Gravelly Point

My son had rowing practice on the Potomac and I had to drive him there. I spent the time waiting for him at Gravelly Point. I haven't tried my 500mm lens on aircraft, so I went to the airport even though it was an awful, muddy, cloudy day. And it was windy, which made for some interesting crosswind takeoffs, but man was it colder than the temperature would lead you to believe. I was glad for the extra coat and gloves in the car.

The aircraft were taking off to the north. I don't like this departure very much. I can't shoot the approaching aircraft because they are too far away. And many of the aircraft are so high by the time they pass over me that all I get to see is their bellies. So I made do with shooting them head on as they lifted off, and I stumbled upon a theme as the arriving aircraft were visible in the background.

There was lots of heat haze to be seen.

Heat Haze Blurs an Aircraft that's Lining Up for Departure

Heat Haze Magnifies the Aircraft Lined Up

Crosswind Takeoff

A Rare Takeoff from an Intersecting Runway

Going and Coming

Heat Haze Obscures the Landing Aircraft

Gear Retraction

757s are the Largest Aircraft There

With Trailing Aircraft Stacked Up

One Leaving, Three Arriving

I ended up with quite a few examples of the jet exhaust of departing aircraft obscuring or blurring the view of the landing aircraft that were well behind the departure. I think I'll try for this look again when there's better sky to work with.

Joint Base Andrews Air Show

Today the aerial performers at the Andrews Air Show had their practice session. I made the opportunity to go, primarily to see the Thunderbirds performance. As I arrived, the KC-135 made a low pass.

KC-135 Aerial Tanker

I'll just show some of my favorites without commentary...

Head On

Passing Right Overhead

Passing Under Their Own Smoke Trail

Wingtip Vortices and Smoke Trails

Opposing Solos

Two Slow  Planes With Gear Down, One Fast One with Gear Up Passing Between

They Went High, Coming Back Down FAST

Vapor Trails

In Tight Formation and Banking Hard

Up We Go

Right Angle Intersecting Pass

Inverted At the Top of a Loop, Passing the Moon

I went back for the actual show. There was a wall of clouds to the west, partly cloudy to the east, which made for difficult shooting as the background changed.

Low Pass with a Cloudy Background

Vapor Trails During a Tight Turn at Low Altitude

Coming Back Down In a Loop

Arsenal of Democracy Flyover

In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe, there was a warbird flyover yesterday. I went to the Washington Monument, picked my spot among the photographers and tourists, and waited for the first aircraft to come over.

Flyover Crowd

Photographers waiting for Airplanes

The aircraft were sequenced in roughly the order in which they played important roles in the war. The trainers started off.

Boeing Stearman

North American AT-6/SN

I'm skipping some of the smaller airplanes that I didn't get good shots of. Along came a PBY Catalina flying boat. The rear window is full of photographers.

PBY Catalina

The announcer highlighted the role of the P-38 in the Yamamoto shootdown.

P-38 Lightning

I think I liked the bombers best, maybe because they are so much bigger than the fighters and easier to photograph.

B-24 Liberator

B-17 Flying Fortress

B-17 Flying Fortress

I did get some decent shots of the Mustangs.

P-51 Mustang

I went to US Army parachutist school while I was in ROTC. I made my five jumps and got my badge and I remember being more scared than I have ever been in my life. And I jumped into smooth air, with no flak going off around me. And no one was shooting at me when I landed. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the jumpers who dropped into Normandy the night before the major invasion. I can't let this post go by without including a Skytrain like the ones that the Normandy jumpers used.

CH-47 Skytrain

And I'll end it with the bomber type that ended the war.

B-29 Superfortress

It was a hot, humid day with crappy skies for backgrounds. I did my homework ahead of time to find out what camera settings to use. The consensus is, use shutter priority and try for about f8. To avoid stopping the propellers, slower is better, 1/125 to 1/250. Well I knew that wasn't going to work. I was using a 300mm lens; there's no way I was going to hand hold that and get sharp shots. So I had to settle for a little propeller blur, shooting mostly at about 1/500. Because it was so bright at noon when the planes came over, I was getting f22 in the meter. I dropped the ISO to 100 and hoped for the best. In the end, all of the shots have enough propeller blur to show motion, barely. I also dialed in +1 exposure compensation to deal with the bright skies and dark aircraft.

My lessons for my next aircraft shoot: bring a polarizer, and maybe a neutral density filter too. If I'm shooting jets, then I'll just crank the shutter speed up to get sharpness. Propellers should be shot below 1/500, but at least those aircraft are slower.