This Year's Blue Angels Shoot

[rpcrowe]

I only processed a few of these - more will come later...











As always it was an enjoyable shoot...

[skitterbug]

Wow! Lucky you to be able to be where they are! Great pics. No favorite for me - they are all good!

May I ask what sort of settings you use to capture these? For some reason, Exif viewer doesn't show anything for me.

[Ziggy]

Well done, enjoyed viewing.

[rpcrowe]

Canon 7D Mark-2, EOS 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens. 1250 second at f/8 with Auto ISO exposure...
Here are a few more:



















I won't gobble up space; so I will posting additional images on my smugmug gallery:
https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Blue-Ang...gqg9/i-r3W3sp8

[LePetomane]

Richard, these are nothing short of spectacular.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set of some excellent photography, Richard. Well done.

[rpcrowe]

Thanks my friends. I am very lucky to have this shooting position. It is directly across a narrow dirt road from the base fence and the end of the runway, as you can see from this image of the four planes taking off...



The planes frequently travel right over me, so low that we are required to either go bareheaded or have a chin strap on our hat, so the hat is not blown off and sucked up a jet intake.

The practice takes about on hour which is just about constant shooting. I feel like I did a workout with exercise weights. The 7D2 and 100-400L lens weigh a total of five and a half pounds. Shooting straight up is quite a workout... Since so much of the shooting is straight up, I hand hold the camera/lens and don't use a tripod or a monopod...

The flight started at 8:30 am and then there is another practice at 12:30 pm. I don't usually stay around for the second flight because it is a two hour drive home. Leaving at the end of the first practice gets me home with time to do other stuff. If I shot the second practice and left at 1:30 pm, I would hit the beginnings of rush hour before I got home.

[Wavelength]

Great job; really well done

[rpcrowe]

Just have to post one more. It is really quite different!

[Wavelength]

What a beauty!!!

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[bje07]

Superb shots, Richard.
IMO you should change the framing of the first to eliminate the fence. It'll have more force.

[rpcrowe]

The shot with the fence is merely documentation of how close to the end of the runway my shooting position was located. One of my photo clubs arranges access to the farmer's field for shooting. Yesterday, there were 45 of us there. Some climbed to the top of the hay bales but, old age and vertigo made me decide to shoot from ground level.



Lots of folks were using the 7D2 with 100-400L II lens

I have been researching the various air shows that are held within about a two hour or so driving distance of my home. There are quite a few coming up...

El Centro Air Show March 11th

Riverside Air Show April 1st

Chino Planes of Fame May 6-7th

Big Bear Air Fair August 26th

San Bernardino SBD Fest Air Show September 10th

MCAS Miramar Air Show Sept 24-27th

Los Alimitos Wings, wheels, rotors October TBA

Breitling Huntington Beach Airshow October 21-23rd

I have attended the Planes of Fame Airshow last year and plan on attending again this year. I have atended the MCAS Miramar Air Show on several occasions and I an not sure if I will go again. The action occurs too far (IMO) from the viewing area and the lighting at the time of day really is terrible.

[Mike Buckley]

All of the photos are expertly made but the first and last one of the airplanes are so artistic that they are show-stoppers for me. Congratulations on such an obviously great outing!

[bnnrcn]

Great series Richard

[rpcrowe]

As the aircraft approached me and then flew over me, I followed them with the camera/lens. I realized that I could point the camera directly up or even slightly backwards more easily if I was leaning against something. I picked a truck to lean against which helped me balance myself and the camera/lens.

One really nice thing about this shoot is that I can drive right up to where I am shooting, and just get out of the car and shoot. I will admit that the dirt road leading to the hay bales has been chewed up pretty badly due to the recent unusual amount of rain we have had and the passage of loaded farm trucks... That's where the 4-wheel drive of my Subaru Forester came in handy

The quick and accurate focus of the 7D2 combined with the 100-400L II really helps in this type of shooting

This is the first time that I have seriously shot using manual exposure on the camera combined with Auto ISO. It seemed to do quite well. ISO ranged from about 250 to a high of about 650...

[GBO25]

What a series Richard especially the one over the fence.

I have flown in formation with the Australian Airforce's Roulettes Aerobatic team and what an experience it was even though it was just a straight and level fly by.

I was a lot younger back in 1980 and was in a Royal Flying Doctor Service's Beechcraft A80 with the Roulettes Macchi jets in formation off the wing tips and behind us.

I was in the right hand seat with a then new Super 8 movie camera and was trying to get the pilot of the nearest Macchi to wave to me but he only had eyes for the A80's wing tip. He was looking at nothing else and if we'd gone in he would have gone in with us.

[rpcrowe]

I did some air to air shooting with 16mm motion picture cameras during my Navy career. Even a relatively light camera such as a Bell and Howell Model 70 Filmo is a load to hold up when you are experiencing some G-force.

I remember one job in which I was riding in a T-28 with the canopy open and following Navy A-1 Skyraider aircraft on rocket runs, shooting the planes from the rear as they loosed the rockets. It was quite a thrilling experience...

[ccphoto]

Thunderbirds coming to NW FL soon. I love that show. I often go to Pensacola to watch the Blue Angels practice. Good shots.

[joebranko]

Great series!