military photography

Andy77

Andy77

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going to be doing some aircraft photography soon, i have a 400d what are the best settings to be using while trying to catch these 600mph+ beasts in action up in the hills... Anybody Help:thinking:

:canon:
 
Reckon you'll likely need a big telephoto lens and pan with it.
As high a speed as you can get 1/500 or faster.

They'll be slower than 600mph, but still horsing on.
 
It really depends on your panning technique and how smooth it is.

My advice for your first attempt is to keep the shutter speed around 1/1000 - 1/1250 sec in TV mode, again this will depend on the light conditions and your lens to achieve this and set camera to AI servo

In good light this should be no problem, however in hazy or failing light, you might have to compromise. ISO settings between 200-400, depending on the light and shutter speeds, once you have a few sharp shots in the bag, then think about lowering the shutter speed, but you can still get motion blur at the higher speed.

If the light is not good, then use AV and set it to an aperture that gives you a reasonable shutter speed. Set camera to AI servo, but don't fire off the shutter like a machine gun, take a 2-3 image burst then allow your autofocus to catch up before the next shots, your 400D isn't quick in these stakes, so this will maximize the number of good shots.

What lens do you have for this, a minimum of 300mm is needed for most of the locations in the Mach Loop,

check out www.flylow-flyfast.co.uk for information and a friendly forum.

Peter
 
I know you want to do military aviation (its all I tend to do) but if you really want to get a grip on your settings, try going to an airport, as there is a much higher frequency of activity, I have been at airbases and seen only one aircraft all day, but at least at an airport, you can get a lot of aircraft, therefore a lot of shots, therefore more chance to see what settings work for you, and what they do.
 
Viper said:
are there any laws on aircraft photography, either military or commercial?

dont want to get into trouble like that guy in the station :S
Click to expand...

Bit of a delicate subject this one.

I take my pics at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, both run by the U.S. Air Force, and if you get too close to the fence they often send the MOD police out to ask you to move away.

Yes, it would be easy to stand my ground etc, but when all is said and done, arguing the toss could make life difficult for myself and others - There is nothing stopping panelled fences being erected within the perimeter fences for example, it is easier to just say ok, and walk away - I don't like doing it, but this is the hobby I have chosen, I have to accept that I have to play by others rules.
 
48thEagle said:
Bit of a delicate subject this one.

I take my pics at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, both run by the U.S. Air Force, and if you get too close to the fence they often send the MOD police out to ask you to move away.

Yes, it would be easy to stand my ground etc, but when all is said and done, arguing the toss could make life difficult for myself and others - There is nothing stopping panelled fences being erected within the perimeter fences for example, it is easier to just say ok, and walk away - I don't like doing it, but this is the hobby I have chosen, I have to accept that I have to play by others rules.
Click to expand...


The best way to go in the long run as confrontation never wins over diplomacy:thumbs:
 
That flylow-fly fast website caused my virus scanner (Avast) to light up like a Christmas tree. the culprit seems to be "JS:packed-ak[trj]"
Which is a javascript trojan, not sure what harm it can do you, but if you have looked at the site I would advise updating your defenses and doing a thorough scan.

Also someone if anyone knows who runs the site they should get a heads up to look for dodgy javascript in the sites code, and patch up any holes that nasty people may be using to get the malware there in the first place.
 
It blocked the facicon.ico file by the way, probably that has been replaced by some nasty.
 
48thEagle said:
Bit of a delicate subject this one.

I take my pics at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, both run by the U.S. Air Force, and if you get too close to the fence they often send the MOD police out to ask you to move away.

Yes, it would be easy to stand my ground etc, but when all is said and done, arguing the toss could make life difficult for myself and others - There is nothing stopping panelled fences being erected within the perimeter fences for example, it is easier to just say ok, and walk away - I don't like doing it, but this is the hobby I have chosen, I have to accept that I have to play by others rules.
Click to expand...

Varies from station to station.
At Kinloss a shelter was built for spotters.
Lossie is friendly.
Leuchars is OK except when an idiot climbs the boundary fence.
Just go with the flow and if you are told to hop it then do so.

Re the consequences of arguing the toss. I have seen that situation go really sour and the losers were not the mil or the police.
 
arclight said:
Varies from station to station.
At Kinloss a shelter was built for spotters.
Lossie is friendly.
Leuchars is OK except when an idiot climbs the boundary fence.
Just go with the flow and if you are told to hop it then do so.

Re the consequences of arguing the toss. I have seen that situation go really sour and the losers were not the mil or the police.
Click to expand...

And the bases you mentioned, are all operated by the RAF, the ones I mentioned are operated by the USAF, there does seem to be a significant difference in policy.
 
48thEagle said:
And the bases you mentioned, are all operated by the RAF, the ones I mentioned are operated by the USAF, there does seem to be a significant difference in policy.
Click to expand...

Yes, bound to be I suppose.

Kinloss used to be difficult, but I reckoned it softened a bit when the N weapons were removed from Nimrods.

Was car parking provided at Lakenheath?
 
48thEagle said:
And the bases you mentioned, are all operated by the RAF, the ones I mentioned are operated by the USAF, there does seem to be a significant difference in policy.
Click to expand...

I can't speak about the RAF but Mildenhall did used to have the "spy corner" viewing area. We use to have annual air shows too.
 
Fragglerock said:
That flylow-fly fast website caused my virus scanner (Avast) to light up like a Christmas tree. the culprit seems to be "JS:packed-ak[trj]"
Which is a javascript trojan, not sure what harm it can do you, but if you have looked at the site I would advise updating your defenses and doing a thorough scan.

Also someone if anyone knows who runs the site they should get a heads up to look for dodgy javascript in the sites code, and patch up any holes that nasty people may be using to get the malware there in the first place.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the heads up Fragglerock, have informed the mods of the site and they're on the case, their forum is still available as its hosted by a different server.

Peter

http://www.flylow-flyfast.co.uk/forumset.html
 
Sometimes my job can have it's uses - RAF Air Traffic Controller! On top of the Tower = best viewing seat in the house!
 
im tempted to pop along to RAF Linton-on-Ouse some time. get some pictures of the hawks going in and out :)

just didnt want to get arrested by the MoD police. lol
 
i work at RAF Leeming and take photos of the hawks all the time :D

don't know if its different for me coz i'm security vetted though.
 
Trixster said:
Sometimes my job can have it's uses - RAF Air Traffic Controller! On top of the Tower = best viewing seat in the house!
Click to expand...

Are you allowed to take pics?
 
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