A-10 Warthog

[ceichrodt]

Hey guys I'm new to the community, but I'm looking for ways to improve my "action" photography. A local camera shop ran a special VIP package that I took advantage of. For $75 I had my ticket, parking, food/drinks, and all access to Nikon, Sony and Canon equipment. Being that I own Nikon I used just the lenses that fit my D5000. The Nikon Reps allowed me to play with several high end Nikon lenses, all I had to do was hand over my ID. The following picture was taken with the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II lens.

What can I do to improve for next time?




Nikon D5000
f/13
1/800 sec
ISO 200
Exp -0.7
Focal Length 400mm
No tripod
Flash did not fire

Link for original picture
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...0/_DSC0705.jpg

[RecurrentNerve]

It's a nice crisp shot, nothing wrong with it technically. If you're looking for action shots you need to shoot action though; everyone sees planes flying over straight and level regularly, try and capture some banks and stunts etc. You've got room for hundreds of shots on your SD card, shoot away!

[LeeR]

This would be a good illustration in an encyclopedia under the listing for "A10 Warthog", It is crisp, accurate, descriptive...and boring. So how do we add interest to such an image? Consider a few possibilities:

1) Unusual angles. You have done a good job of producing good angles on this image; it's almost an isometric representation, but sharper angles would have imparted a stronger sense of movement and energy.
2) Interesting background. You were unlucky enough to get stuck with a plain blue sky. Could you have waited a few seconds and captured the plane against something a bit more interesting?
3) Panning. A regular pan would not have helped here as there isn't any background to get blurred, but a reverse pan, that is panning in the opposite direction as the plane is flying and snapping the shutter just as the plane enters the frame, may have caused parts of the plane to show motion blur while other parts remained sharp. It doesn't always work, but it might have been worth a try.
4) Juxtaposition is an important concept in art and in photography. It is combining more than one element in an image in a way that they interact. For instance, what if there was a hot air balloon in the same image? Or someone parachuting? Or an Iraqi city? Adding other elements says something about your subject, but be careful, too many ideas ruins an image.

There are loads of other things you could have done, that is part of our craft, but these are just a few suggestions for the next opportunity.

[kirbinster]

I think for action you need to show it passing another plane, cloud or other object. Its a great shot but it is static.

[ceichrodt]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was worried that I didn't use the right ISO setting. I enlarged the picture to 100% and to me it appeared to have a lot of noise. When shooting fast objects like this, is it best to use a much higher ISO like 800 or higher?

I wish the slip stream (I think that is what its called) was more pronounced. As far as other objects, this was the only plane in the sky at the time of this photo. I do have other shots like banking and climbing. They are located within the link provided in the first post.

My other shots of the propeller planes didn't turn out as well. I didn't have the shutter speed set low enough. It looks like the planes are just hovering in the air.

[kuvahmagh]

Originally Posted by ceichrodt

Thanks for the suggestions. I was worried that I didn't use the right ISO setting. I enlarged the picture to 100% and to me it appeared to have a lot of noise. When shooting fast objects like this, is it best to use a much higher ISO like 800 or higher?

Your setting of ISO 200 seems right, I personally try and keep my ISO as low as humanly possible while still achieving a proper exposure & my desired effect. At the race track I will start out at 100 during the afternoon and slowly move it up to try and keep my shutter constant.

[jdepould]

Needs more context or better light (or both) for me. Blank midday sky and the underside of a plane aren't compelling.

... or grab a 600 and get in tight.