RIAT 2014, BLADES AND PROPS

1. HURRICANE




2. Spitfire




3. Lancaster




4. Past and Present




5. Swiss Air Force Super Puma




6. Super Puma (2)




7. Army Lynx




8. Dakota




9. Dakota (2)




10. C27J Spartan Italian Air Force




11. Airbus Military A400M




12. A400M banking




13. RAF Merlin




14. Merlin (2)




That's the best of my props and blades. Was experimenting with slow shutter speeds on these. Ended up with some lovely blade imagery but body was blurred!

I'll post some jets tomorrow.

8 & 9 Bring back memories of commercial flights with Dan Air Newcastle to Cardiff via a stop at Liverpool. Edinburgh to Belfast. Those were the days.
Nice set.
CHEERS Vic.

12 stands out for me, (the big 4-engined military transport in the climbing right bank), a great dynamic depiction nicely exposed against a good interesting sky.

Its an amazing range of aircraft you've shot here and you were evidently right near the action. I feel some of the airborne ones have suffered from a fairly sedate look, probably due to the shooting position underneath their climb out. Also some are a bit underexposed with shadow areas under the bodies and dull toned metal a a result of the bright sky behind. I'm sure the metalwork could be brightened selectively and the shadows raised a bit.

Blimey Vic...DAN AIR? You really aren't kidding about your age! I remember their HS748s and Comets that used to operate from Manchester.

Nigel,...yes, I really liked No.12 as well as it is very sharp and as you say a bit more interesting perspective wise. Also the weather was better then as well which helped on what was a very grey day (with plenty of showers) for about half the time. I'm sure you are right that selective bits could be improved..I may get round to experimenting when I get the time but for now i'm just picking the best of the bunch straight from the camera to get them out as soon as possible after the event!

Thank you both for your comments.

karlo

Very nice set well executed.

Karlo. The Comets came later when BOAC were finished with them. I did fly in a Comet with BOAC from Sweden to UK and it's the only time I've flown "backwards" half the seats in the plane were facing the rear.
CHEERS Vic.

Yes, nice set and No.12 gets the award from me as well.
It's difficult (for me anyway!:blush to get the trade off between shutter speed and lens shake with a longer lens, so I set up for higher shutter speeds for the fast movers and forget to adjust for the props. I think that you've caught the helicopters blade blur well. Always a pain shooting into a grey sky as well (doubly so with darker painted aircraft) to get good exposures.

Blimey, Dan Dare Airlines, takes me back to my dad taking me to Lulsgate (Bristol International now) airport as a kid to the public viewing area (remember when airports had them....) I can remember the Comet 4C's, Viscounts.....

Here's another that picks #12 as the pick of the of a an enjoyable set.

DAN AIR: Used to fly with them every week for a few years in Viscounts between Aberdeen and Sumburgh, had a few brown moments

Stuart, Thanks for your comment...much appreciated.

Vic, BOAC..they were the days eh? I never realised that the Comet had some rear facing seats as well as the VC10. Must be a very British trait. On the face of it it seems quite a sensible idea particularly if you were sat aft of the wing, watching where you had just been! From a safety point of view as well if the seats were well anchored..no face whiplash into the seat in front.

Nutter, Thanks for your kind comments. No12 does seem to have been the best received. I know what you mean about having to switch between fast and slow shutter speeds...I went through that last year...exactly the same thing. This year I was determined to remember to select a slower speed if it had a blade or prop. For the planes with props I found 1/200th-1/400th to be an ideal range whereas the helos needed even slower...about 1/100th - 1/200th. I actually took some as slow as 1/50-1/60th but it was nigh impossible to get any detail in the body of the helo although the blade blur was very satisfying.

Brian, thanks very much for your remarks..glad you liked them. I take it you were into Oil?