What do you do with your photos?

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Shortfinals
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Shortfinals »

Strangely, when I was active on the airshow operations/management side of things (Wroughton, Finningley, Waddington, Farnborough etc) I just didn't have time for photography. Now, I doing less of that (only one regional fly-in this year, over here in New England) and more of other things, I find that I am exceedingly sad about the aircraft I didn't get to shoot (not that I am any good, you understand!)

I use my photographs (airshows, museums, private collections, airfield and airport shoots) to support my Twitter account, and also my very neglected blog, 'Shortfinals' (about as moribund as RAF Ashbourne; it is c. 60% aviation). I write mostly for 'Mossie Bites', these days, and Stewart and Nick can generally be persuaded to take my stuff (it's amazing where bribery will get you!)

Some of my stuff has been published - by really, really, REALLY desparate Editors.
Director, Engineering & Airframe Compliance, The People's Mosquito Ltd
Principal, Air Show Consultants

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lynothehammer
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by lynothehammer »

I was going to airshows before i started photography but as i got a bit older i started taking a camera (albeit compact), and i wish i'd taken more photos and also actually kept them (I deleted them).

It wasn't until I could afford a DSLR and gave up my season ticket at West Ham I became more heavily interested in airshows / spotting. I've photos dating back to RIAT 2007 but back then i didn't really know what i was doing, luckily i've managed to get some okayish shots of stuff that are no longer flying anymore and thats nice to look back on.

Just recently it occurred to me that i spend a great deal of time taking photos and just upload them onto FlickR so also i've started printing a few and putting them into photo albums and i'm quite surprised how much i've enjoyed putting them into the albums. Whereas now i do spend a good deal of time looking through the viewfinder and it's for that very good reason of documenting what i've seen as who knows when you'll stop seeing certain aircraft.

Keefy041
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Keefy041 »

I have recently been digitally uploading all my slides and photos/negatives with a scanner.
Having looked thru them i noticed that some had started to degrade, especially some photos, (dodgy paper maybe), and some dodgy Fuji film that my camera never liked.
Once saved digitally, they can be cleaned up and edited if need be, and of course backed up if you want.

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Slinger65
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Slinger65 »

Really interesting thread...

For me, I do spend more time looking through the lens than without, but enjoy not just the visual spectacle but the challenge of trying to get "that" shot. I don't have the full heavyweight gear, but enjoy trying to get the most out of the equipment (human and technical) at my disposal.

While I understand for many, viewing through Mk 1 eyeball is the way to go, for me there is the benefit of going back to Flickr and looking through photos which bring those moments back in a way that human memory just can't. Looking back at photos of last June's Evening Airshow at Old Warden is a good example (how hot and how good the light!).

But going back to the original question - it's great to have the ability to view photos on a 14" screen, in high resolution, in glorious colour, on demand, no fuss. Wind back the clock 20 years, and it was the choice of rigging up screen, projector, darkened room and a slideshow, or poor quality 4x6 (or 5x7 if you were feeling flush) prints from Boots or Spielmanns.
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Irishaernut
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Irishaernut »

Well luckily you are all shooting photos, as after I watch the show I look on here for the memories.
That way I get the best of both, I couldn’t print any or show anyone as herself and most mates couldn’t give a fudge about aircraft.
Thanks

Steve

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CJS
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by CJS »

You could show us Steve!
"There's only one way of life, and that's your own"

spotterwilliam
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by spotterwilliam »

My new mobile supports changing wallpaper on the lockscreen every time I use the phone. I have added some photo's (those who fit 9:16) to the library, and at least I see them more then the one's on Flickr.

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Irishaernut
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Irishaernut »

CJS wrote:You could show us Steve!


You mean photos cjs?
No I’m pretty awful at any photography, however I have taken appalling shots of a few airshows
At leuchars about 13 years ago.
All taken on film and awful due the excitement of seeing pretty much every aircraft for the very first time . :biggrin:

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Beefy
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Beefy »

Paul_Reflex wrote: It would be pretty weird for a photographer shooting a model to put down the camera for a while to just appreciate the spectacle or for a sports photographer to put down their gear and just enjoy the game.


Strange analogises to use here, considering these two examples are photographers making money from, what do you call that thing? Oh, yeah, work! :wall:

They are not there to 'enjoy' the subject...

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Jakub.Zurek
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Jakub.Zurek »

Beefy wrote:
Paul_Reflex wrote: It would be pretty weird for a photographer shooting a model to put down the camera for a while to just appreciate the spectacle or for a sports photographer to put down their gear and just enjoy the game.


Strange analogises to use here, considering these two examples are photographers making money from, what do you call that thing? Oh, yeah, work! :wall:

They are not there to 'enjoy' the subject...


You can also tell a model how to pose etc. You can't do the same at an air display, hence my earlier comment about being selective about when to take photographs. Not every aircraft pass is as photogenic as the next.

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Paul_Reflex
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Paul_Reflex »

Beefy wrote:
Paul_Reflex wrote: It would be pretty weird for a photographer shooting a model to put down the camera for a while to just appreciate the spectacle or for a sports photographer to put down their gear and just enjoy the game.


Strange analogises to use here, considering these two examples are photographers making money from, what do you call that thing? Oh, yeah, work! :wall:

They are not there to 'enjoy' the subject...


If you think that everybody shooting a model or a sports game is getting paid for it then you're mistaken. Perhaps my analogies weren't perfect, but I stand by my point that in no other subjects do you get this argument. You wouldn't see bird enthusiasts who use binoculars or the naked eye looking down on those who look through a camera and telling them that they're doing it wrong. It's just a bit of an odd thing to do, but in our hobby it seems very common.

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rockfordstone
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by rockfordstone »

i display mine on my website, and then every year i combine the best shots of the year into a year book.

i also have them on a number of sites for sale

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Irishaernut
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Irishaernut »

Beefy wrote:
Paul_Reflex wrote: It would be pretty weird for a photographer shooting a model to put down the camera for a while to just appreciate the spectacle or for a sports photographer to put down their gear and just enjoy the game.


Strange analogises to use here, considering these two examples are photographers making money from, what do you call that thing? Oh, yeah, work! :wall:

They are not there to 'enjoy' the subject...



Well they are strange if all those hundreds of people at airshows are all professional photographers.
But that’s kind of my original question, if you are putting that much effort in and focusing on the photography then it must be secondary to the enjoyment of aircraft flying around. (Which is fine)

I’m the guy at the football game enjoying the match,, and the guy errr...looking st the model wishing he was going out with her.

But each to there own

FarnboroJohn
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Paul_Reflex wrote:You wouldn't see bird enthusiasts who use binoculars or the naked eye looking down on those who look through a camera and telling them that they're doing it wrong. It's just a bit of an odd thing to do, but in our hobby it seems very common.


You are definitely having a giraffe. Birding is faction-ridden to a degree that makes this forum look like a love-in: but the gulf between the people who regard themselves as purists and those who wield large telephoto lenses (even when the latter have been birders for forty years or so) is acrimonious and unbridgeable. According to the non-photographers togs are generally responsible for disturbing birds, flushing them so they leave, habitat destruction and - crime of crimes - causing an unpleasant racket in hides with their machine-gunning.

I leave you to guess the overall reality, but I will just remark that its not the owners of long lenses that feel the need to get so close to a bird that it flies off - that is the preserve of the point-and-shooter....

John

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Paul_Reflex
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Paul_Reflex »

FarnboroJohn wrote:
Paul_Reflex wrote:You wouldn't see bird enthusiasts who use binoculars or the naked eye looking down on those who look through a camera and telling them that they're doing it wrong. It's just a bit of an odd thing to do, but in our hobby it seems very common.


You are definitely having a giraffe. Birding is faction-ridden to a degree that makes this forum look like a love-in: but the gulf between the people who regard themselves as purists and those who wield large telephoto lenses (even when the latter have been birders for forty years or so) is acrimonious and unbridgeable. According to the non-photographers togs are generally responsible for disturbing birds, flushing them so they leave, habitat destruction and - crime of crimes - causing an unpleasant racket in hides with their machine-gunning.

I leave you to guess the overall reality, but I will just remark that its not the owners of long lenses that feel the need to get so close to a bird that it flies off - that is the preserve of the point-and-shooter....

John


I seem to have chosen another poor example! I shall leave it there I think as I don't seem to be able to illustrate my point very well.

farnboroughrob
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by farnboroughrob »

I'll add another dimension, those of us who take numbers. There are not many of us on here but there are just as many as those of you who take photos, and they can be just as obsessive. I purely take photos, not many and not that often, to record the aircraft I have seen. I am just as happy seeing static aircraft as flying aircraft, in fact probably happier as I get a good look. I could never wait hours at a base waiting for something to happen because there is bound to be a interesting airfield not very far away.
I spot almost everything so just as happy sitting in the garden watching overflights, as a day trip to an airport in Europe, or going to a big airshow. Being primarily into numbers I avoid the samey airshows. There are very few things that will tempt me to go to a seaside show for example. I find my side of things very rewarding( seeing the last aircraft in a fleet for example, or a new airline), very sociable, and very diverse.

NTG1610
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by NTG1610 »

farnboroughrob wrote:I'll add another dimension, those of us who take numbers. There are not many of us on here but there are just as many as those of you who take photos, and they can be just as obsessive. I purely take photos, not many and not that often, to record the aircraft I have seen. I am just as happy seeing static aircraft as flying aircraft, in fact probably happier as I get a good look. I could never wait hours at a base waiting for something to happen because there is bound to be a interesting airfield not very far away.
I spot almost everything so just as happy sitting in the garden watching overflights, as a day trip to an airport in Europe, or going to a big airshow. Being primarily into numbers I avoid the samey airshows. There are very few things that will tempt me to go to a seaside show for example. I find my side of things very rewarding( seeing the last aircraft in a fleet for example, or a new airline), very sociable, and very diverse.


age old saying "Each to their own" there are no rules to this hobby so what ever you do as long as you get enjoyment is the right thing

oh and I am with you pictures to remember the numbers
rgds

SkyDave
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by SkyDave »

Living North of the Border, going to Airshows is normally more costly than living elsewhere in the Uk. So my aviation photography is limited to July when I do all my aviation Photography and generate enough images (5000+) to keep me amused through to the next year (I don't go to RIAT), though if truth be told and annual leave permitting it may have been on the cards this year.

Unknown74
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Unknown74 »

I forgot to add something to my last post on this subject, around 17 or 18 Years ago I was given a video camcorder for my Birthday and since then I have come up with an arrangement where I still take snaps of static and Aircraft while still on the ground and take film of Flying Display Aircraft or Aircraft taking off from Airfields, very rarely do I do it the other way around.

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MarkL
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by MarkL »

farnboroughrob wrote:I'll add another dimension, those of us who take numbers. There are not many of us on here but there are just as many as those of you who take photos, and they can be just as obsessive. I purely take photos, not many and not that often, to record the aircraft I have seen. I am just as happy seeing static aircraft as flying aircraft, in fact probably happier as I get a good look. I could never wait hours at a base waiting for something to happen because there is bound to be a interesting airfield not very far away.
I spot almost everything so just as happy sitting in the garden watching overflights, as a day trip to an airport in Europe, or going to a big airshow. Being primarily into numbers I avoid the samey airshows. There are very few things that will tempt me to go to a seaside show for example. I find my side of things very rewarding( seeing the last aircraft in a fleet for example, or a new airline), very sociable, and very diverse.



Wow, exactly how I enjoy aviation, exactly.
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Brevet Cable
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Brevet Cable »

MarkL wrote:
farnboroughrob wrote:I'll add another dimension, those of us who take numbers.

Wow, exactly how I enjoy aviation, exactly.

Somewhat off topic, but a question for both of you....
I've been at RIAT where I've seen 'number spotters' rushing around the showground writing down and/or sometimes photographing the serial numbers of all the aircraft ( or at least the ones they haven't 'collected' previously.
They'll then rush out of the showground before the flying display's started in order to attend an airshow elsewhere ( assuming one's on the same day ) in order to do the same there.
Do either of you do this, or do you ( presumably ) stay and enjoy the show after you've recorded all the numbers you required?

And I've seen photographers do similar things, photographing the aircraft they want/need then leave ( in the case of a couple of them who were in the queue in front of me an hour or so before opening, they rushed to where the B-2 was parked on static, took a number of photos, then departed ! )
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Big Eric
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Big Eric »

Brevet Cable wrote:
MarkL wrote:
farnboroughrob wrote:I'll add another dimension, those of us who take numbers.

Wow, exactly how I enjoy aviation, exactly.

Somewhat off topic, but a question for both of you....
I've been at RIAT where I've seen 'number spotters' rushing around the showground writing down and/or sometimes photographing the serial numbers of all the aircraft ( or at least the ones they haven't 'collected' previously.
They'll then rush out of the showground before the flying display's started in order to attend an airshow elsewhere ( assuming one's on the same day ) in order to do the same there.
Do either of you do this, or do you ( presumably ) stay and enjoy the show after you've recorded all the numbers you required?



You're talking about "number collectors" here, they're not spotters, they just have a lifelong competition with their mates on who can collect the most aircraft serials/registrations. They buy a ticket for RIAT, log everything, then go to Brize Norton (and Lyneham when it was open), Kemble, Staverton and anywhere else they can find on their way home !

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MarkL
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by MarkL »

BC thank you for your question. I am happy to answer. At least your question is a genuine query in contrast to 'BIG ERIC' who has already made his mind up, and without even asking has pre-judged those who dare to enjoy this hobby in a way he doesn't understand or agree with.

I started my interest in 1989. I couldn't afford a camera at the time so I collected a/c registrations. I can't give a rational reason as to why, but it seemed fun.

As a kid I lived at RAF Cottesmore, back in the Vulcan days. My Dad was in the aviation industry so aviation has always been in in my blood. I remember my first school project was 'The History of Flight'.

Anyway, I'm off track. The short version is I love aviation. I go to shows and watch the displays, walk the statics etc.. My aviation love has taken me all over Europe to the major airports, airfields and museums. I love aviation events from major air shows to local fly-ins. MY CHOSEN METHOD OF RECORDING THE EVENTS I GO TO IS TO WRITE DOWN THE REGISTRATIONS OF THE AIRCRAFT I HAVE SEEN.

It's also worth noting I spend a lot of time researching airframes I have seen. So for me, having seen many of the desert storm Tornados or one of the 9/11 Jets for example, gives my hobby an historical context.

BTW, I have a HD full of images too :-)

Thanks for asking BC.

Edited out the last remark to Big Eric. Sorry, I was triggered, my comment was uncalled for. Peace.
Last edited by MarkL on Sun 06 May 2018, 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Brevet Cable
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by Brevet Cable »

Thanks for taking the time to answer. :up:
I know some people ridicule it, but is it really any different to those who try to see - or take a photo of - every single aircraft of a particular model.
You only have to look at the deployment & airshow threads on the various forums where people are hoping that a particular U-2/B-1/B-2/B-52 ( or whatever ) is participating because it's one they haven't got.
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AMB
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Re: What do you do with your photos?

Post by AMB »

An interesting thread. I started taking photos of aircraft when I was 12 years old, albeit in b/w on a Brownie Box Camera. When I was 16 (in 1966) I decided this needed to be a serious hobby and started taking 35mm colour slides and from my very first shot they had to be top quality. The beauty of taking slides is that they they are First Generation images (whereas prints have to be made from negatives and lose quality in the process) and are easy to store. Ever since I took my first slide (a Belgian Air Force F-84F Thunderstreak at Filton's Air Day), I have carefully archived all my slides, changing to digital in 2003 and have around 500,000 slides all filed and easily retrieved for publication use or just viewing. Still very few prints are on file, which take up too much storage. Thanks to today's technology, I am constantly scanning the slides and archiving them digitally.

Brevet Cable wrote:Somewhat off topic, but a question for both of you....
I've been at RIAT where I've seen 'number spotters' rushing around the showground writing down and/or sometimes photographing the serial numbers of all the aircraft ( or at least the ones they haven't 'collected' previously.
They'll then rush out of the showground before the flying display's started in order to attend an airshow elsewhere ( assuming one's on the same day ) in order to do the same there.
Do either of you do this, or do you ( presumably ) stay and enjoy the show after you've recorded all the numbers you required?

And I've seen photographers do similar things, photographing the aircraft they want/need then leave ( in the case of a couple of them who were in the queue in front of me an hour or so before opening, they rushed to where the B-2 was parked on static, took a number of photos, then departed ! )


I gave up collecting serials when I started shooting slides as it was pointless doing both! I did attend THREE air shows in the same day, but to photograph every aircraft at each show, not collect serials. The year was July 1985 and arrived at Hatfield at 08.30 for BAe's (or was it HSA then) Open Day/Families Day, left there at 09.15 after shooting everything, arrived at Duxford around 10am for the annual Flying Legends show, left there at 5.15pm, arriving at Old Warden just before 6pm for a Shuttleworth Evening Flying Show! As I recall the weather was gin clear sunshine all day..and evening!
Adrian