Love the Hoverfly Derek...always nice to get the flying shots if you can!

Regards

Karlo

You did well for your first RIAT Gareth particularly as you've only just acquired the Sigma. I too like the different presentation of some of your images...sepia for the WW1 works really well...particularly like that. As Mike says 'nothing wrong with the jets'...No.2 is my favourite.

Re. the props...shutter speed was too high, you get lovely sharp aircraft but the props effectively get frozen in time detracting from the overall image. This is an easy mistake to remedy next time assuming that you remember to change over if preceeded by jets...all too often you can forget to do it and only realise your mistake after the event.

The hardest shots to get right are those combining jets and props as you are effectively forced to shoot as though they were all props even though your brain is saying 'jets'...higher speed for sharpness. This is where a mastery of panning at various speeds saves the day...only really comes with practice and is sometimes a bit 'hit and miss' with a low 'keeper' ratio.

Hope you enjoyed RIAT anyway Gareth and your family weren't too frazzled by the arduous nature of the day...it's was as hot and demanding comfort wise as I've experienced on the Sunday although as my son reminded me at least we got the full flying display unlike the previous year on the saturday when it was wet and windy and the display was massively disrupted.

My son got his used 7D and 400 5.6L in time to take with him...thoroughly enjoyed his new toys and I have to say the IQ with that lens was at times 10/10. Made me realise I really need to invest in some better optics. I used his Sigma 150-500 for about 2 hours which was long enough and also used my Tamron 70-300 and SMC M 80-200 f4.5 for about the same duration each. I have to say I enjoyed using the 80-200 manual more than my other lenses so maybe I will look at going down the manual 300+ route.

Re. position on the airfield...we got there about 0650 and plumped this year for Green after a long absence...but more towards the right hand side of Green...about 150 yds from the edge of Blue which was as close to blue as we could get whilst managing to bag a few couple of yards of precious fenceline. Stayed there all day bar one toilet trip cum browsing of static en route...worked out ok except because the display overran time wise, we ended up missing about half of the static display completely! Crowds seemed down on previous years...possibly because of increase in admission fees and World Cup...but we didn't mind.

I'll post some themed images over the next few days...I took about 1500 this year...my most ever although I think i've plateaued in terms of technique/ability/equipment so not necessarily any different standard wise than what i've posted in previous...but at least it helps keep the site ticking over until
people start to post their holiday shots

Regards

Karlo

Particularly like 1 and 3...clouds definitely enhance an aircraft image rather than detract from it.

Regards

Karlo

That's why they call it the 'stealth' bomber

I must admit looking at the flying displays...not the most exciting or inspiring if you've been several times before...much more interesting stuff in the static line-up...i'd like to see some of that flying.

Anyway, we're off in a few hours ourselves to make the most of it. Aiming to head for the right hand side of the green zone this year for a change...close to the edge of the blue zone. Can't be bothered this year trying to get to the fenceline...we'll probably be about 15-20 metres back from there hopefully with a bit of space around us.

Regards

Karlo

Cheers Nigel...you're right about 'booze bottles being fascinating'...and I don't mean that from an alcoholic's point of view!

Karlo

Cheers Chris and Derek...Salut.

Karlo

Just a play around with curves.

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Agree with other comments...really like those Gareth, you've managed to integrate a non aviation element into the shots which makes for a powerful combination.

Regards

Karlo

Lovely images slightly spoiled by the flare but not excessively so as their quality overcomes this. I might think differently though if they were inferior images to start with.

Regards

Karlo

Interesting those Derek.

I find it totally fascinating that ordinary non Biologists with relatively inexpensive equipment can produce images to share with millions of people that only a few years ago would have been the preserve of specialists and found only in expensive textbooks limited to a small number of people.

Keep sharin' those images for the benefit of all.

Regards

Karlo