Airplanes Pictures Free

[Glendora Spink]

Iwould love to get some extra tips on shooting the variety of planes flying at an airshow. I think I am okay with the planes on the ground... but any tips on shutter speed, aperture or anything for the show up in the air?

I tend to use AI Servo (I am a Canon user, I am sure someone will quote the appropriate mode on Nikon if required). For individual aircraft I usually set the focus point to the centre point only - for formations I let the camera suss out the focal point.

A lot of guys use aperture priority for jets but I prefer to use shutter priority because I mainly shoot propeller aircraft. I also dial in a couple of + points on the exposure bias and set the metering to center weighted partial metering. I don't use spot metering because on sunny days - you can get glints of sun off the aircraft and this can throw the metering hugely.

Shutter speeds - for propeller aircraft it depends a bit on the aircraft and what the aircraft is doing. On their take off roll they will be at a high power setting so the RPM will be higher. I would start off using 1/320 and practice your panning technique. This will stop you freezing the propeller (pet hate) and show some movement.

When the aircraft are on final approach to land, the prop will be much slower as they will be throttling back alot, you will need to dial the shutter speed right down for these shots - 1/100 or lower probably.

For jets, crank the shutter speed up - they will be moving really really quickly, as high as you can manage while keeping the ISO at 100 (this allows you to crop into the images more if you need to while keeping the noise down)

Composition: You want the aircraft to have some room to move into generally, really tight impact shots work well but you need to be very close in - if you leave a bit more space in front of the aircraft than behind they tend to work a bit better.

Positioning: The big formations tend to centre their display midway down the flight line for their big breaks etc - for everything else, I usually like to be at one end or the other so you get nice take off shots or landing shots and some lovely topside shots as the aircraft bank in as they come round the bend.

As always, location, timing and lighting are important. The EAA fly-in in Oshkosh, WI is a great example. With the aerobatic "box" lining up with the main N-S runway, the afternoon airshows often have some great lighting from behind the crowds. If you've got a chance to position yourself in different places, consider where the light's going to be coming from while the show is underway.

The more you can find out about the event logistics, the better - timing, etc. You'll also want to pay attention to where & when "off-stage" events occur. You might consider catching a pilot going through pre-flight checks, for instance, or shoot planes rolling out for takeoff when they'll have cockpits open and a clear view of the pilots. Most people will miss these "non-flying" shots, but they're a good way to include a human element, which is missing from most airshow photos.

An aircraft-band scanner can let you listen in on the control tower traffic, which can clue you in to some of these movements, too. At EAA, some of that traffic is streamed over the Internet and broadcast over frequencies you can pick up with a special radio they rent for $10 or so on-site.

Plan on using a variety of shutter speeds and focal lengths. You'll be switching from close-ups of static displays to trying to catch planes performing maneuvers in the air. You'll be tempted to go for super-fast shutter speeds, but for prop-powered planes, this gives you a frozen prop, which may not be the look you're going for. Instead, play with shutter speeds and panning to see if you can get a blurred prop w/ a clear plane.

Consider whether you're there primarily to shoot the airshow or to enjoy the time with your son. Some of the things you'd do to stalk awesome photos might not be fun for the family if they're tagging along. This might affect your photography, but you should still be able to come away with plenty of awesome shots.

I am not an expert at photographing airplanes and air shows by any means, however I can offer some more general help. (We do have a talented member who photographs air shows and air planes quite a bit...@JamWheel. Hopefully he will see this and offer up some better advice.)

First off, you will likely want a pretty high shutter speed to help you freeze that distant motion. You should also use a continuous shooting mode to capture as many shots as you can when you take a shot, which means cameras with higher shutter rates will be ideal. A high shutter speed to freeze action will in turn probably dictate using a higher ISO, so that you can maintain a high enough shutter speed to capture planes in flight nice and sharp. I am not sure that flash will do you any good to help freeze motion of in-flight planes, however it might be helpful with parked planes on the ground.

To really fill the frame with in-flight planes, your going to want as much reach as you can get. A cropped sensor will do best here, as the crop helps to extend the reach of your lenses. I would recommend at least as 300mm prime lens, however I do know that many air show photographers use longer focal lengths. It seems fairly common to use extenders such as a 1.4x telephoto extender. This would make a 300mm lens 420mm, and combined with about 1.55x crop factor (1.5x for Nikon/Pentax/Sony, 1.62x for Canon) that effectively gets you 650mm.

It should be noted that with extension, your maximum aperture will be reduced, which will make ISO all the more important. You should use a camera that has good high ISO performance with low noise at around 800-1600.

I also recommend that you practice panning, so you have at least a moderately steady hand while panning and taking shots. If you have done some panning in the past, I would recommend taking some pictures of birds in flight with a telephoto to at least get a feel for what its like when trying to photograph a plane in flight.

My system:1) no autofocus. Have yet to find an AF system that can keep up with a small object approaching the camera at very high speed.2) manual exposure, same reason. The aircraft will be a lot darker (relatively speaking) than the sky around them. Use a greycard or meter on the grass next to the flightline.3) pan the aircraft, don't wait for something to appear in your viewfinder, you'll be too late.

You need to think about the light in the same way you would for any other photography. If the sun's out, then there's usually about 1/3rd of the sky where the light is best for aircraft shots. Figure out what works and don't bother shooting much in other parts of the sky. Clouds and blue sky together work best.

Find a good place to stand. Crowds are bad. If you know where the planes will be flying and where the sun will be that helps. Take a look around and see if you can spot where the people "in the know" are. It's not generally right down on the flight line.

Lenses... a zoom would give you slightly increased opportunities at the expense of quality and complexity. A 300/f2.8 IS (full frame) is perfect for where I stand. Multiple bodies don't really work as you don't have time to switch. You may need longer if you're further away, although you'd then be stuffed for those close passes.

If you are new to War Thunder seeing the tech tree can be quite impressive. There are so many airplanes available, you do not know where to begin your journey in unlocking each and every beautiful aircraft. This guide tries to give (new) players a hand to find out what airplanes they should be aiming for, in my opinion. I have done extensive research to find out what airplanes to grind for in the tech tree based on a lot of forum reading and personal experience. From multiple forums I have collected the airplanes that were recommended the most of the time. If vehicles were only mentioned once or twice, they did not make the cut.

Regarding the Italian and French tech tree, at this time I have not gotten enough information about which recommendations to give you. So that is why there aren't many aircraft listed there. Please feel free to recommend your favorite in the comments, make sure to bring arguments!

In this guide you will also see that I have not yet unlocked all of the airplanes. Sometimes you will see a recommendation of an airplane I have yet to fly for myself. This recommendation is then based on forum research, were multiple players have recommended this particular aircraft.

In the provided pictures you will notice 2 different boxes. The green ones are recommended airplanes, good to fly and have fun with. The red boxes are an absolute must have air plane, these are the ones I would definitely go for.

Now I am not affiliated with Gaijin Entertainment, but you will see some premium aircraft in my recommendations. If you would like to buy these, BUY THEM AT A TIME WHERE THEY ARE ON DISCOUNT! Only buy them when they are at least -50% off. For example, during Christmas or the birthday of Gaijin. Remember it is up to you if you want to buy these, I am not responsible for any discontent from your part.

You will also notice that some of my airplanes have talismans (the little medal above an airplane), these have been acquired through battle trophies (which occur random after a match) or have been bought during a discount event. I recommend applying a talisman to an airplane you are good at and you enjoy flying the most. The only advantage of a talisman is increased RP.

Input is always appreciated, this guide is bases on what I have encountered on the internet and from personal experience. Your opinion may vary, please leave a comment with arguments as to why you would recommend an aircraft!

Becouse this guide is already pretty long, I have not yet specified each recommendation. If you have any questions about a sertain recommendation, feel free to ask. I will try to explain why I recommended that aircraft as soon as possible. I might do a full recommendation for each air plane in the tech tree per nation if people request me to do so. In that case I will also include what modifications to research first and what to spend your crew points on.

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