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EL BROMANCE posted:Hi all, looking for a few general tips For helicopters in flight you'll want a shutter speed somewhere between 1/200 and 1/350. This will blur the blades a touch so the machine won't look frozen in the air. You'll have to experiment a bit to find the right speed but I typically start at 1/250. What I do is go into shutter-priority mode and as I take a number of shots (always take lots of shots) I roll the shutter speed up or down. In my experience with many different types of helicopters, anything faster than around 1/350 starts to freeze the machine, and anything slower than 1/200 or so starts to become a blurry mess. Or the blades could be blurred so much that you can't see them, which looks weird. Unfortunately, the relatively long shutter will make shooting handheld at 300mm pretty tough, so try to find something to brace against, or a monopod, or something stable but you can move around quickly to follow the subject. Experiment with different autofocus modes. I've had about equal luck with both AF-C and AF-S modes. If you're not already, use back button focusing to make your life more enjoyable. Here's something I fail at: interesting backgrounds. Most of the time this will seem impossible since you're standing on the ground shooting into a blank sky, but fortunately helicopters tend to get down low so be prepared if luck swings your way. Good luck! And by the way, I'm pretty jealous. I spend a lot of time around helicopters but not a lot of heavy military ones.
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Sep 2, 2014 18:53
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Trying to find some photos I haven't posted before, to illustrated what I wrote above. Apologies if any of these are re-runs. 300mm, 1/200s, lovely background  IMG_8563.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr The pilot and I worked out his pass, so I could brace myself against the truck and pan along as he went by. Unfortunately with the bland sky, the pan effect is wasted, but at least it kept the airframe sharp while 1/200 did it's work on the rotor blades. He came rocketing by relatively close at around 130kts, but fortunately across my field of view. I set my camera up for AF-C, continuous drive, and kept him in the center of the viewfinder until he passed. 300mm, 1/2000s this time.  IMG_7788.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr Normally 1/2000s is too fast, you can see how the blades are frozen, but I was trying to capture the condensing effect of the air passing over the top of the blades. 70mm, 1/320s, another boring background  IMG_7890.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr These guys were hovering over me and normally hand-holding at 70mm 1/320s is no problem but these things push a shitload of air around so I had to brace myself against the fueling station. Rot fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Sep 2, 2014 |
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Sep 2, 2014 20:18
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Rot posted:For helicopters in flight you'll want a shutter speed somewhere between 1/200 and 1/350. This will blur the blades a touch so the machine won't look frozen in the air. You'll have to experiment a bit to find the right speed but I typically start at 1/250. What I do is go into shutter-priority mode and as I take a number of shots (always take lots of shots) I roll the shutter speed up or down. In my experience with many different types of helicopters, anything faster than around 1/350 starts to freeze the machine, and anything slower than 1/200 or so starts to become a blurry mess. Or the blades could be blurred so much that you can't see them, which looks weird. Thanks for the advice, and the photos too! Wow, that's a slower shutter speed than I thought, I was totally off there! Definitely know what you mean about the need for something to stabilise the camera - following the focal length x crop factor rule, my lens at 300mm shouldn't be handheld less than 1/500. A challenge, but hopefully I'll be able to find something at the area to help out. I did not know about the back button focusing, I'd not really used my AE/AF Lock before but I've followed a guide so that I've changed the behaviour of this button to AF On, put my camera back into AF-S and now I just hold the button on the back when I need to focus and snap with the shutter release? Everyone I've read in the blogs seems to rave about switching over to this, so I'm game. Might help out in tons of situations too, really useful! Did a few practise shots in the house and it seems to work. Should harass the cat with this... Not been so much traffic in the air today, but fingers crossed I can get out the house on Friday and have a good show. At worse if I get a few photos I like, it'll be worth it! Cheers.
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Sep 3, 2014 16:35
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EL BROMANCE posted:Thanks for the advice, and the photos too! Wow, that's a slower shutter speed than I thought, I was totally off there! Definitely know what you mean about the need for something to stabilise the camera - following the focal length x crop factor rule, my lens at 300mm shouldn't be handheld less than 1/500. A challenge, but hopefully I'll be able to find something at the area to help out. Hope I helped a bit. More H-53 photos, please.  Kinda lame but here's what happens when you over-expose (and over-process) a photo shot in literally the world's largest softbox:  DSCF1588.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr E: exif is lying, by the way. I'm pretty sure I shot that with my FD 300m f/4L but never bothered to set my camera up properly so the lens data is incorrect. Rot fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Sep 3, 2014 |
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Sep 3, 2014 23:36
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If you're shooting a longish telephoto at range you can probably set the lens to manual infinity focus or just a hair shy of it, and forget it. If you're shooting a 70-300 kitlens you'll probably need to be stepped down to f/8 at least to get sharpness, which will help by widening your DOF. Take a few practice shots and check that your particular lens doesn't focus past infinity.
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Sep 3, 2014 23:58
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Snowdens Secret posted:If you're shooting a longish telephoto at range you can probably set the lens to manual infinity focus or just a hair shy of it, and forget it. If you're shooting a 70-300 kitlens you'll probably need to be stepped down to f/8 at least to get sharpness, which will help by widening your DOF. Take a few practice shots and check that your particular lens doesn't focus past infinity. I disagree. For one, if you're shooting shutter-priority in daylight and aiming for 1/250 or so, you're likely going to be above f/8 (assuming min ISO) so your depth of field is taken care of. Let the camera do it's thing re: auto focus, in my opinion. Aim at the nose or mid-ship, and anticipate direction of flight based on the general attitude of the airframe (often with helicopters, the nose is not necessarily pointing in the direction of flight, especially slow and low). If your camera body has a decent continuous autofocus mode, give that a try. Otherwise, enjoy the benefits of back button focusing and just refocus as the aircraft moves through your viewfinder. Usually I have my exposure figured out, so I hold half-button on the shutter and constantly mash the AF-L button to update as the ship moves across my scene.
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Sep 4, 2014 00:39
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My favorite airplane shot to date. IMG_9532 by FullerFotos.net, on Flickr
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Sep 4, 2014 15:04
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I don't envy the people who live in these houses. 5B4A7733 by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr
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Sep 4, 2014 21:47
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Sadly, no more helicopters - they've been going around a bit the last few days but either too far away to get a good snap, or too dark. Pretty sure Obama went over my house flanked by the Ospreys though. Went down to the Bay area of town this morning, as they said that'd be the best view of the flyover here. Managed to get some passable shots in the end - nothing compared to ones with the same tags on Flickr, but good enough for me for a first go! Really think the back focussing helped out, even though a lot are still pretty soft. Combination of a camera that doesn't AF amazingly well, my juddering and a slow cheap lens I expect!  Eurofighter Typhoon flanked by two MiG-29s  An F-18 flanked by two F-15Cs during the flyover  The colossal RAF Voyager during the NATO flyover  Red Arrow display during the NATO flyover  Red Arrow display during the NATO flyover Thanks for the advice!
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Sep 5, 2014 12:10
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This thread is sad and neglected. Today I was taking panning shots of garbage trucks and a KC-10 flew over my head. Obviously I had the wrong settings, but it had crazy amounts of vapor coming off it.  KC-10-1 by cclunie, on FlickrThen I said oh poo poo and changed my settings.  KC-10-2 by cclunie, on FlickrThen a KC-135 flew over my head.  KC-135 by cclunie, on Flickr
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Oct 4, 2014 03:36
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 The World On Time by thedoablebill, on Flickr Steel City by thedoablebill, on Flickr A Ways From Home by thedoablebill, on Flickr
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Oct 13, 2014 06:32
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It only occurred to me last weekend to combine my zoom lens with the absolutely phenomenal airport landing lookout we have here. As well as the technical areas.  Those engines are on the very last Air NZ 747 
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Oct 14, 2014 10:02
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Planes of Fame TBM Avenger demonstration - a good chance to try and improve my propeller-blurring skills.  Look at all that leaking oil!  
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Oct 16, 2014 03:43
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StandardVC10 posted:Look at all that FTFY.
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Oct 16, 2014 04:07
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That's how you know it still has oil in it.
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Oct 16, 2014 04:41
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A steady stream of oil is how a radial tells you it's happy.
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Oct 16, 2014 11:48
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Finally got a shot of a BUFF, but forgot to turn the ISO back down after the football game. I got the camera out to try to get a photo of one turning onto final way the gently caress out on the horizon, then heard a hellacious scream and caught the one in front of it as it passed over the car. MrYenko posted:A steady stream of oil is how a radial tells you it's happy. Jets leak too. Though presumably that's because they seal up at operating temperature, so when they're parked and everything's cooled down and contracted they drip, as opposed to radials that burn as much oil as a 2-stroke.
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Oct 26, 2014 01:44
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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Delivery McGee posted:Finally got a shot of a BUFF, but forgot to turn the ISO back down after the football game. Pratt & Whitney engines leak oil. Its the 11th commandment.
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Oct 26, 2014 02:17
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MrYenko posted:Pratt & Whitney engines leak oil. Its the 11th commandment. If a JT8D doesn't leak, it doesn't have any oil in it.
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Nov 17, 2014 01:59
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PatrickBateman posted:If a JT8D doesn't leak, it doesn't have any oil in it. Ask me about Rolls 250 engines being forced to do something they aren't too happy doing. Not a Rolls, but appropriate for engine chat:  DSCF2199.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Dec 21, 2014 01:42
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I like this thread. Another picture.  DSCF2044.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr I used to do a little work on an S-61 and while I really think the thing was pretty nifty, I can't say I miss it.
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Dec 22, 2014 03:23
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Took this on the jumpseat of a B-757. Fuji X-E2 with the 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 Untitled by Mannymall, on Flickr
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Dec 26, 2014 04:58
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Animal posted:Took this on the jumpseat of a B-757. Fuji X-E2 with the 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 This is cool. I'd like to try to get more interior shots, especially of our modern machines. I'll have to work on that. In the meantime, this last tour we got to deal with all sorts of fun weather:  DSCF2650.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr It wasn't all bad, though:  DSCF2824.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Jan 14, 2015 23:11
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I watched a bunch of old planes fly today ww1 planes by Raikyn, on Flickr
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Jan 17, 2015 09:08
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 mustang by Raikyn, on Flickr  vampire strikemaster by Raikyn, on Flickr  strikemaster by Raikyn, on Flickr  RNZAF by Raikyn, on Flickr Raikyn fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Feb 14, 2015 |
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Feb 14, 2015 02:31
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Hey all, I'm blessed/cursed with the fact that I can get reliable (as in daily) F-22/T-38, flights very close to my apartment at both low and high speeds. I'm experienced with video (long story short I was a film student so I have learned too much about both film and digital camera work) and point and shoot, but I'm looking to upgrade to a DSLR (and buy the proper lenses), what would you recommend for a new guy to air photography. Finding the aircraft is not the problem, unlike what the OP jokes about.
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Feb 16, 2015 03:38
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Raikyn posted:
NH90
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Feb 17, 2015 00:55
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