Airshow photograpy

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telscossie

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Dean
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I am going to a few airshows this year and am looking for opinions on settings for fast jets and prop planes i will be using nikon D800 and sigma 150-600mm lens , any advice is very welcomed , thanks
 
4 fps at stock is quite low, with good planning/panning and timing you should manage ok.

For fast jets aim for a shutter speed above 1/1000th, centre point with continuous focusing, or if your super cool, pre focus to affinity or at point in the air, then shoot as the jets pass. - If the light is s***e, which it typically is in the UK for airshows, dont be afraid to knock up your ISO 400-800 should do it depending on conditions.

For props, 1/160th and lower, plus panning skills far more important.
For Helos, then you might be looking at 1/80 > 1/100th of a second on the shutter speed.

I'm far far from an expert on this subject, im sure some of the more dedicated aviation guys will be along soon to re-educate me :) - until then the above guidance has served me ok pursuit of airshow photography

Small selection here > https://www.flickr.com/photos/155408061@N04/

Regards
Geoff
 
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Fast jets, as fast as necessary to stop camera shake but as slow as necessary to blur any land in the background if panning.
Props, try 1/125th as a starting point then chimp (look at the shot on the rear screen) to see if you want/need slower to get the amount of prop blur you want.
Helicopters, 1/60th as a start then see above.
 
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Whilst not directly related, handholding your D800 and long lens throughout the whole day might leave you with sore muscles. I use a 450D with a FPS of 3.5 frames a second and can still capture a couple of keepers. The planes usually make a few runs. Don’t forget to take an ultra wide lens for photos of the static aircraft.
 
I use shutter priority most of the time as you want to be able to have control depending on what aircraft you are photographing. I.e jets, props, helicopters etc
 
I went to Blackpool air show last year with a 7d2 plus sigma 150-600c. I gave up with a monopod and just hand held. I used aperture priority as I wanted to control my dof so had to keep an eye on my speed. Props I could go as low as 1/320 still had prop rotation. Jets I could go anything 1/2000 they were much easier. If conditions are stable then may manual is the way to go. But there is nothing wrong with shutter priority. It’s what suits you
 
the only problem with shutter priority you have to go with what aperture you are given
 
Mintchocs said:
Whilst not directly related, handholding your D800 and long lens throughout the whole day might leave you with sore muscles
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:agree:

telscossie said:
manual mode or shutter priority ?
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I suggest shutter priority especially if you are shooting in good light. But do keep an eye on the aperture because your camera might end up closing down a bit too far sometimes (eg: f16) and lead to diffraction.
Also use spot metering, otherwise you might end up with rather dark aeroplanes depending on the plane and colour.
 
telscossie said:
how can i stop it going down to F16 in shutter priority ?
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You probably can't. That's why I said keep an eye on the pictures, and if it's doing that too often then switch to manual mode with auto-ISO. You can limit the ISO range it can use so that'll make sure it won't go too high ISO.
 
telscossie said:
how can i stop it going down to F16 in shutter priority ?
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Lowering the ISO if you're not already at the slowest setting. If you're already at the lowest ISO you can use, a polariser can be handy as a Neutral Density filter - or invest in an ND or 2.
 
gremlin16 said:
Definitely shutter priority, you will have enough to be thinking about. Maybe, if you have it, set auto iso too but set a narrowish range, depending on your camera
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nandbytes said:
:agree:



I suggest shutter priority especially if you are shooting in good light. But do keep an eye on the aperture because your camera might end up closing down a bit too far sometimes (eg: f16) and lead to diffraction.
Also use spot metering, otherwise you might end up with rather dark aeroplanes depending on the plane and colour.
Click to expand...

If you don't fancy that, just set manual mode with a decent aperture, use the shutter speeds as quote above, and then just let ISO swing between the two limits. Personally i tend to just stick with shutter priority and fine tune the other two points of the triangle depending on what I'm trying to capture and the sky conditions. practice on some birds at home and you will get a feel for it. plus its good practice for panning skills.
 
Yes if you can track and pan with birds, you'll have an easier time with planes as they are more predictable
 
I think +1 or 2 exposure compensation is often useful when photographing flying aircraft (or birds).
 
The biggest problem with air show is that you are rarely above the aircraft.
I tried using spot metering but the area it covers is small and wound up with a broad range of results.

As GeeJay57 says, exposure compensation when shooting against the sky is almost mandatory.
 
soupdragon said:
The biggest problem with air show is that you are rarely above the aircraft.
I tried using spot metering but the area it covers is small and wound up with a broad range of results.

As GeeJay57 says, exposure compensation when shooting against the sky is almost mandatory.
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I suppose what you need is for the camera to spot meters off what ever point is in focus instead of just the centre point. Though I guess that involves buying £4K+ bodies? :D
 
nandbytes said:
I suppose what you need is for the camera to spot meters off what ever point is in focus instead of just the centre point. Though I guess that involves buying £4K+ bodies? :D
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My camera does that:canon:
 
If you're serious about getting keepers, take a peep at (Google) UKAR.
Plenty of very good info on there about metering modes, speeds, exp comp etc.
Good luck and enjoy your event.
 
My personal preference is to use Manual mode with the ISO set to Auto using 1/1000 and f8 for jets and then switch to shutter priority at 1/250 or 320 for props. As others have commented, exposure compensation is often needed at British airshow when the light’s pants. Just be careful not to use too much as you’ll risk burning out the sky. Keep monitoring your ISO and drop the shutter speed/open up the aperture a little if it’s creeping too high.
 
For jets use aperture priority. You will be shooting against bright/overcast sky, so camera will give you fast shutter speeds.

For props shutter priority- 1/160 and lower, don't forget panning. For helis also shutter, but try to go slower.

Light metering - spot, ISO - as low as possible, AF - centre.


You may not have enough time to mess about with manual. Camera has perfectly working modes for all your needs, use them.
 
I only shoot manual and RAW, and don't find i miss anything. RAW I find important as you often need to use more contrast and saturation than normal to bring out the colours and also increase shadows.

Jets, as high as possible shutter speed. 1/1250 is about as slow as I would go, 1/2000 or 1/4000 is even better.

Props - I normally shoot at 1/200 or 1/250 (the later normally). Yesterday this was with ISO at 100 or 71 and aperture around f9-13 - it was bright! I shot yesterday with my D750 in DX mode and a 70-200mm f4, so had effectively 300mm. Had a lot more keepers than last year when I used a Tamron 150-600, panning a big lens like that at 500-600mm at 1/200 is hard, and you will get a lot of misses. Think about the look you want. Normally it will be the closest point to you and normally you will want a top down view (i.e. they angle the wings to you) but look out for a few nice clouds if you have blue sky. Try not to click too early, I found I used to do that and then would get buffering at the time I really didn't want it.

What shows are you doing? Each show is different but getting the best spot helps a lot, especially at Duxford where you are often shooting into the sun.
 
I found the shutter speed for jets did not need to be particularly high especially if you have some background to pan over.
I think I just contradicted myself.
 
nandbytes said:
I suppose what you need is for the camera to spot meters off what ever point is in focus instead of just the centre point. Though I guess that involves buying £4K+ bodies? :D
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Pretty sure mine does that and the size of the AF point (and thus the spot meter point) is adjustable to boot. Fuji X-T2 - well under £4,000.
 
Nod said:
Pretty sure mine does that and the size of the AF point (and thus the spot meter point) is adjustable to boot. Fuji X-T2 - well under £4,000.
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So XT2 will spot meter off whatever AF point is in focus (across the frame)?
If it does that's pretty awesome. I hope other manufacturers take note and provide it in their non-pro bodies.
 
Sometimes you have to compromise...

DSC_8369.jpg

Cosford_2_5.jpg

Cosford_2_6.jpg
Cosford_2_7.jpg
 
I know I am not in a majority for this but I tend to use aperture priority for fast jets.

Setting it to an aperture that gives sufficient depth of field and achieves the lens sweet spot, but not stopping down further than neccessary which could head towards diffraction or affect one of the other variables in the exposure triangle.

Talking of which I will go with whatever ISO is required to give a minimum of 1/800th, averaging faster than that across most of the sky. As the light deteriorates I make a decision, open the aperture up, (small fast jet, far away) or lose shutter speed, (slow large transport type. ISO increase tends to be a final resort.

(The caveat to this is when using a camera with working auto ISO and settbig a range on it with a minimum shutter speed instead, but still in aperture priority)

Props/rotors I shoot shutter priority and drop the ISO to 100. It means you can have your aperture settings dialled in and a higher ISO for fast jets, then a twist of a dial to shutter priority and quickly toggle the ISO for props/rotors which has a pre set shutter speed dialled in.

Usually more like 1/125th for me but a maximum of 1/320th. Low light is not your issue here, ISO can go up, aperture has plenty of space to open up. Bright light as mentioned is the issue, I've never used an ND filter but that could be your answer if you like going slow with the shutter speeds. To begin with you won't so probably don't worry about this filter. The advantage of going slow is the chance of one really good shot instead of a load of average ones, the disadvantage is a lot of blurry ones!

Autofocus settings will vary from camera to camera. But you will want it in the high speed continuous drive mode (although keeper rate can increase with certain models if you back this off a hair) along with continuous tracking.

Exposure is key, live by your histogram, expose to the right but don't blow highlights, more than certainly you will want some positive exposure. Pick a metering mode, evaluative, centre weighted whatever it's your choice but learn it. Learn when it under and over exposes so you can tweak compensation in different lighting situations. Accept that as you pan not every shot will be exposed perfectly, so allow some breathing room or you will lose your highlights as sky changes rapidly.

Another thing to try is panning with your left eye open, it might help you get an idea of where the jet is going next...
 
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I also use Aperture priority for jets. Check the shutter speed you are getting and if it falls below 1/640 or so bump the ISO or open the lens up. For all take off shots I switch to shutter priority, drop the ISO back to 100 and usually plump for around 1/100. For displaying propellor aircraft such as warbirds I normally use 1/250 shutter priority, although will sometimes increase further to 1/320. I find the prop arc for both of those is typically acceptable and, personally, don't think the risk of dropping the shutter speed to 1/160 or 1/200 is a worthwhile tradeoff between increased prop arc blur against the chance of a duff shot, especially at 500mm plus. If it's your first time panning, I'd probably advise using 1/400 to begin with to get a few 'keepers' and then slowly drop to 1/320, and, if that works for you then try 1/250. Trying to pan straight off the bat at 1/160 is only going to end in a lot of soft shots, which will be disappointing.

Remaining settings, normally +2/3 exp. comp, tracking focus (AI Servo on Canon) and expanded centre point focus. Focus on panning carefully with the aircraft rather than machine gunning passes. Having 3 or so keepers per pass is much better than 20 soft images.

Helicopters are a bit tricker as they do normally warrant a shutter speed of 1/160 or below.

Some examples:

1/100
Hurricane Scramble by Harry Measures, on Flickr

1/250
Shuttleworth June Evening Show by Harry Measures, on Flickr

1/320
New Joker in Town! by Harry Measures, on Flickr

Harry
 
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