WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

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LN Strike Eagle
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WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

Saw this yesterday: http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/tips-and-technique/reach-for-the-skies-and-shoot-an-airshow/

Am I alone in thinking that an awful lot of it is not very good advice, and the examples given not much cop?
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cg_341
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by cg_341 »

Didn't go down too well on social media: https://twitter.com/wextweets/status/891980512817971200

Kip Casper
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by Kip Casper »

Perhaps some of those criticising the article may offer to step in and write a version of their own for Wex?
http://www.gcse.com/english/there.htm - learn how to use 'their', 'there' and 'they're'.

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Jumbo
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by Jumbo »

I understand how sometimes it is good to have some space in front of the subject but it looks like they were photographing a tree and a BE2 accidentally flew past!

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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by boff180 »

Kip Casper wrote:Perhaps some of those criticising the article may offer to step in and write a version of their own for Wex?

Would be happy to however they have people better than me that write blogs for them.

Surprised they didn't ask Mr Rouse to write the blog, his aviation photography is superb.

Andy

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Brevet Cable
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by Brevet Cable »

Never been a fan of the silly composition rules, especially not the 'leave lots of room in front' one.
Still trying to work out if the 'Pick the right spot' image is supposed to illustrate how to do it or how not to do it.
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jalfrezi
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by jalfrezi »

Brevet Cable wrote:Never been a fan of the silly composition rules, especially not the 'leave lots of room in front' one.
Still trying to work out if the 'Pick the right spot' image is supposed to illustrate how to do it or how not to do it.


Yeah the BE2 shot looks a bit silly with all of that empty space, I like to leave a little extra space in front but not half of the image!

The other rule some people stick to religiously is always using the default aspect ratio of their camera, even if it means there is lots of dead space at the top and bottom of the image, a change in aspect ratio can make a big difference to the final image.

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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by HeyfordDave111 »

Ummmmmm,

Read the 'advice'........ can't say that I find much helpful if at all.

This isn't to say I shoot good photographs, but I've started to shoot , this last 2 years, aircraft only in the sky with a cloud or blue sky if there is no other option, preferring to get them in context of the show or scenery.

Doing homework on why is announced is only any use if what's announced turns up, and is in a fair position in the static, or flies, otherwise the plan goes out of the window.

To say it's 'ok' at best, is doing this feature a favour.
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AlexC
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by AlexC »

Lot of vignetting in that Hurricane shot.
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LN Strike Eagle
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

Kip Casper wrote:Perhaps some of those criticising the article may offer to step in and write a version of their own for Wex?

They've written their airshow blog so it's moot - they're not going to keep re-visiting a subject to contradict themselves. I'm sure there's advice in their other blogs that has divided opinion of people that specialise in the subject matter.

There's no shortage of talent on here that could have written something for them though.

That's not to discredit the author either - a quick glance at his website portfolio shows him to be a very accomplished and versatile photographer. I just think on this subject, the advice offered leaves something to be desired, as do the examples given - perhaps to be expected, when you're asked to give advice on a genre you may not be overly familiar with. How many on here would be comfortable to offer portrait photography advice?

The pics are from the Shuttleworth Military Pageant last month - compare them to threads from the same show in the airshow section on here.
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Wrexham Mackem
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

AlexC wrote:Lot of vignetting in that Hurricane shot.


Indeed. It amazes me that on occasions some photographers choose to introduce it as an effect in editing. To me, its the worst of lens faults we had to deal with over the years.

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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by AlexC »

Wrexham Mackem wrote:Indeed. It amazes me that on occasions some photographers choose to introduce it as an effect in editing. To me, its the worst of lens faults we had to deal with over the years.


Could not agree more, it used to be the bane of my life, hated it.
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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by McG »

While a lot of the advice given may have been useless to those of us who frequent this forum, the target audience seemed to be those who are first time or infrequent visitors to air shows and are trying something new.

Maybe it would be an idea for UKAR to put together their own guide for beginners shooting air shows and try to cultivate a relationship with the likes of WEX to get them to link to it at the start of air show season.

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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by wallace »

It is plain to see that the Wex guide was written by a photographer and not an aviation photographer as most of it makes sense.

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Re: WEX Photo Blog - Airshow Top Tips

Post by Ian G »

I made a few comments on the WEX facebook page when they shared the link on there. One glaring omission is exposure compensation, yet someone commented that you don't need it if you shoot raw. Another commented that you should underexpose your shots if anything. It was at this point I decided to turn the computer off.
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