Airshow de-brief

Just done the Waddington Airshow.


EOS40D
100-400L IS USM
70-200 f4L IS USM with 1.4 extender
24-105 f4L


Problem areas seem to be..


Shooting upwards the sky puts most of the aircraft into silouette and I cant get the definition back in the planes.


Fuzzy images, but not motion blur. I used the IS in Mode2. Other
causes could be heat rising from the ground (It was a very hot day), or
heat from the jets, Auto focus being confused by display smoke although
I used servo and centre point most of the time.


Noise. I wouldn't expect this at ISO200 on the EOS and usually work
up to ISO400 without problem. I did shoot best jpegs however and this
might have not responded well on the blue sky which was a flat colour.
Would RAW have solved all this.


Although I have managed to get a reasonable collection of images to showcase the day the 100% crops look decidedly poor.



Anybody got any suggestions on sky shooting for me. The same rig out
on the Jet Ski park 2 weeks ago gave me outstanding results.


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.29.93/waddington-2009-309-_2800_Large_2900_.jpg[/img]


Above: Full image


Below: Pixel level crop


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.29.93/waddington-2009-309-100_2500_-crop-.jpg[/img]





Full album http://picasaweb.google.com/canonuseer/Waddington2009#


Red arrows only http://picasaweb.google.com/canonuseer/TheRedArrowsAtWaddington#

I can't really offer any tips on your other technical questions, but I will say that I've learned to always shoot RAW. Right now I'm shooting RAW+Small so I can preview images quickly and decide which ones are worth messing with/keeping, but if I am going to present a picture, it ALWAYS comes from a RAW => JPEG conversion and sometimes I go to the extra step of RAW => 16b TIFF => JPEG, though it is mostly because I read that Bryan does it that way. I don't actually know why. [:D]


As far as the fuzzy but not motion blur issue, I would suspect that using long lenses, even with IS, is giving you some shake. I would suggest a higher shutter speed may be helpful. I understand from here that the rule is roughly 1/focal length, and I try to give myself latitude by doubling that or more. One of the guys in the wildlife post who has consistently phenomenal images seems to use 1/1000 or faster even for stuff that isn't moving. He actually doesn't have IS on his main lens, an EF400mm f/5.6, but he recommends turning it offif you do have it.

Mode 2 IS on the 70-200 f/4 is for panning shots. It is horizantal stabilization. Mode 1 is both axis stabilization (X&Y). Same thing on the 100-400. If you are shooting in Av mode, brite sky, ISO of 400 or 500 and f/5 to f/9 should give fast shutter speeds. (real fast). Great for detail. (Prop driven aircraft should keep shutter speed aroun1/600 to 1/1000 to get prop blur), much more difficult shot.If Tv mode, try 1/1000 up to maybe 1/4000 at an ISO of maybe 400 to 500 again. 40Ds have high signal to noise ratio so noise should not be an issue, and yes, I would shoot RAW+S jpeg. You can adjust much more in RAW without screwing up the original RAW image so you can start over if you're not happy with your edits. Remember, the more you shoot, the better you will get. Play with your camera. Digital is cheap to shoot.


JeffersonPoster


Also, don't use a filter. Didn't see it listed in your list, but images seem a little dark and a filter (CP) will do that.

Cushty,


You showed us an example, but you didn't tell us what lens was used, shutter speed, ISO, aperture, ect. That info will help.


Chuck

When shooting in the sky you need to use Exposure Compensation of +1 - +2 depending upon conditions.


You also can't create detail where it doesn't exist. If the lighting is such that the planes look dull and featureless to your eye, the camera isn't going to do any better.


Jets up high won't require as much shutter speed as jets down low. Jets up high will always be a challenge because you have to deal with atmospheric haze (pollution)

based on the picture you posted, I'd say that you don't have blurry photos, but rather crappy contrast, probably related to crappy lighting and atmospheric conditions.


You can playwith it in post processing, utilizing your curves.


Just my guess.