Page 28 - Phonebox Magazine October 2015

Olney Camera Club
Aircraft Photography
John Hughes
Spitfire PR Mk XI at Old Warden
The real test comes in photographing piston- engined (propeller-driven) aeroplanes in flight. Here the opposite of the above is needed. The whole point is NOT to use a fast shutter speed as this will freeze the propellers and make the subject look as if it is a model suspended in mid-air! Move the camera dial to Shutter Priority and set the shutter speed at 1/250 sec. (1/200 is better, 1/320 is about the maximum you could get away with, depending on the speed of the aircraft and the rotating propellers, which vary quite a lot between different aircraft types). The aperture (f-stop) will have to look after itself but if it goes below f7.1 then the ISO could be raised up to 400 to compensate. Switch on any vibration reduction/image stabilisation which your lens or camera has – this may help to minimise the effect of any camera shake. The aim is to get a nice sharp aeroplane image AND blurred rotating propellers which will give that sought-for motion effect. This is not easy and it takes a lot of practice and patience to get the panning right. Just try to follow the aircraft as smoothly as you can from left to right (or vice versa) and minimise any up or down movement of the camera. The image of the Spitfire aircraft shows the possible end-result.
Next Meeting
Our next meeting is at 8pm on Wednesday 28th October in the Olney Centre. It will be a talk by
Derek Buckett entitled ‘Keeping Epson Happy’.
For further information please view our website www.olneycameraclub.co.uk or call Gina on 01234 711657.
This article was prepared before the tragic crash of the Hawker Hunter at Shoreham Air Show and we express our sincere condolences to all those involved.
When it comes to taking successful shots of aircraft, some of the general ‘rules’ of photography no longer
apply or are at best avoided (e.g. rule of thirds, leading lines, horizon lines, not centralising the subject). This is particularly true for aircraft in flight, where the aim usually is to get the subject central in the frame with an uncluttered background. An image of a solo aircraft stuck in an outer third of the frame generally looks unbalanced. But background, in this case the sky, becomes all-important. On a grey overcast day, or with strong backlighting, it will be difficult to get both the aircraft and sky correctly exposed, usually resulting in a dark aircraft against a washed out sky, which is a bit of a disaster unless you are after a silhouette. This is difficult to correct successfully even with photo-editing software. Try to get the light source behind you and reflecting on to the subject. A dark cloudy sky as a backdrop is a bonus and can lead to dramatic results, particularly with oblique lighting which will serve to highlight details and features on the subject, as with the picture of an RAF Tornado landing at Fairford in July.
Static Photographs
Most people can take a good picture of an aircraft or helicopter if it is on the ground. The art is to try to create something of an atmosphere or put added interest into the subject. As an example, if you are
photographing historic aircraft, try converting your image into monochrome (black- and-white) or even sepia for that timeless effect. It is important when composing the shot that you avoid including any modern paraphernalia such as cars, new buildings, signage or unrelated aircraft. Sometimes there will be aircrew or ground staff dressed in period costume, which will allow for the recreation of classic period shots – the B-17 Flying Fortress image in monochrome illustrates this. (This was taken at the ‘Flying Legends’ show at Duxford which is held every July).
Aircraft in Flight
Jet aeroplanes fly fast but are relatively easy to photograph. You will generally need a zoom lens of up to 300mm. An aperture of f8 will help give depth-of-field from wingtip to wingtip. Using an ISO of 200 on a bright day and with the camera set on Aperture Priority should then provide a shutter speed of between 1/600 to 1/1200 sec. With a steady ‘panning’ action follow the aircraft until you have it as perfectly framed in the viewfinder as you want it and press the shutter. The result should be a sharp picture with plenty of detail. Of course, if you want to zoom right in to capture further details such as the aircraft nose, cockpit and pilot, this can be equally rewarding. If it is an aerobatic team, such as the Red Arrows, that you are after, then a smaller lens somewhere between 80 and 200mm will suffice as you will need to stand back from the crowd fence line in order to get the whole group in the picture and capture some of the breathtaking manoeuvres when the red Hawks will be filling the sky in front of you.
RAF Tornado landing at Fairford
28 Phonebox Magazine