NAF El Centro Photocall - November 16, 2017

[Midnight Mover]

NAF El Centro Photocall - November 16, 2017

Please read this notice in its entirety!! If it is not followed exactly you may not be invited to this or any other Photocall.

APSC is now establishing a list for members wishing to be invited to the February Photocall at NAS El Centro.
You must be a current member of APSC in good standing to be eligible to attend.

Make absolutely sure you can attend the date above. If you should cancel and we cannot fill your space, it will count against you for future Photocalls.

Please read the requirements below carefully as incomplete e-mails will not be accepted.

Send an e-mail to airshow@socal.rr.com if you want to be invited with the following information. (Yes, all 5 items are required to get on the list.)

1. Full name
2. APSC member name
3. Number of posts on APSC to date
4. Cell phone number
5. E-mail address

If you attend the Photocall, we will need:

A copy of your best 25 to 50 JPEG photos from the Photocall sized at 3000 x 2000 @ 300 dpi resolution with 100% file quality. Your photos will be added to a group DVD and sent to the Photocall Facility and used by used the Photocall Facility for any purpose they deem appropriate. All content submitted must be fully post processed and not contain watermarks, borders or digital dust. Deadline for submission is November 30, 2017 by 11:59 pm.

Aviation Photographers of Southern California requires a signed form to participate in the Photocall. This form must be signed before you will be allowed access to the Photocall Facility (The form will be provided the morning of the Photocall).

At this time the form reads as follows:

Aviation Photographers of Southern California (APSOCAL)

Photocall Policy and Waiver

APSOCAL Members are considered for Photocalls based on their participation on our forums and on Facebook. Also, any type of promotion of the Photocall Facility, through blog posts, articles, projects is also highly considered. Also, any members who have submitted their photos when asked by the facility are also highly considered. These actions do not guarantee selection but puts you in consideration. Basically, we want to know who you are and feel comfortable around you. We want to know that you are respecting the partnership we have sustained and are not using the Photocalls for only personal gain.

Do not discuss any details of a Photocall on social media or on the forum until after the Photocall is completed. Also if a member is found to have made disparaging remarks about APSOCAL, any of its members, or anything related to the Photocall Facility they will be permanently excluded from any future Photocalls.

APSOCAL requires a copy of your best photos from the Photocall. Your photos will be added to a group DVD and sent to the Photocall Facility and used by used the Photocall Facility for any purpose they deem appropriate. To be clear, you are giving the Photocall Facility full use rights (not the copyright) for the photos sent for any purpose without compensation for your work. You however are not giving APSOCAL any rights to your photos. We just make the DVD and send it to the Photocall Facility. Please ensure that all content submitted has been fully post processed and does not contain watermarks, borders or digital dust.

Photos must be sent via www.wetransfer.com , dropbox or any other file transfer service to airshow@socal.rr.com and in addition the same content needs to be posted to the APSC forum. Deadline for submission is November 30, 2017 by 11:59 pm. Images must be received and posted by this deadline for you to be eligible for future Photocalls.

Image minimum and maximum standards:

Image type: JPEG file
Minimum quantity: 25
Maximum quantity: 50
Minimum image size: 3000 x 2000
Minimum image resolution: 300 dpi
File quality: 100%

Note: files will be looked at to make sure they conform. A typical photo at 3000 x 2000 @ 300 dpi resolution with 100% file quality will be 2 megabytes or larger in file size.

Also note that each Photocall Facility will have its own set of policies to follow. These policies may be made last minute and verbally and as such will be incorporated into the agreement.

I acknowledge that I understand the policies above and agree to abide by them while on the Photocall. I acknowledge that there are inherent risks resulting from the use of equipment and participation of a Photocall, including equipment/facilities owned and operated by and events conducted by the Photocall Facility. Any activity on the Photocall Facility may include known, unknown or unanticipated risks, inherent and otherwise, may result in property loss, injury, illness or death. I acknowledge that my use of this equipment and/or participation in events is purely voluntary, and with knowledge of the inherent risks involved.

I further certify that I am fully capable of participating in this activity. I expressly acknowledge and assume the inherent risks described above, and all other inherent risks of my presence and participation in events on the Photocall Facility.

Policy is subject to change at any time.


Printed Full Name__________________________________________________________________________________
Signature:___________________________________________________________Date:_________________________
Media Agency / Company Name:______________________________________________________________________

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS THREAD 

OK TO POST NOW!!! 

[Midnight Mover]

Our Photocall list has been completed! Almost everyone is going if I had a request. We only have one alternate and knowing how people cancel I wold suggest everyone plan on going. I will e-mail final confirmations this weekend

[Jorbar1551]

BarryPhotoCall (82) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (79) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (77) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (75) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

[Jorbar1551]

BarryPhotoCall (67) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (62) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (59) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (43) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

[Jorbar1551]

BarryPhotoCall (36) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (30) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

BarryPhotoCall (12) by Jordan Barry, on Flickr

[pablofe]

Thanks to apsocal for putting this photocall together and to the NAF El Centro PAO for hosting us.  It was great to meet other apsocal members in person.

For this photocall I focused mainly on low shutter speed panning shots and wide angle compositions.  The helicopters certainly helped, and the fire trucks were nice.

Starting off with a couple of shots prior to the photocall kicking off,

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (1 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (2 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

A wide angle shot from the head of the runway

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (11 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Feel the heat!

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (18 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

AH-1Z, which I assume were loaded with live ammo, given the procedure by the ground crew prior and after operations.
Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (19 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

A wide crop for context

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (27 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Some pilot close ups and waves:

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (41 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (17 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (47 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

The Growlers from NAS Whidbey were busy that day:

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (30 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (12 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

and closing with Dave Shield's group photo set up.

Pablo Fernicola - apsocal - El Centro NAF Nov 16 2017 (50 of 50) by Pablo Fernicola, on Flickr

Thanks!

-Pablo

[phantomphan1974]

Nice ones guys!!!

[phantomphan1974]

0W3A3423_v1web by PhantomPhan1974 Photography, on Flickr

[phantomphan1974]

0W3A3861_v1web by PhantomPhan1974 Photography, on Flickr

[SDAztec25]

Nice Shots!!!!

[Britt]

A couple of mine from the photocall... was one of the better ones I've been to!

[pablofe]

I wanted to leverage some of my photos from the recent Naval Air Facility El Centro photocall to provide examples of the usefulness of slower shutter speeds (slower than 1/200th of a second).  For Canon cameras, this means shooting using Tv (Time Value, instead of Av, Aperture Value).  For Nikon cameras, it is the S setting (versus the A setting).  The value one would set is for example 200.  For this photocall I intentionally pushed myself to use slow shutter speeds, as well as to try out some portrait compositions (likely a future posting on this).

The photocall presented a variety of aircrafts, including multiple helicopters towards the end of the event.  For helicopters and prop planes, photographs look more natural when shot with a slow shutter speed, thereby getting prop or rotor blur.

Slow Shutter Speeds Use Cases
Here is an example of what I consider a bad image, where the shutter speed was too high (shutter speed is 1/8000) and thus the rotors look frozen and unnatural:


In contrast, this other photo looks more natural, with the rotors being blurred and having a more pleasant look (shutter speed is 1/125):


Beyond props and rotors, slower shutter speeds are useful to convey a sense of movement, while at the same time highlighting the main object in the photo (similar to using wide focal apertures, like 2.8, but with the benefit of also conveying movement).  Thus, slow shutter speeds are useful for jets as well in this context, especially when shooting the runway at El Centro with all the distracting structures and bales in the background.

Here is a photo with a fast shutter speed (1/8000) and wide aperture (2.8 ).  The Growler looks sharp, but one can not tell that the airplane is moving, and the background, even if soft, is distracting:



Also note how the wheels are "frozen".

Now, let's compare with this other photo, shot at a shutter speed of 1/160:



In this photo, the background is soft and blurred, conveying movement, and even the wheels are spinning, while the airplane still looks nice.

Technique

Shooting at slow shutter speeds is challenging. One needs to be careful to pan with the subject as it moves.  This may require not only quite a bit of practice but, for fast moving subjects, proper positioning of your feet so that one has a stable stance as one tracks the subject and turns the upper body to follow it.  Also, it is important to pre-select the focus point (composing the photo before shooting) as a focal point towards the back of the airplane versus the front will cause the focus on the front to be very soft (a lot more noticeable than when using a fast shutter speed).  Finally, if you are shooting prop and jet planes at the same event, one has to remember to switch between the aperture and time settings, specially when using multiple cameras.

Other Uses

When there are no background elements and no moving parts, I prefer to shoot with high shutter speeds and get very sharp photos like this one:



But, slow shutter speeds are useful even for car racing, birds in flight and commercial jets, where the engine blades are visible, to give a small hint of movement as we can see in this shot of an A380 at SFO:



Hopefully this post was useful and provided some new ideas of things to try on your next photo outing. 

Feel free to post your questions, feedback, and comments.

-Pablo

[phantomphan1974]

 

I wanted to leverage some of my photos from the recent Naval Air Facility El Centro photocall to provide examples of the usefulness of slower shutter speeds (slower than 1/200th of a second).  For Canon cameras, this means shooting using Tv (Time Value, instead of Av, Aperture Value).  For Nikon cameras, it is the S setting (versus the A setting).  The value one would set is for example 200.  For this photocall I intentionally pushed myself to use slow shutter speeds, as well as to try out some portrait compositions (likely a future posting on this).

The photocall presented a variety of aircrafts, including multiple helicopters towards the end of the event.  For helicopters and prop planes, photographs look more natural when shot with a slow shutter speed, thereby getting prop or rotor blur.

Slow Shutter Speeds Use Cases
Here is an example of what I consider a bad image, where the shutter speed was too high (shutter speed is 1/8000) and thus the rotors look frozen and unnatural:


In contrast, this other photo looks more natural, with the rotors being blurred and having a more pleasant look (shutter speed is 1/125):


Beyond props and rotors, slower shutter speeds are useful to convey a sense of movement, while at the same time highlighting the main object in the photo (similar to using wide focal apertures, like 2.8, but with the benefit of also conveying movement).  Thus, slow shutter speeds are useful for jets as well in this context, especially when shooting the runway at El Centro with all the distracting structures and bales in the background.

Here is a photo with a fast shutter speed (1/8000) and wide aperture (2.8 ).  The Growler looks sharp, but one can not tell that the airplane is moving, and the background, even if soft, is distracting:



Also note how the wheels are "frozen".

Now, let's compare with this other photo, shot at a shutter speed of 1/160:



In this photo, the background is soft and blurred, conveying movement, and even the wheels are spinning, while the airplane still looks nice.

Technique

Shooting at slow shutter speeds is challenging. One needs to be careful to pan with the subject as it moves.  This may require not only quite a bit of practice but, for fast moving subjects, proper positioning of your feet so that one has a stable stance as one tracks the subject and turns the upper body to follow it.  Also, it is important to pre-select the focus point (composing the photo before shooting) as a focal point towards the back of the airplane versus the front will cause the focus on the front to be very soft (a lot more noticeable than when using a fast shutter speed).  Finally, if you are shooting prop and jet planes at the same event, one has to remember to switch between the aperture and time settings, specially when using multiple cameras.

Other Uses

When there are no background elements and no moving parts, I prefer to shoot with high shutter speeds and get very sharp photos like this one:



But, slow shutter speeds are useful even for car racing, birds in flight and commercial jets, where the engine blades are visible, to give a small hint of movement as we can see in this shot of an A380 at SFO:



Hopefully this post was useful and provided some new ideas of things to try on your next photo outing. 

Feel free to post your questions, feedback, and comments.

-Pablo