Air Show

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

went to an air show this weekend at Langley Air Force base in Virginia. This was my first time shooting with a dSLR at an air show.

I was using my Canon 40D, and a 70-200mm F4 L-glass telephoto lens. Shutter speeds were around 1/3000 to 1/6400.

F15 Eagles

F22 Raptor (awesome plane!)

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

F22 Raptor cruising

F4 Phantom

F18 Super Hornet

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

B2 Stealth Bomber

F15 Eagle

Raptor

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

JuniorMC8704 · Jun 22, 2008

sweet pics.

My cousin is in training on the F22 right now.

Awesome is right with a 0 radar profile. All weapons are enclosed within until deployment. Very cool.

What camera and lens were you using?

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

JuniorMC8704 said:
sweet pics.

My cousin is in training on the F22 right now.

Awesome is right with a 0 radar profile. All weapons are enclosed within until deployment. Very cool.

What camera and lens were you using?

Canon 40D paired with a Canon 70-200mm F4 L-glass telephoto lens.

revhtree · Jun 22, 2008

Dude awesome pics!! Wow great job!

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

revhtree said:
Dude awesome pics!! Wow great job!

i got about 70 decent pics out of about 460 total pics....lol

and out of that 70 pics, i think i've got about 5 that are good enough to print out and frame possibly.

overall, i'm pleased that i at least got 2 or 3 which i think are top quality. thats all i wanted was to come away with a few that were worthy of framing.

SouthernR · Jun 22, 2008

Sweet pics man looked like a good show

surfn · Jun 22, 2008

SouthernR said:
Sweet pics man looked like a good show

it was ok. i've been to about 5 air shows i think. I'd probably rank it around the bottom. you could tell there was a shortage of air craft available due to the war(s), and shortage of jets flying due to the cost of fuel.

the brittish stunt team (The Red Arrows or Red Barrons...can't remember the name), were ok, but personally I think the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are much more exciting to watch.

There was a security breach in the morning, so they canceled the flight of the 1st operational Raptor Squadron that is based at Langley, and only flew 1 Raptor plane the entire day. And the B2 Stealth Bomber never got close enough to the air field to get a decent pic, which was disappointing b/c I've seen it MUCH MUCH closer in some flyovers at some football games.

They flew ALLOT of older planes, which probably made up 75% of the show...I think this was due to saving fuel for the jets. And then towards the end allot of haze rolled in which made taking pics hard. The haze was from the forest fires blazing in eastern North Carolina.

So in all, I've seen better shows. But it was a good learning experience shooting with the dSLR at an air show for the first time.

Azurel · Jun 22, 2008

Great pics Al.......Kalamazoo used to have a great air show every year with the Blue Angels or the Snowbirds......I love going to air shows, just something about U.S. military planes flying around that is just awesome.

sr71 · Jun 23, 2008

I love air shows, too bad my favorite bird the SR71 is retired. I was lucky enough to be buzz by one of the blue angle, an experience I will never forget! I went to school in Tulsa and worked at the airport and one year they had an air show there. A bunch of us ramp rats/guys got on top of the jetway to get a bird's eye view and well, I guess of of them didn't like it or thought it was funny to buzz us. We didn't expect it and let me tell you, we were all scared sh!tless. Moments later the airport security told us we had to get down. Umm I guess he didn't like having us up at the jetway.

dfurbee · Jun 23, 2008

Great pics! Love air shows.....Wonder who paid for the fuel????

surfn · Jun 23, 2008

dfurbee said:
Great pics! Love air shows.....Wonder who paid for the fuel????

military air shows are normally free, as they are a huge site of recruitment and public relations. the shows do have sponsors and vendors, which i imagine have a small fee in order to advertise at the show.

i also imagine that an air show or two are already built in to the bases operational budget set forth by congress. but b/c the cost of fuel is 2x to 3x more than when the budget for the base was passed over a year ago, i'm sure they have had to cut back.

so basically, YOUR tax dollars are being well spent....

Tankguy001 · Jun 23, 2008

You've got some great pics.

dfurbee · Jun 24, 2008

surfn said:
military air shows are normally free, as they are a huge site of recruitment and public relations. the shows do have sponsors and vendors, which i imagine have a small fee in order to advertise at the show.

i also imagine that an air show or two are already built in to the bases operational budget set forth by congress. but b/c the cost of fuel is 2x to 3x more than when the budget for the base was passed over a year ago, i'm sure they have had to cut back.

so basically, YOUR tax dollars are being well spent....

They would be better spent on food & healthcare for those in need. just my opinion.