Thursday, August 16, 2012

Airshow Photography


When we visit airshows, we visit for the way aircraft seem to slice through the sky without effort, the way the afterburners rumble the ground on the takeoff roll. Trying to capture this is a photograph can be difficult. Obviously we cannot reproduce the sound of an F-15 Eagle barreling down the runway pulling into the vertical and disappearing out of sight into the sky. But what we can do is capture the speed, the raw power and the beauty of these aircraft.

I have been shooing airshows for over 10 years varying from a huge fly-in such as Sun ‘N Fun in Lakeland to small shows with only a handful of performers flying to a crowd gathered on the edge of a lake. Of course, shooting any subject multiple times will teach you the dos and don’ts and will also help you hone your techniques to deliver the results you expect.

So what makes a great airshow day? In my opinion, I don’t want a clear blue sky as it looks like each aircraft is simply cut and pasted into the sky with no reference or relationship to the background, as shown in the photo of the F-16 shown below. A few spotty clouds is ideal, it gives the photo depth and texture and can sometimes frame an aircraft as shown below as well with the Mustang.
 © Rob Clements 2012
 © Rob Clements 2012
The sun can be your friend and can quickly be your enemy as well. One important rule of thumb for any type of photography is to shoot with the sun to your back if able; this gives you the most contrast on your subject and disposes of any risk of lens flare. Shooting into the sun at an airshow makes for an absolutely dreadful time as exposing aircraft with the sun behind them is nothing short of tricky. A well planned, thought out airshow will favor the runway ( if winds allow ) that gives the spectators the best view without looking up and into the sun for the duration of the show. 
Speaking of spectators, if you plan on shooting any airplanes in the static display or any other aircraft on the ground for that matter, plan on getting there early. It can be difficult to shoot an aircraft on the ground without someone in a big floppy straw hat stepping into your frame while he peaks inside the jet intake of that F-22 Raptor that you’ve been looking so forward to getting a shot of. Not only will shooting at an early hour reduce the number of people walking around the ramp, it will also let you shoot in that golden hour of warm light in the morning that just makes planes on the ramp glow almost like they are alive.

Most photographers have their own opinions about focal lengths to bring to an airshow. Ideally, a wide angle lens is great for capturing those views from the tail of a warbird looking up the fuselage to the propeller. I believe most will agree with me on this point. Another advantage of shooting with the wide angle is that you can get closer to an aircraft and reduce the number of people that are going to walk in front of you because you are able to stand a lot closer and get the shot. 

A prime lens (fixed focal length) will always give you a sharper image than a zoom, but it is definitely not as flexible at an airshow as a zoom is. I really enjoy the ability to frame the subject using the zoom knowing that I will be able to keep cropping to an absolute minimum in post processing because I framed the shot when I took it. Focal length is important for getting the shots that you will be proud of when reviewing your images after the show. Vapor pouring over the wings in a High-G turn is a great example of a longer lens paying dividends back to you. In my opinion, 200mm on a D-SLR is the minimum especially if you have a camera with a 1.5x crop factor (that 200mm lens becomes a 300mm). A long prime lens such as a 400mm f/2.8 will allow you to capture some very tight shots but you will lose some flexibility once the aircraft nears your shooting position as you cannot zoom out. Shooting this way requires some fast thinking and framing technique on the fly. Like I said, I'm a big fan of a long zoom at airshows because of this very reason. I'd rather frame the shot at the moment of capture then losing precious image size while post processing.

Now this might come as a surprise to some, but photographing a jet is easier than photographing a much slower moving aerobatic aircraft.
Why? Simple. Since there is not a moving propellor on a jet, the only thing to worry about is to ensure that your shutter speed is fast enough to get a sharp shot on the plane and at an f-stop that is in the sweet range for your lens. You don't want to shoot an entire airshow at f/2.8 just because your lens will allow you too. You might end up with a very fast shutter speed, but your images will not be at their optimum. As long as you have enough shutter speed while shooting the fast movers, bump your f-stop down a few bumps from it's maximum.
On my 70-200mm f/2.8 as example, I typically shoot at f/4.

Propeller driven aircraft and helicopters are both a different story than the jets. Any propellor in the photo should not be frozen due to a fast shutter speed. It's not natural and it just looks wrong.
Helicopter rotors are not visible while they are flying overhead, so why should they be any different in your photo? A slower shutter speed and consequently, more technique is needed to get the blades in motion while also keeping the rest of the aircraft sharp and in focus. I will normally shoot at f/8 and adjust the aperture up and down from there to gain the best shutter speed. 

As far as where to shoot from during the show, I prefer to shoot from what is known as, "show center".  This is the point that all of the pilots will use as a reference or almost like a home plate for their entire routine.  Take into consideration any potential obstacles that might block your shots such as temporary control towers , rescue equipment, etc.

Try to attend as many shows as you can and learn to deal with the variables like the weather and the crowds.  You will learn to adapt to shooting each type of aircraft be it a fast moving fighter or a tumbling aerobatic Pitts.  Enjoy yourself, have fun and keep shooting!  

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