huge plume of flame from his fire car. The whole photo is streaks of lights, with one little section of focused area from that fire.

It's a fun time to be into photography, as the prices on DSLRs have come down so much in the past few years. I bought my girlfriend a 30D, so I get to use it on occasion. We have the kit 18-55mm, a 75-300mm, and a 28-80mm, but are still lacking a nice super wide angle.

Anybody familiar with Cameron Lawson? I read about him in AOPA Pilot or Plane and Pilot a while back...I can't recall exactly. He is a pro photographer from Montana who has a 170A, and has done a lot of nice aviation photography as well as rock climbing, kayaking, and mountain biking. He's done some neat stuff with remotely triggered cameras on the wingtip, which I'd like to try too here one of these days.

Check out his site:
http://www.cameronlawson.com