shaunfletcher

Aerobatic Display

Aerobatic display by historic Harvard trainers at Ardmore airshow, Auckland, New Zealand

Aerobatic display by historic Harvard trainers at Ardmore airshow, Auckland, New Zealand
Read less

Aug, 2016

Views

165

Likes

Awards

Peer Award

Top Choice

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 3

Behind The Lens

Location

The photo was taken at Ardmore Airfield in Auckland, New Zealand. It captures an aerobatic display by local enthusiasts in restored North American Harvard trainers.

Time

The image was taken in mid-afternoon, towards the end of a hot and calm day at the airshow.

Lighting

The light high cloud and bright sun ensured the perfectly restored and shining planes showed their colours to the best advantage, and the still air meant the smoke-trails formed long lasting shapes, allowing for some classic aerobatic photographs! By taking the image with the sun behind the subjects the planes are darkened, enhancing contrast and impact.

Equipment

Canon EOS 450D with EF-S 55-250 lens, handheld

Inspiration

A lifelong love of planes and machinery, and the perfect day for the airshow inspired me to take a huge number of images, and the natural photogenic quality of older warbirds, lovingly polished, was too much to resist.

Editing

Simple crop, colour balancing and tonal enhancements in Adobe Lightroom.

In my camera bag

As a beginner, I take my EOS body, a 50mm prime and a 250mm zoom telephoto to offer a range of framing. I also always carry a polarising filter for both lenses, and a standard tripod. Additionally I usually have a wireless intervalometer mainly for astro-photography.

Feedback

I have been fortunate to have a very kind response to the photographs I have taken of aircraft and similiar subjects. The key seems to be to find rich colours and contrasts in the subject, ensure ample lighting and position shots carefully to gain uncluttered backgrounds, using depth of field to emphasise the main subject matter in ground shots. For the in-flight shots, using wide aperture and therefore fast exposures and taking a rapid sequence of shots while panning to follow the target helped to get the 'one'. Manually pre-focusing (possibly on early passes of the planes) and manual settings are essential as the camera's automatic facility is unlikely to be fast/reliable enough while tracking moving distant objects. Finally thinking carefully about your standing location and the direction of the sun/terrain before a flying performance begins means you do not find the best shots are in too much shadow or with inconvenient background features.

See more amazing photos, follow shaunfletcher

shaunfletcher

shaunfletcher

Aerobatic Display

Aerobatic display by historic Harvard trainers at Ardmore airshow, Auckland, New Zealand

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow shaunfletcher

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.