Tommy At RIAT *Updated* (Image Very Heavy!)

[Tommy]

N'yello all, great first day at RIAT. Far too many photos to sort through, but here's one or two highlights to give a flavour of the day from West rather than East:

A-Grade by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Pairs Display by Tom Jones, on Flickr

30 Down Under by Tom Jones, on Flickr

BirdTail by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Rafa Rollover by Tom Jones, on Flickr

PolStripes by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Tools of the Trade by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Liftwaffe by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Gainz by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Pointer by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Standing Stalwart by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Twintaxi by Tom Jones, on Flickr


Toom Raider by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Sleek Greeks by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Skywalker by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Flaps, Not Traps by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Systems: Go by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Well done if you've made it this far!

I would *love* some C&C on these. These have been taken with the Sigma 150-600mm contemporary - a huge step up from my old Tamron 70-300mm and a steep learning curve (in addition to the sodding zoom ring turning in the opposite way to my old lens!)

I doubt I'll upload any tomorrow because Andy is showing some of us lucky staffers the delicacies of Japanese buffet!

Thanks for looking. To those going, enjoy the show. Right, back to drowning my sorrows about Wales' loss, and bed to rinse & repeat tomorrow. Remember that we're covering everything in Andy's Live Arrivals Thread, and through our Twitter feed.

Thanks,

Tom

[RichPittman]

Lovely stuff, please post some nice quality from tomorrow

[LN Strike Eagle]

Topside of Dave is a good opener, even if it is still fugly.

Shame they spoiled the look of both F-4s with gaudy drop tanks.

[StuWeston]

Cracking set, first shot is immense!

[stevebrodie]

First shot, nice map - just in case he gets lost

[lambo17841]

Great photos,is there one of the Oman 295?

John

[tankbuster]

great set and not just a boring set of planes against a plain background on approach

[ChrisShaw]

Great set thanks for sharing

[Beefy]

These are really nice images Tommy and IMHO far better than anything I've seen from the East P&V and RIAT grandstand (sorry Andy!) - no airfield detritus, people behind fence-lines, vehicles, BAE banners etc. just a lovely natural back drop of greenery which really enhances the ground shots.

Although it is still an ugly heap of junk, the F-35A is by far the better looking variant, but still an ugly mother.

Shame they spoiled the look of both F-4s with gaudy drop tanks.

Agree with you 100% on that, they really have spoiled the look of those jets, in what is normally a cracking looking camo scheme on the F-4. The elation of seeing Greek F-4's would have been swiftly soured by those drop tanks

You certainly seem to be getting to grips with the 150-600, your images are looking nice and sharp too

[Tommy]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Lovely of you all to take the time.

no airfield detritus, people behind fence-lines, vehicles, BAE banners etc. just a lovely natural back drop of greenery which really enhances the ground shots.

Well, that's one of the pleasures of West, the trade-off being that you don't catch everything, and it can sometimes be frustrating seeing that super-duper rare jet turn off before making it down that end! Six of one... I'll be in FRIAT for the rest of RIAT, though.

Great photos,is there one of the Oman 295?

Sadly not, I wanted to stay and catch it but being Welsh, I had a football game to watch..

Anyway, I sadly haven't had the chance to edit many as I've spent the evening smashing the Japanese buffet at Andy's hotel

Couple from today which are hopefully of interest. Conditions decidedly less clement and a lot quieter at the Western end. Still, though, not a bad day spent by any means:

General Franco by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Cyber-T by Tom Jones, on Flickr

BluePhoon by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Mirage a Trois by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Balding Eagle by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Light had really gone at this point!

Croaviation by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Thanks again for the comments, and well done if you've made it this far again!

Enjoy the show, to those going.

Thanks,

Tom

[CJS]

Lovely stuff Tom, thanks for sharing. I think the 2000N might be my new favourite looking modern aircraft

Are there two special schemed ones or did you just catch the second one in the right light to make it look like it's got a different camo scheme?

Enjoy today

[Pringles]

2 different special schemed German Tiffies, just the one 'La Fayette' Mirage 2000N, with two others in standard camo, presumably one being a spare.

[Tommy]

Couple from today. I did have more, but my hotel internet/flickr is deciding to be an arse and not let me upload them for some stupid reason . Probably for the best anyway... As per, C&C much appreciated.

The weather was pretty crap today. Very little light at times, and just clag all over the place, making photography difficult.

That's Dedication by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Flame On by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Bug's Life by Tom Jones, on Flickr

HawK Hunt by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Going Home by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Amerocket by Tom Jones, on Flickr

STOVL Returns by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Crew-Up by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Ram-Air by Tom Jones, on Flickr

The Future Is Now by Tom Jones, on Flickr

They're a bit crap, IMO, and I could probably bring them out a little more, but I'm too knackered to have another sweep of the card or do more editing at the moment!

Thanks for all the kind comments, and taking the time to look at my arrivals/practice photos. It's been hard work but rewarding. Now to sit back and enjoy the show!

Thanks, guys.

Tom

[alpha586]

Great set of photos Tom thoroughly a job well done Sir! Love the shot of the super bug.

[Tommy]

Better late than never, right?

Following up with the arrivals stuff, please see a HUGE update below.

In between then and now, I've decided to switch editing to Lightroom to see how it changes things in terms of my PP. Less powerful, but much easier than PS, I'm liking it so far. I've also finally decided to be consistent with my watermark and just apply it to everything now. Hopefully not too conspicuous. Still pushing things with my brand new lens, brand new PP techniques and using the pretty new 16000px thing, so many, many learning curves...

Anyway, my first images run through Lr instead of Ps, so I'd love some C&C if anyone actually manages to make it through to the end of the thread!!

34. Easy to overlook, but it's incredible that we've seen such awesome support from the Japanese in 3 out of the last 4 years
Meatball Marinara by Tom Jones, on Flickr

35. Some really decent rarities around this year, including the support stuff. My first two Spanish Herks - sadly both grey.
The Spaniard by Tom Jones, on Flickr

36. Not flying, but fantastic to see the Kiwis back
KiwiBeans by Tom Jones, on Flickr

37.
Debugger by Tom Jones, on Flickr

38. The Canuks, too. Lovely crew, and I'm glad they sent their Aurora over, say, another Herk...
Far Go by Tom Jones, on Flickr

39.
Toombstoning by Tom Jones, on Flickr

40.
Alpine Fresh by Tom Jones, on Flickr

41.
Blades of Fury by Tom Jones, on Flickr

42.
Mild-mannered by Tom Jones, on Flickr

43.
Green-Eyed monster by Tom Jones, on Flickr

44.
Who Spots The Spotters? by Tom Jones, on Flickr

45.
DarkLights by Tom Jones, on Flickr

46.
Twenty-Twofer by Tom Jones, on Flickr

47. I loved seeing the Croats. Their display perhaps wasn't spellbinding, but some good stuff in there nonetheless.
Blood Diamonds by Tom Jones, on Flickr

48.
Red, White and Blue by Tom Jones, on Flickr

49. Also cool to see the Poles get their F-16 onto the circuit. The standard is set by the Turks these days, but with the Dutch and Belgian models getting old, it's cool to see operators of the "newer" F-16s start to pick up the slack.
Poleaxed by Tom Jones, on Flickr

50. Speaking of Belgians, this absolute beaut was awesome to see.
Crouching Tiger by Tom Jones, on Flickr

51.
Clean Bean by Tom Jones, on Flickr

52. Anyone notice the Spanish dress up their Typhoon? How this didn't win best static, I'll never know...
Yes, Rather by Tom Jones, on Flickr


53.
War Footing by Tom Jones, on Flickr

54.
Prancing Pony by Tom Jones, on Flickr

55.
The Fighter by Tom Jones, on Flickr

56.
Battle Belly by Tom Jones, on Flickr

57.
One Day by Tom Jones, on Flickr

58.
Pastel Break by Tom Jones, on Flickr

59.
To Infinity by Tom Jones, on Flickr

60.
Ugly Calling by Tom Jones, on Flickr

61. This was really, really cool. A Turkish KC-135 in the background, and Greek F-4s in the foreground... Literally no other place (or very few) in the world you would see such a thing...
Don't Mention The War by Tom Jones, on Flickr

62. Speaking of the rare as hen's teeth KC - here she is. I'm led to believe that this particular machine participated in the failed coup attempt two weeks later.
Turk Tank by Tom Jones, on Flickr

63. I was also quite buzzed to catch my first standard Polish F-16.
Pole-Dancer by Tom Jones, on Flickr

64.
Got to P3ee... by Tom Jones, on Flickr

65.
Do You Even Lift? by Tom Jones, on Flickr

66.
Traffic by Tom Jones, on Flickr

67.
'Tor's torque by Tom Jones, on Flickr

68.
Croatian Period by Tom Jones, on Flickr

69.
Sweeper by Tom Jones, on Flickr

70.
Getting Dizier by Tom Jones, on Flickr

71.
Scandinaviation by Tom Jones, on Flickr

72.
Tiger Tiger by Tom Jones, on Flickr

73.
La Fayes by Tom Jones, on Flickr

74.
Diamond Bird by Tom Jones, on Flickr

75.
Turbo Trainer by Tom Jones, on Flickr

76.
Update 2.0 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

77. Was going to delete this, but there's something cool about seeing the sheer bloody scale of the Voyager. I keep forgetting how much of an absolute mammouth of a machine it is!
BP - Big Plane by Tom Jones, on Flickr

78.
La FaYes! by Tom Jones, on Flickr

79.
Hip Don't Lie by Tom Jones, on Flickr

80.
Alba Baby by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Well, that's probably a considerable amount of over-egging.

A huge amount of congratulations to you if you managed to peruse the thread up until this point. Hopefully they were of interest to some!

Thanks for looking,

Tom

[Wes_Howes]

Lovely stuff Tommy, that 150-600 looks like it does the job well *looks at bank account *

[Airwolfhound]

Outstanding images Tom, editing looks great

[CJS]

Veeeery nice Tom, thanks for posting. You have really got a flavour for the show through your thread I think you also give a great flavour of those aircraft we don't see but which play an important role in the show (still, a shame the Turkish KC-135 couldn't hang around )

Favourites? Lots, but I really like the F-35 / RAFAT shot and the arty Belgian F-16 one too, a bit different and really nicely composed. I can't really comment on the editing cos my laptop is too crap to notice, but I am sure they're fine

Thanks for sharing, good to catch up briefly again too

[Col. Chibani]

Very nice shots !

A few technical questions, as I am trying to master also the Sigmonster, but I did'nt get yet results as good as yours.
What camera body do you have ?
What average focal lens where you using ?

[Ledhead27]

Have to say that these have come out really well, looks like you've got to grips with the new lens! (You were doing plenty of moaning in Denmark about lack of size )

[Tommy]

Never responded to this!

Thanks for all of the kind comments, you guys.

A few technical questions, as I am trying to master also the Sigmonster, but I did'nt get yet results as good as yours.
What camera body do you have ?
What average focal lens where you using ?

I'm shooting on a D5100, though that's probably the next piece of kit I'll upgrade - it's iso performance is atrocious, and it's buffer ain't the best.

The Sigma has been tricky getting used to, physically and technically. RIAT was it's first outing, so a lot to learn yet. I've noticed that it appears much more difficult for warbird stuff. Obviously you have to break the focal length/shutter speed rule as 1/500 will freeze the props!

focal lengths are varying - as an example, the first shot in this thread, was at 440mm, the Polish F-16 topside was at 500mm, P-51 & F-35 was 240mm, shot number 51 was at 210mm, and the Wings of Storm pair was at 480mm - so a really diverse range of focal lengths used.

that 150-600 looks like it does the job well *looks at bank account *

There's a bit of a drunken story behind its purchase...

Thanks for sharing, good to catch up briefly again too

Yeah, good to see you & Iain, mate. Glad you're well.

(You were doing plenty of moaning in Denmark about lack of size )

Nah, mate. Only my ex girlfriends complain about that!