Great colours and tone to those Nigel...I really rate my copy as well. Very underated/underused as you say.

Regards

Karlo

My son and I are going on Sunday also...this will be our sixth consecutive annual visit and seventh in total.

I'd recommend printing out the PDF airfield layout map from the official RIAT website...it shows the different colour coded areas (Green, Blue, Red and Yellow) and all the major points of interest including toilets, drop off luggage point, grandstands and premium tented areas which are useful for navigating your way round the airfied
which is 2 miles long and about 0.25 miles wide public access...a huge area and very easy to become disorientated if you've not been before.

Depending on which direction you approach the airfield from will determine which entrance you get sheperded into. We travel from the north M6/M5 and would expect to end up entering by the Green entrance on the West side...i'm guessing that coming from South Wales this would be your most likely route in as well...unless you travel up the day before and stay local. Green entrance is ok if you've never been before but unless you travel closer to the centre of the airfield (Blue zone) you miss out on some good shots because you are at the periphery of the action although it is the best place for getting shots of aircraft that have just taken off and are starting their climbout...jets will often put on their afterburner in front of you. Green zone is also the easiest place to get a fenceline position right at the front for the best unobstructed photography...but all depends on what time you will be arriving. If you arrive at any of the car parks after about 0700 you will have hundreds of people already in the queue infront of you and will be unlikely to get a fenceline position...assuming that you want that.

Travelling with your family will be also be a consideration as they will probably be eager to wander about rather than take piccies...so travel relatively light or as we are planning to do this year..take a wheeled trolley in with your gear stacked on top to ease the weight on the shoulders and legs! Will be very hot on Sunday...82-84 degrees in the shade...probably about 100 degrees + in direct sunlight so take loads of water and hats/sunscreen...maybe a couple of folding chairs and a big sunbrolley for shade...the day gets very tiring and by mid afternoon you will all be flagging...guaranteed. Take as much food and drink in as you can carry because although you can buy this it is expensive and you may lose valuable time queueing up to get it.

Runway is about 600' - 700' parallel to the crowdline and aircraft generally don't come any closer to this whilst displaying. At times the aircraft can be a couple of miles or more away whilst positioning for a pass. The jets tend to do about a 10-12 minute routine and may pass about 8-10 times each...one or two will be very fast at about 600kts...earplugs for the kids might be a good idea as some do end up in tears due to the loud noise...exciting for the adults though. One or two passes are normally slow with the undercarriage down and nose up which affords good practice at panning and gives an opportunity to capture some detail on the aircraft.

Several different aerobatic displays by national teams again as ever which are usually very good...blue skies on sunday so will get an opportunity for high contrast white smoke against sky type shots which always look good onscreen. A 70-200 lens is probably best for this type of display..to capture the greater area taken up by multiaircraft displays.

The large transport / maritime patrol aircraft are a nice change from the jets...a more leisurely pace and usually prop powered so slower speed needed to get prop blur. They often give a surprisingly energetic routine as well. You only need a 150-200mm focal length for these most of the time...anything longer gives you very tight crops of part of the aircraft.

Not as many helicopters flying as I like...generally need a 300-400 for these and it does matter where you are on the airfield as they tend to concentrate their displays
in front of the crowd centre rather than the airfield left and right of centre. The RAF Chinook is a real crowd pleaser if flying and does spread its display all along the crowdline to give everyone a good view.

Static display is absolutely fabulous...you won't be able to believe your eyes at the sheer extent and scale of it...takes a couple of hours to do it justice. We normally go solo for about 30 mins each before the display starts to get some shots in early ...one shooting whilst the other stays minding our spot and luggage then we swap.
At the end of the display about 1730-1745 we then spend about 30 mins looking at some of the aviation themed trade stands and do about an hour on the static taking pictures. many people make the mistake of leaving the airfield immediately AFTER the display finishes and then spend 60-90 mins in their car cooking, travelling bumper to bumper at about 5mph. We would rather spend this time getting shots of the static aircraft with very few people getting in the way...we're normally amongst the last to leave the airfield...one year we even got given a lift in a 4x4 for about 1/2 mile as they were about to 'lock up'. Makes finding the car easier anyway as there are usually only about a dozen or so left on the car park (out of well over 1000+ each car park).

Your 20-35 will be ideal for the static Gareth. I've used my 18-55 / Sigma 10-20 / Tamron 70-300 all with equal success although obviously the type of shot obtained will differ with each of those lenses. You are usually 30-40' from each aircraft but can be as close as 10' to wingtips or noses on occasion.

Anyway...i'll be taking my K-50 as usual with my Tamron 70-300 and this year i'll try my SMC M 80-200 f4.5 as well. Took the SMC M 75-150 f4 last year to try. Great thing is that all morning and most of the early afternoon the sun is behind you which means that aircraft get well lit from the top/side. I'll also have an hour or so on my son's Sigma 150-500 which he has just discovered has got some fungus so will be interesting to see if that affects IQ at all. He's in the process of switching to Canon...he's the proud owner of a new battery and a 400 f5.6L (used)...hopefully his apparently vgc 7D will turn up tomorrow or friday! He really loves the fast jets which to some extent influenced his choices and is hoping to use the combo for wildlife as well.

Right then that's about it...way past my bedtime! Don't ignore the wishes of your family...tempting though it can be...there's lots of non aviation stuff going on as well
...speaking from experience it's less stressful keeping them 'onboard' as well. At some stage during the day they will tire of the planes and want to look at something else. Arrange a couple of 'meeting points' by strategicaly placed aircraft or catering facilites etc in case you get split up or someone goes wandering..its easy in the crowds to lose contact with each other.

Have a great day. My son will have internet access on his phone during the day so if I get time and remember i may post something on PU 'live' as it were for anyone else at the show...maybe a few of us could meet up to say hello?

If anyone has any questions or needs advice in the meantime either post the question on the forum ofr PM me and i'll try to offer advice / answer your questions.

Regards

Karlo

I like them...No.4 my favourite also.

Regards

Karlo

Thanks guys...i did try to vary it a bit although probably lingered on the vintage Mercs a bit more than I should've.

Yeah, Ford Capris...not sure what the Boy Racers are driving now...probably something less than 1000cc for insurance purposes!

Karlo

Held at the Aviation Viewing Park at the North west corner of the airfield.

Went down for a couple of hours mainly to visit the Aviation Memorabilia/Trade fair inside the Concorde Hangar.

Didn't know what to expect so I only took my SMC 80-200 f4.5 intending to take a few airliner pics...an 18-135 would have been more use.

Anyway...

1. Airbus Cockpit and nose.



2. Heart



3. Capri Club



4. Mercedes 190SL



5.MG Nose



6. Crowd scene



7. Just looking



8.


9. Lancashire Belle



10. Doctor Doctor



11. Shackles



12. Virgin B747



13. Merc dash



14. White Merc



15. Concorde



16. Burnage...used to live there



17. Short track

[quote:3496ace15f="johnriley"]That was a very interesting bit of writing, many thanks for sharing your thoughts.[/quote

+1

I'd agree wholeheartedly with your enthusiasm for the 100 macro WR Dan, it's been my favourite lens for most of the past six months since I acquired it.

Regards

Karlo

Much better those Gareth.

Definitely a better body for aviation than the FF.

Regards

Karlo

Very nice work...that window image 022 is superb.

The images do look very bright...but I like the effect.

Regards

Karlo

Another great set Bill. Love the ambient light in a grand old building like this...you've captured the essence of the building really well
and the images even at those iso settings are superb quality.

Unusual choice of lens for such a shoot but works surprisingly well.

Regards

Karlo

Very good point.