Show your aircraft photos! (Airplanes, helicopters, blimps...)

[Holoholo55]

Here's a few from a recent visit to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. It's a great little aviation museum if you're visiting Honolulu. Well worth the trip. https://www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org/

The revamped P-40 and F4F display inside Hanger 37, the main museum.

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A snarling tiger is the last thing some Japanese pilots saw!

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Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, the type used in the first six months of the war and by the Marines at Guadalcanal. The photo is of Joe Foss, the top Marine fighter ace, who won a Medal of Honor for defending Guadalcanal.

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The hero of Midway, the Douglas SBD Dauntless. These dive bombers sank four Japanese carriers at Midway.

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Pilot getting into his Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

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Remains of a Nakajima B5N2 Kate torpedo/attack bomber. For the first year of the war, the best carrier-based torpedo bomber in the world. According to the museum, this is the most intact Kate in the US. Replicas of the torpedo and bomb it could carry in the foreground. The Japanese had the best torpedoes, which is really what made their torpedo bomber and surface torpedo attacks so effective. Americans had terrible torpedoes that seldom hit their targets and often failed to explode when they did, which made the sacrifice of the torpedo bomber squadrons at Midway even more tragic.

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Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger undergoing restoration in Hanger 79. The Avenger replaced the obsolescent Douglas TBD Devastators that were annihilated at the Battle of Midway. The late President George H. W. Bush flew a TBF in WWII. The museum even has the Stearman biplane trainer that Bush flew. Wings of an SBD Dauntless in the foreground. The restoration shop is in the same hanger with displayed aircraft.

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Hanger 79 has a lot of modern and vintage aircraft. They have so many aircraft that a bunch are parked outside in the sun.

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Lest we forget, Ford Island was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. These are bullet holes from Japanese Zeros that strafed Hanger 79.

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More photos here. https://www.flickr.com/gp/92624968@N02/aiAF4A

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

Hi all,

I've been asked to try capturing a plane landing for work pretty soon. Haven't done it before, and not generally my type of photography. The only thing I have for telephoto right now is the Olympus 40-150mm f/4-5.6 (the el cheapola). I'm assuming 150mm isn't far enough, so looking at getting maybe picking up the Olympus 75-300. That's really about the only thing my budget allows at the moment.

Questions are: Am I right in thinking my 40-150mm won't work? Is this 75-300 a good alternative (sorry, there's 132 pages on this thread!)? Another recommendation that won't require me to get a second mortgage?

Thanks!

Dion

 

[BosseBe]

Hi all,

I've been asked to try capturing a plane landing for work pretty soon. Haven't done it before, and not generally my type of photography. The only thing I have for telephoto right now is the Olympus 40-150mm f/4-5.6 (the el cheapola). I'm assuming 150mm isn't far enough, so looking at getting maybe picking up the Olympus 75-300. That's really about the only thing my budget allows at the moment.

Questions are: Am I right in thinking my 40-150mm won't work? Is this 75-300 a good alternative (sorry, there's 132 pages on this thread!)? Another recommendation that won't require me to get a second mortgage?

Thanks!

Dion

It all depends on where you are going to shoot, is it close to the runway or far away?
Will you try to get a head on approach picture or is a side view the plan?
Check out your airport and find out where the enthusiasts tend to take their photos from, they know the best angles.
I think the 40-150 should work from the right place.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

It all depends on where you are going to shoot, is it close to the runway or far away?
Will you try to get a head on approach picture or is a side view the plan?
Check out your airport and find out where the enthusiasts tend to take their photos from, they know the best angles.
I think the 40-150 should work from the right place.

Hmmm, OK, wasn't quite expecting that response... It is a welcome one though! Ironically, I'll be on the runway . I'm trying for a head-on but frankly, I'm not going to quite know where it's coming from until it comes...

If the 40-150mm will work, that's terrific. I love the lens, particularly since it's so light, but I've had mixed results from a distance with wildlife, so wasn't sure how it would do with aircraft... I know I can't afford $2K to $3K for a really good lens though

Dion

 

[szczepanl]

Yup, depends on how close you get to the plane, where you position yourself and what kind of an airplane you are shooting. Most often I use the 40-150 and sometimes i go down to the 12-40.... If it is a jet feel free to use as high a shutter speed as you want but if it is a prop plane you probably want to keep it under 1/500 just to give some motion blur to the props

 

[szczepanl]

I'm trying for a head-on but frankly, I'm not going to quite know where it's coming from until it comes...

I presume you will have an escort on the runway, they should be able to tell you where the plane is coming from. It will be based on wind direction - aircraft typically land in to wind. I am sure this is unnecessary for me to say but please do not go out on the runway alone, have someone from the airport staff escort you. Apologies if this sounds condescending but I have had the misfortune of someone running out in front of me while on final approach and it is not a fun situation.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

Yup, depends on how close you get to the plane, where you position yourself and what kind of an airplane you are shooting. Most often I use the 40-150 and sometimes i go down to the 12-40.... If it is a jet feel free to use as high a shutter speed as you want but if it is a prop plane you probably want to keep it under 1/500 just to give some motion blur to the props

Perfect, thanks. I also have the 12-40 Pro - it's my normal go to lens. I'm shooting a relatively large jet. Sorry, I hate to be so vague, but it's a bit sensitive at the moment. But sounds like my existing stuff should work. That's nice because it's hard to justify a $700 lens when I really don't do so much telephoto...

 

[szczepanl]

Photo below was taken with the 12-100 at 57mm, the hardware you have should be plenty. If you have a chance go to the airport and do some practice shots. Airplanes tend to move fairly predictably while landing, especially large commercial ones so you should get a good feel for it rather quickly.

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[Dion Houston Sr.]

Photo below was taken with the 12-100 at 57mm, the hardware you have should be plenty. If you have a chance go to the airport and do some practice shots. Airplanes tend to move fairly predictably while landing, especially large commercial ones so you should get a good feel for it rather quickly.

Nice shot! My situation is a bit different, but I'll try to see if I can get some practice shots beforehand. Thanks for all the info guys! And safety always

 

[szczepanl]

Keep us posted and share your results if you can

 

[Gromit]

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Hastings by Boxertrixter, on Flickr

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Meteor by Boxertrixter, on Flickr

 

[FarFromSane]

Which one? This BW version or the Red Sky one?

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I inverted some colours to make it pop a bit more. And Red sky seems fitting to a bomber.

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[Brownie]

@Dion Houston Sr. I would think the 40-150 would be fine, but like everyone else said, it depends on location. If you are doing this for work, you would do yourself a huge favor by practicing first. No one could expect to go out having never done this before and get good shots. I would try to find a way to go shoot for a half a day before the assignment.

Also, it sounds like you may work at the airport or have something to do with it, since you'll be on the runway. Hopefully you're aware that it's illegal to be anywhere in the no-movement zone without approval. Airport Security and the FAA get pretty picky about that stuff!

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

@Dion Houston Sr. I would think the 40-150 would be fine, but like everyone else said, it depends on location. If you are doing this for work, you would do yourself a huge favor by practicing first. No one could expect to go out having never done this before and get good shots. I would try to find a way to go shoot for a half a day before the assignment.

Also, it sounds like you may work at the airport or have something to do with it, since you'll be on the runway. Hopefully you're aware that it's illegal to be anywhere in the no-movement zone without approval. Airport Security and the FAA get pretty picky about that stuff!

OK guys, well... Turns out we're going to try something fun... We're looking to create an effect like...

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(Most definitely not our aircraft!)

Unfortunately we have about a minute of water, and no chance to rehearse, so curious of any tips to get this right. I'm guessing most of the effect is a longer shutter speed (recommendations?). Anything else? Thanks...

 

[Brownie]

Tripod. With only one minute of water, I would maybe do some presets for ISO/f/Speed and take the same shot with different settings. I don't see where you mentioned which camera you have, but it most likely has a night shot mode. I would hedge my bet by taking one final shot in auto/night and let the camera try to sort it out.

I would also have someone standing next to me with a stopwatch counting down every 5 or 10 seconds so I knew how much time I had left.

If you can't practice the exact shot, you can at least practice switching between settings and snapping off shots in between...outside, at night.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

Thanks for the reply. Guess the model would be good to mention. I have an E-M1 II. I haven't tried using the different scenes on that -- I'll give it a go. I can modify settings before the water goes for a decent base, and got my tripod

 

[Brownie]

I know nothing about Olympus, but on my G9 I have a program mode set up for shooting at air shows and the drag strip. The rear wheel is assigned to shutter speed/aperture (program mode changes them both simultaneously) and the front wheel is assigned to exposure compensation. If you have the ability to do something like that and set your ISO to 'auto', you can try a lot of different settings without having to button-push between shots. It'd probably be your best bet for a bunch of tries in a short period and still shoot in RAW for processing. But again, don't discount the auto/night setting as a safety. Most cameras will do a pretty good job of getting the shot in that mode.

 

[RichardC]

Did something similar once with two hosepipes and a Cessna 152.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

Hi all... End of a long day. Since NATO released a story on it, thought I'd share a bit more information: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_171171.htm . Not my picture, but I was there...

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I'm a US Army guy, but I'm assigned to this unit, and today was truly a historic day. The NATO AGS GLOBAL HAWKs are the largest acquisition in NATO history and its first organic intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform. It's been 7 years in the making, but the first arrived today.

I hope to be able to share my pictures soon. I was in the aircraft control tower -- pretty amazing . One of the best photographic experiences in my life. Since I took the pictures in an official capacity, I have to make sure it's OK to post. Today started at 16 hours ago, so I'm pretty wiped out, but wanted to share

 

[chicks]

Coast Guard way up overhead.

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