I’m not sure if I like airshows more than average, or if I’ve just been to more airshows than average, but I’m quite certain one of the two is true. Of course, airshows + any lens longer than 200mm = time to practice photography. With that in mind, don’t be surprised if you see more pictures of jets and planes in the future. I have lots of pictures to choose from in this genre.
This picture is from the airshow during Cherry Festival weekend 2006 in Traverse City. I have a bunch of pictures from 2003 as well, but they were taken with the previously featured Olympus C-2040z which appears to have had a maximum focal length of 21mm (120mm equivalent*). The picture here was taken at 300mm (480mm equivalent*) and with a much better camera. What this means is that all my pictures from 2003 look like little specs that take up about 100 pixels in the middle of an otherwise noisy blue photograph.
In 2004 I either didn’t make it to the airshow or had given up on taking airshow pictures with the Olympus because I only have two pictures and they’re of my feet, horribly sunburned in the pattern of my sandals.
Back to the picture at hand – in case you aren’t familiar with them and can’t read the inscriptions at web resolution – this shows the six Blue Angel F18-A aircraft flying by in formation. It’s not the sharpest of pictures, but it’s the best I could do with the combination of equipment and skills I had one me at the time. I’ll keep searching the archives for a better one.
Picture taken with Canon Rebel 350D, EF 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 IS lens @ 300mm, 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400
*Focal lengths are commonly listed in 35mm equivalents because the size of the camera’s sensor gets combined with the focal length of the lens to determine the frame captured. It doesn’t really make sense from an optical standpoint, because a lens is a certain length regardless of sensor, but it gives a better idea of what picture is actually going to be captured by the lens & camera combo.
