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Well, after my previous posting of the low flying Dutch helicopters in poor weather (http://e-group.uk.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19421), the end of March brought far better weather and almost ideal photography conditions. So at last came the chance to try out my new Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 APO lens on the Oly E-30 and see how well it worked for aviation photography. The camera was set to Manual and various speed settings tried.
The Dutch as always were fabulous, and if they had the opportunity to accidently pass close by, well guess what . . . they did! So it also meant the chance to try out different settings and see what worked for me and what didn't. It was also the chance to see them flying in the river 'gorge', which I've never been lucky enough to see until now. 'Seventh heaven' is a word or two that springs to mind, when opportunites like this happen!
Chinooks are big helicopters and when you see one turn towards you, you start to feel excited
And if you look carefully, the co-pilot is filming this too - is he waiting for me to drop to the floor?
and I really want to see his photos
This is a different day and a different pass, and this chinook is so low that you feel you could almost touch it. And for the technical side of things, this is taken at ISO 200, 1/400s, f11, and a focal length of 200mm. So a relatively fast shutter speed to help me capture clarity and sharpness but usually too fast to allow rotor blur - but in this case, the closeness of the subject means that the rotor blur is fine.
The Dutch knew that we were hoping to capture them in or near the gorge, as they had flown over, around and past us enough times. I had waited all day for the sunlight to move around to the south west more, so that the gorge was better lit, and then
About as low into the gorge as this big helicopter could go
A few minutes later, another pass and the sunlight had disappeared
Amazingly, while the Dutch were having their Ex. TAC Blaze, the UK Army Air Corps were on the range for Ex. Lightning Force with Apache Longbow helicopters. And so along came the opportunity to capture a slightly different shot. Because of live fire and Laser targetting equipment restrictions, this shot was taken from longer range the shutter was set to 1/800s and the camera was mounted on a tripod. This is a Smokey Sam missile being fired so that the Apache can practise threat evasion by the release of flares. Despite this being March, the long dry weather means that there is a fire risk, hence the MoD fire engine being on standby.
I know technically which image I was most proud of, but which of these images do you think got the most praise from the aviation photographers?
So, all I could ever hope for in these days of cutbacks, and a fabulous opportunity to test the Sigma lens. And in this Canikon world, the chance to prove to myself that my bargain kit could compete with the best (well in my biased opinion, of course!).
Regards
Chris
The Dutch as always were fabulous, and if they had the opportunity to accidently pass close by, well guess what . . . they did! So it also meant the chance to try out different settings and see what worked for me and what didn't. It was also the chance to see them flying in the river 'gorge', which I've never been lucky enough to see until now. 'Seventh heaven' is a word or two that springs to mind, when opportunites like this happen!
Chinooks are big helicopters and when you see one turn towards you, you start to feel excited
And if you look carefully, the co-pilot is filming this too - is he waiting for me to drop to the floor?
and I really want to see his photos
This is a different day and a different pass, and this chinook is so low that you feel you could almost touch it. And for the technical side of things, this is taken at ISO 200, 1/400s, f11, and a focal length of 200mm. So a relatively fast shutter speed to help me capture clarity and sharpness but usually too fast to allow rotor blur - but in this case, the closeness of the subject means that the rotor blur is fine.
The Dutch knew that we were hoping to capture them in or near the gorge, as they had flown over, around and past us enough times. I had waited all day for the sunlight to move around to the south west more, so that the gorge was better lit, and then
About as low into the gorge as this big helicopter could go
A few minutes later, another pass and the sunlight had disappeared
Amazingly, while the Dutch were having their Ex. TAC Blaze, the UK Army Air Corps were on the range for Ex. Lightning Force with Apache Longbow helicopters. And so along came the opportunity to capture a slightly different shot. Because of live fire and Laser targetting equipment restrictions, this shot was taken from longer range the shutter was set to 1/800s and the camera was mounted on a tripod. This is a Smokey Sam missile being fired so that the Apache can practise threat evasion by the release of flares. Despite this being March, the long dry weather means that there is a fire risk, hence the MoD fire engine being on standby.
I know technically which image I was most proud of, but which of these images do you think got the most praise from the aviation photographers?
So, all I could ever hope for in these days of cutbacks, and a fabulous opportunity to test the Sigma lens. And in this Canikon world, the chance to prove to myself that my bargain kit could compete with the best (well in my biased opinion, of course!).
Regards
Chris
by 1,3,& 4 BRILLIANT SHOTS ... all of them just a few favs of mine ! 
Thanks for sharing - what an eyeful 
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