Photographing aircraft in flight?

[bispham_tangerine]

hi guys, im looking for some tips please.

we (here in Blackpool, UK) have something called veterans week starting tomorrow. http://www.veteransweek.co.uk/

as you can see from the website its celebrating veterans (both old and new) and will include air displays (new and old aircraft), a simulated royal marines beach landing, a night time parachute drop (might be a bit tricky to photograph ) and some aero GP racing (F1 speed but with planes in the sky apparently) amongst other stuff.

I've always wanted to photograph planes in flight but this has been my 1st opportunity and was wondering if anyone can pass on some tips please.

[lisa]

No tips but it looks good and ive always wanted to take some airshow pics, i will get back to one someday, esp since my mum lives right next door to where they have one!!

Id probably play a bit with settings but i think a nice fast shutter speed is what your need. Ive got some on normal planes/ helicoptors where the roators( sp?) are slightly blurred so you can see they are moving and the shutter speeds are 1/250 and the plane at 1/350. Links to photos below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/puckers52/2055632106/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puckers52/2266596451/

I just try and get the plane in the photo lol

Sorry if i havent helped much but will be keeping an eye out on here to for tips!

[Ecirish]

My one tip is that you spot meter, planes can be tricky with the backlighting that the sun sometimes provides.

[inkista]

A telephoto zoom lens will be useful. If you've never shot with a long lens before, remember that to eliminate camera shake, the rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed of 1/focal_length or faster or to use some form of stabilization (IS/VR, a monopod/tripod, etc.)

If you have some form of servo autofocus, that will come in very handy, so that you won't have to constantly adjust the focus on a moving target--planes tend to move smoothly, so servo's terrific at handling the changes. Track the plane with the lens and half-press the shutter, and when the autofocus confirms, that's when you want to press the shutter.

Don't forget the sunscreen and water. (sorry, I got sunburned the last time I went to the Miramar airshow). Now, I just sit on my front porch and try to get 'em as they go by...

[Sunday0303]

Just thinking that a USM/HSM/SWM or whatever your camera maker's fast and silent autofocus is would be useful. Bird's don't go so fast, and it's really hard to focus on them in flight.

[Nicole]

Hopefully this isn't too late. But I got some great advice from Gunsotsu about how to do airshow photographs in this thread. These photos were the result.

[Turkey_Lips]

I used my K100D Pentax and a Tamron 18-250 LD Di II zoom to get some good shots last April, here are a few of over a 100 I took, If you care to look.

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...20Show%202008/