El Centro Photocall - 10/24/12

[helidoc]

outstanding pictures...well done!

Great time as usually!  Thanks to all that made this possible!

[rammsteinmatt]

outstanding pics!..can i ask what lens you use?

Thanks!

All were shot on a Nikon 200-400 f/4 VR attached to a D7000 (except the IFLOS and Prowler Dual were shot on a 17-55 f/2.8 mounted on the backup D7000).  IMO, that combo was worth every penny, and oh what a lot of pennies that was.  200-400 on a crop body is just about the perfect focal length for aviation.  Only very rarely do I wish I had longer, and usually I know in advance of a show that I'm going to want longer.  I almost never use the 70-200 anymore, but when I do, it's weight and size makes it feel like a toy.

Keith used my 70-200 at El Centro along the runway.  Sometimes I really wanted to be able to zoom the 200-400 out - in essence me wanting to use the 70-200 instead - or wanted to zoom my 17-55 in more.  Zooming in, theres more on that later.  I know, from experience, "getting it all in" dropping to the 70-200 from the 200-400 generally weakens the composition.  Imagine the lesser impact of the F-18 afternoon burner shot if I had zoomed out to get it all in...  Fail.  Two years ago I got tired of switching lenses on the body, only had one D7000 at the time, so I decided to be lazy and just keep the 200-400 mounted.  I struggled to shoot before the a/c took more than the whole frame; was really frustrated the whole show.  Came home, holy hell, never taking the long lens off again - the in-your-face compositions gave all my shots a booster shot in the ass of awesomeness.  That being said, I dont know if I could do it with a 500mm prime, I really like my 200mm zoom slop right now, I suspect there'd be a learning curve again.  Ok, soap box time over.

[rammsteinmatt]

Chris, this picture is awesome.  Between the super tight composition and the shutter-dragging lunacy.  Awesome.  I hated in all my pictures of the fuselage-blurring due to long shutter and wide angle, but at this size it's hardly noticeable resulting in pure prop disc goodness.

You do, however, have a couple dust spots which could find themselves without a place in that image 

[Realbigtaco]

Chris, this picture is awesome.  Between the super tight composition and the shutter-dragging lunacy.  Awesome.  I hated in all my pictures of the fuselage-blurring due to long shutter and wide angle, but at this size it's hardly noticeable resulting in pure prop disc goodness.

You do, however, have a couple dust spots which could find themselves without a place in that image 

Thanks Matt,

Yeah I'm usually the same way with too much blurriness on the fuselage when I try shots like that.  We had a bunch of chances with that Herc, with all the touch and go's.  I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while! 

Your right with the dust spots, I think I didn't notice it until I had posted the shots, then just got lazy. It does draw attention away from the shot a little.  My only thing is how to get rid of the one which is directly on the right prop....I'll have to work some magic on that one.

[rammsteinmatt]

Your right with the dust spots, I think I didn't notice it until I had posted the shots, then just got lazy. It does draw attention away from the shot a little.  My only thing is how to get rid of the one which is directly on the right prop....I'll have to work some magic on that one.

A small enough clone stamp will work with the one on the prop.  The only thing that makes it tricky is it's right on the white arc; meaning the clone stamp would have to be rotated slightly - if you take the clone from close enough, I'm sure you wouldn't even notice the arc isn't perfectly tangent on that spot.  Or pull the clone from the same arc point on the other engine - but then you run the risk of an exposure difference.  I've done more audacious cloning before   If that doesn't make sense and want further explanation you're more than welcome to PM me.

Not that the dust draws attention from the shot, it just makes it look incomplete IMO.

As far as blurriness of the fuselage, I know what you mean...  So the fix.  When you look at a shot like this, where do you look first for sharpness?  The nose and number, right?  So on approach, if you pan with the nose/number in the center those will be sharp and the tail will be blurry to all hell, but who cares.  As the a/c passes along side, you have to (should you elect) move your panning focus point to the wing box or mid fuselage since that is the point we would expect to be in focus on a down-the-wing shot.  In practice, this is - of course - more complicated.  Lots of opportunities sure helps, don't we all know that.  Sometimes, though, you just have to nail it on the first go; forward thinking helps in those cases.

I've learned the hard way, that's for sure.  When the EC-121 flew into Chino, it made one overhead pass then joined the pattern and landed.  One chance to nail the Connie in clean flight.  Missed it.  I was anticipating dragging the shutter to blur the props, played it safe and bumped the shutter up just a tad as insurance.  Took some test shots to check exposure.  I was ready.  The time came and it turns out the exposure meter off the sky was sufficiently different than it had been taking ground shots.  That aircraft and type [most likely] will never fly again.  I guess that's just part of the experience.  Same thing with the Fat Albert JATO takeoff, will not see that again.

[helidoc]

Looks Like the 200-400 is the way to go......of course us Canon shooters will have to wait on a 200-400 lens, and from what I read it will be very expensive, their estimates 0ver 11,000.00
I'm thinking it will be way passed my Budget....Im A poor Helicopter Mechanic!!!!...lol I'm looking into the canon 300 2.8 prime lens..its still expensive, but its on my list to get..
Any feedback would be appreciated..thanks
Kevin

[Diegos Aviacion]

Here are my shots!!!   

[Diegos Aviacion]

A few more!

[rammsteinmatt]

Looks Like the 200-400 is the way to go......of course us Canon shooters will have to wait on a 200-400 lens, and from what I read it will be very expensive, their estimates 0ver 11,000.00
I'm thinking it will be way passed my Budget....Im A poor Helicopter Mechanic!!!!...lol I'm looking into the canon 300 2.8 prime lens..its still expensive, but its on my list to get..
Any feedback would be appreciated..thanks
Kevin

Never a better time to switch to Nikon.  A 300 f/2.8 with 1.7x TC would be a pretty decent combo.  Might take some getting used to, however.

[rammsteinmatt]

Ready for the biggest bombshell of all?





It's not a lens.
wait for it...







I shoot only jpeg, large (16mp), normal quality.  Oh the humanity!!  The true sign of an amateur, right? 

I've shot raw only once, the D7000 had just came out, there wasnt a fantastic patch for the software, such a pain in the ass - just to see the pictures!!  Shoot it right the first time and you won't need raw.

[Realbigtaco]

Ready for the biggest bombshell of all?





It's not a lens.
wait for it...







I shoot only jpeg, large (16mp), normal quality.  Oh the humanity!!  The true sign of an amateur, right? 

I've shot raw only once, the D7000 had just came out, there wasnt a fantastic patch for the software, such a pain in the ass - just to see the pictures!!  Shoot it right the first time and you won't need raw.

Same here, i only shoot in JPEG.  Started because I didn't have a great RAW converter program at first.  Then it just got to be habit, and not having to buy all the cards that go along with shooting in RAW (granted cards are now dirt cheap).  If lighting is really bad...i might go for the Jpeg/Raw combo...but rarely

[helidoc]

Never a better time to switch to Nikon.  A 300 f/2.8 with 1.7x TC would be a pretty decent combo.  Might take some getting used to, however.

I appreciate the comments...I have to stick with canon for the time being...cant afford the switch, so i will have to keep what i have...but hey we all love Aviation, and photos, and being able to just get out and shoot is a true blessing..yes i agree  a 300mm Prime would indeed take some getting use to...but oh well right?

[rammsteinmatt]

Warmed this one up a tad.  What do you guys think?

[rammsteinmatt]

Damon shooting a Merlin

[phantomphan1974]

Damon shooting a Merlin

I'm shooting something.....