A few weeks ago I did a photo workshop with Samy’s called Ballerina’s on Battleships. We did a photoshoot on the USS Iowa. I learned a lot and we did a bunch of different shoots with different ballerina’s all over the ship. This was a fun time and it was a good experience. Here are some of the shots from the event.
Photography
Sony A9ii Settings for airplane photography
Here are the settings that I am using for my Sony A9ii for taking pictures of airplanes while moving through the air. The lens I use for this most days is the 100-400.
Aperture – F14 or below so that Phase Detect will still work for the auto focus
Raw or JPG – RAW, since the camera is so fast it can keep up with just about anything
Metering Mode – Spot so that I can capture the frame
Shutter Speed – Trying to get as low as 1/160 for prop planes for jets as fast as possible to catch them as they fly by.
Focus Mode – Continuous + Wide with Tracking, the camera auto focus is so fast that it catches the planes pretty quickly
Exposure Compensation – usually + 2/3 if it’s dark plane on a bright sunny day, this helps bring out the colors of the plane.
Frame Rate – Continuous Mid – I find that high fills the buffer and mid gets more than enough shots.
ISO – as low as possible, unless it’s an overcast day and then I will move it to Auto-Iso to maintain the shutter speed when needed.
F8F Bearcat Flyover
Planes of Fame was up flying their F8F Bearcat that was just restored a few months ago. It’s a beautiful plane that looks great up in the air.
Post Processing on C-47
Finally finished some post processing on the C-47 that I shot a little while ago. I’ve been practicing quite a bit with Lightroom and I am pretty happy with how this shot has finished off.
75th Anniversary VJ Day Flyover
On 9/2/20 was the 75th Anniversary of the VJ Day Flyover. They flew the WW2 planes over Souther California. Since I was working from home and was able to take calls from my car I went to the Chino Airport to stake out a spot to catch the planes as they flew over. It took a while, but I was able to get a couple of shots, I really hoped they were going to land, but they just flew over on their way back home. I shot the planes with my Sony A9II and the 100-400 lens. F16 at 1/320 ISO 100
More Hummingbirds
Continuing to get up close and personal with those that share my backyard with me. Don’t think I can get much closer without losing most of them. I had to manually focus on a stand-in flower to try and get the birds in focus. This time it worked out well and I was able to use a remote trigger to capture with the camera on a tripod.
Shooting Hummingbirds
Some more Hummingbirds from the backyard. Got up close and personal with them.
Moon, Moon, Moon
I was taking my son out for several nights in a row to try and find the Neowise Comet. Unfortunately he couldn’t find it, but I did manage to take some shots of the moon and had some fun being out with him. The best days to see the comet unfortunately ended up being some hazy days here in Eastvale, that made it really hard to see the comet in the night sky. I did manage to get this shot of the moon that I liked. I had my camera on the tripod using the 100-400 lens to take the shot.
Hummingbirds
I hung a hummingbird feeder in my backyard and have been steadily moving it closer to my door so that I can shoot the little buddies that are flying around. The first shot is when I first hung the feeder and the next ones are as I moved it closer to my door. I like being able to sit behind my camera on a tripod and shoot the birds while working at my desk. Gives me something to do during the day and I am in boring meetings. I’ve found the hummingbirds come in the morning and in the afternoon. They are really fun to watch as they come to eat.
WRX Early in the morning
I took my camera out in the early morning and found a place to shoot my car. Thought this was a good shot that I really liked, I used my platypod to get the camera low and do the leading lines up to the car. I has happy with how most of the shot came out and what it looked like.
