Photographing airplanes: I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said...

ejm77

I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said, I'm just starting out and all I have now is the kit 75-300 zoom for the Canon T3i.

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

First, how long have you had the camera? If you try right away without first getting used to the camera you will not have good luck getting decent pictures.

The lens you have will work if you can get close to the plane or planes. I would suggest first trying to get pictures of moving bicycle riders to give you an idea of how to follow the movement and not get blurred pictures.

Aperture of f8 to f11; Shutter speed over 1/250 sec.; iso 200. to start and adjust from there. It is going to be a hit or miss process at first so don't get discouraged.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

ejm77 wrote:

I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said, I'm just starting out and all I have now is the kit 75-300 zoom for the Canon T3i.

What kind of airplanes? What venue? Air shows? Civilian, military? Aerobatics? Planes taking off and landing? (Warning the Feds frown on this these days at commercial airports).

Iwantitall Loc: Chicago (south side)

jd7000 wrote:

What kind of airplanes? What venue? Air shows? Civilian, military? Aerobatics? Planes taking off and landing? (Warning the Feds frown on this these days at commercial airports).

Yes. I was taking pics of departures on a public sidewalk through a cyclone fence at Midway Airport one day. I was trying to get used to the zoom on my SX50. While lookng down into my camera bag rummaging for something I looked up to see FIVE of Chicago's finest rolled up. FIVE squads. I didn't have time to blink before they were asking me for I.D. When I asked if I had done anything wrong, they said no but they had a call on me taking photos so they had to check it out. So I asked if I could still stay here on the PUBLIC SIDEWALK and continue. They said sure but if they get another call,they will have to come back and do the same thing all over again. Put a damper on the day of trying to have fun. So I just shook my head at the situation(post 9/11) and walked to my car and left. So if you're going to be shooting pics at the airport......hope you don't run into the boys in blue. :roll:
Mike

Iwantitall Loc: Chicago (south side)

ejm77 wrote:

I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said, I'm just starting out and all I have now is the kit 75-300 zoom for the Canon T3i.

Forgot to welcome you. :D Have fun on this great site.
Mike

ejm77

Thanks. Very helpful

ejm77

Airshows and anywhere legal and appropriate. I have taken some with a "point-n-shoot" but nothing I could say I was overly proud of.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

ejm77 wrote:

Airshows and anywhere legal and appropriate. I have taken some with a "point-n-shoot" but nothing I could say I was overly proud of.

You'll need a good zoom lens, luck and timing. I used to go to a lot of air shows. Got some good shots, luck was involved. Things in your favor are bright daylight. Best shots will come with the sun behind you rather than in front of you. Anticipation. Think about the shot, be ready for it, pan the camera to follow the airplane and snap it at a predetermined point. Auto focus can work but it's a crap shoot.

Pan the camera for high speed passes. For aerobatics you can wait for that 1 second interval when the aircraft seems to stop. Snap.

Attached a few stills I took in 2005 with a Canon Elura85, video cam. It had a nice zoom feature and a good lens.

With your 2014 T3i you should easily be able to do better!

And don't forget video! Video can be fun too.

(Download)

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

The first time I tried shooting flying airplanes had pretty miserable results. Spent some time on any flying object, and things started to improve. Practice helped in being able to locate the object at increasing zoom levels when first raised to the eye. Another practice object more readily available - the hub caps of passing automobiles.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

ejm77 wrote:

I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said, I'm just starting out and all I have now is the kit 75-300 zoom for the Canon T3i.

Air-to-air I find that "normal" range lenses work fine. Fast lenses and high shutter speeds work well for sharp shots of the aircraft with blurred backgrounds, if that's what you want.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Isn't it interesting that you can go to an airshow on a military base and take all kinds of photos of both civilian and military aircraft in a place where there may be thousands of prople, and no hassle. But just try to do what Iwantitall posted, at an airport, from a public location, and suddenly you are a suspected terrorist!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Iwantitall wrote:

Yes. I was taking pics of departures on a public s... (show quote)

Well Bravo to them for understanding that Photography isn't a crime!

Good for them...not all cops get it.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

ejm77 wrote:

I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said, I'm just starting out and all I have now is the kit 75-300 zoom for the Canon T3i.

I took this photo of a FedEx jet using my Nikon D300 with a Nikon 180mm 2.8 lens hand held. The trick is to shot as you are panning the aircraft, keeping it in the frame.

FedEx Jet

(Download)

loveandpeace Loc: Southeast Iowa

A few weeks ago, I attended a big air show in Davenport, IA, and couldn't believe how much fun it was. I used my Nikon D800 and Nikkor 70-200 2.8 lens. I have to confess, I've had the lens for a couple of years and have hardly used it because it's so big and heavy. But it was perfect for the air show, even though I got a dislocated shoulder from the experience. Personally, I don't feel that a point & shoot could have done nearly as well.

For the results, please click on this link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/104718331841166212011/albums/6050803835214833185?banner=pwa

fbluhm Loc: San Antonio, TX

ejm77 wrote:

I'm new to DSLR photography and would like some help in photographing airborne airplanes; cloudy or clear days. What lenses do some or you use? Like I said, I'm just starting out and all I have now is the kit 75-300 zoom for the Canon T3i.

Here are some shots I took at an air show at Fort Campbell, KY. It was a bright, sunny, day, so there was no problem with exposure; just shot on auto. Used the Nikkor 18-200.