Hind Heat Haze
A Mil-24 Hind Attack Helicopter of the Czech Air Force.
A Mil-24 Hind Attack Helicopter of the Czech Air Force.
Read less
Read less
Feb, 2016Views
231
Likes
Awards
People's Choice in Helicopters Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Absolute Masterpiece
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankCategories
spidi1981
December 22, 2016
Awesome shot! If you want, you can try this contest:
https:// viewbug.com/challenge/helicopters-in-action-only-flying-helicopters-photo-challenge-by-spidi1981
Have a nice day!
https:// viewbug.com/challenge/helicopters-in-action-only-flying-helicopters-photo-challenge-by-spidi1981
Have a nice day!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This shot of the Hind was taken at the RIAT (Royal International Air Tatoo) at RAF Fairford in the UK. It was the Sunday show and the it had been raining for a few hours before, I was concerned that when I got to the show that the rain would not break off but luckily it did and we ended up with this dappled sky effect which looks great with the engine heat haze.Time
It was taken in the summer around mid-afternoon, so there was a possibility of some harsh sunlight but as I said it had been raining before and there was some cloud cover blowing through which helped a lot.Lighting
If the sun had been out I would have ended up with harsh lighting and shadowing on the aircraft but luckily it was behind some light clouds which gave a softer, defused light and really offset the rotors against the sky. Had the sun been directly on it the shadows would have been heavy and I would have lost detail under the wings.Equipment
It was taken with a Nikon D810, Tamron 150-600mm lens, on a Three-Legged Thing carbon monopod which has a full motion gimbal to give some stability and full range of angles. The camera was set to continuous fast shoot and I was shooting in RAW at full, uncompressed resolution. The shot was taken at 1/160th to try and give motion to the rotor blades, anything fast than that will 'freeze' the motion completely and you will end up with what looks like a model aircraft hanging in space, this also works for the propellors on WW2 fighters etc, anything that can give you that extra motion in the pictures is good in my opinion.Inspiration
I had not achieved a good helicopter shot with some real motion or action from the rotor blades, engine heat haze or aircraft azimuth. Helicopters are notoriously difficult to shoot to get a feeling of action and I had not seen a good shot of an old ex-Soviet bloc helicopter head-on for a while. I had been told that the front view of a Hind was a threatening image for all NATO forces so wanted to see if I could portray that in some way. I also knew that this year's display by the Czech Air Force involved a 'strafing' move from right of the crowd line and it was a bit of luck that they stopped right in front of me, the angle of the aircraft is caused by the pilot angling against the prevailing motion to slow down.Editing
It was post-processed with Alien Skin's Exposure X to slightly sharpen the aircraft, I find that this program is about the only one that sharpens nicely and doesn't bring out horrible 'halos' or bright edges. Then in Macphun's Intensify CK Pro to bring the sky out a little, I dropped the highlights back to bring the clouds out against the blue sky. I try not to over process any of my shots but due to the high intensity motion getting a completely sharp shot whilst getting motion in the blades is almost impossible.In my camera bag
I usually have my Nikon D810 which I find is a good coverall for all occasions, although the full image size is massive due to the 36 megapixel sensor I find that you can get good motion shots as long as you're careful with shutter speed and ISO. I always carry my 24-70mm f/2.8 Mk1 as this can be used for so many things, from quick shots through to wider angle work. If I'm at airshows the Tamrom 150-600mm is there as this is my default longer range lens. In addition to that I carry my Speedlight 900 in case I need in-fill light. Finally I keep my Three-legged Thing carbon monopod as this allows me some stability and keeps the load lighter.Feedback
If you're trying to get motion in aircraft shots make sure you use what the aircraft is doing to your advantage i.e. is the pilot using smoke? is he pulling Hi-G manoeuvres that will result in contrails over the wings or other surfaces? Shooting an aircraft at any angle that has no context to it can end up looking like a model against a blue background, if that's what you want then great but it doesn't tell the story of what is going on to the viewer. Try not to use shutter speeds greater than 1/200th for propellors or rotor blades, this will give you rotational motion. Panning is a difficult skill but if you're still learning shoot the aircraft when they are not moving at full speed, choose your shots before you go if you can, look up the displays that the aircraft are doing and see what parts are best for your chosen image. There are always plenty of videos on Youtube so you can see what the pilot is likely to be performing.
