Notice: Undefined variable: splityear in /var/www/vhosts/fredmiranda.com/httpdocs/forum/viewtopic.php on line 99 Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel - City, Street & Architecture - Photography - FM Forums
I went to DC again Monday night to shoot the fireworks but it was a total bust due to operator error. I switched from AF to MF to lock in the focus once the focus was achieved, at least as I thought. It turned out the firework shots were all misfocused. I will make sure I won't make the same mistake when I shoot the 4th of July fireworks this year. It's going to be a big display for the 250th anniversary. I bet there will be a big flyover over DC on 4th of July this year, given it's the big 250th anniversary.
This time I went to a different location to shoot the images projected on the 555'-tall Washington Monument. It was visually stunning in person. I am fairly certain they will do something similar for 4th for July this year.
The bright structure to the left bottom of the Washington Monument in the background is the Lincoln Memorial.
To our friends in Texas, the F-4D owned by Fighterjets Inc. is tentatively scheduled to fly at the Midland airshow on Sept 12-13.
When we launched the sky was really dramatic but 15 minutes later when we formed up over the location the light was close to dead. We made the most of what we were dealt and made a pact to do it again in better light .
Had a little hiccup with the Blad, a learning curve thing, but I’m glad we did it, the camera’s potential shines through in the toughest of circumstances.
Douglas L wrote:
To our friends in Texas, the F-4D owned by Fighterjets Inc. is tentatively scheduled to fly at the Midland airshow on Sept 12-13.
Douglas,
Beautiful series of the Washington Monument.
Amazing tech to be able to decorate with light!
BTW, the F4, F-100, ME262 (replica) and the TA-4 are still owned and operated by the Collings Foundation.
Randy's FighterJets Inc. is "representing" the aircraft for the season.
Not exactly sure how it works but it's some sort of an airshow partnership.
The A-4 and Me-262 are very reliable aircraft and fairly easy to maintain. The F-100 is not as easy and the F-4 is even less easy to keep running at all.
Since the started flying them, the F-4 has had limited trips beyond Houston and the F-100 has never flown beyond there, It will be interesting to see if they can keep them running for their commitments.
Looking forward to seeing them on the road for sure!
It's mindboggling the costs of keeping those jets in the air, even a ground run will burn through a few thousand $. Watching the great YT channel by Diesel Thunder I agree with Zane, taking them on the road will require a lot of support, especially for the complex F-4!
JWilsonphoto wrote:
When we launched the sky was really dramatic but 15 minutes later when we formed up over the location the light was close to dead. We made the most of what we were dealt and made a pact to do it again in better light .
Had a little hiccup with the Blad, a learning curve thing, but I’m glad we did it, the camera’s potential shines through in the toughest of circumstances.
Those are quite impressive, given the dead lighting that you mentioned. Out of curiosity, Jim, are you using a Kenyon gyro with the Blad or have you turned into a robotic steady Eddy? What are the high ISO characteristics of that camera? So impressive what you are sharing with us!
Thanks Gero! We had the team assembled and the light showed promise right up to the time we joined up for the first run down the lake. I gave everyone the opportunity to pull the plug but no one wanted to, everyone was gung ho to fly the plan and let the chips fall where they may. I'm glad that we did the run through, it gave me some insights into the Hasselblad, and gave Chandler an opportunity to really shine. He shot handheld video in that light and it's spectacular.
Re: stabilization, the X2DII has two IBIS settings, standard and sport. Typically on lesser camera platforms higher stabilization crops into the image frame, I don't notice that on the Hasselblad. The X2DII IBIS, on paper, is the most aggressive stabilization in any camera platform that I am aware of. Step by step I am proving to my own satisfaction that Hasselblad's claims are indeed accurate, maybe even understated. Last evening I shot with shutter speeds down to 1/60th and none of the frames were soft. One doesn't have the luxury of 30fps (R5II) with the Hasselblad so you can't pray and spray. I'll drop the Canon down to 1/30th, even 1/15th because, in smooth air, there will be tack sharp frames in that considerable body of shots. You can't use that technique with much hope when shooting the X2DII, but you can count on its IBIS. Last evening I was pulling out all the stops toward the end because I could barely see with my eyes muchless the camera. While my preference is always ISO100, and the Blad can drop to 50, I've found that 800 to 1600 are very tolerable as far as noise especially with a small dose of noise reduction.
I have not run any tests with the Canons or the Hasselblad in combination with mechanical stabilization like the Kenyon units. The current level of IBIS allows me to do, bare handed, what I needed those units to do in the "old" days. I would still press them into service if I was up against some really tough conditions and I was under the gun to fly regardless.
The Hasselblad, as much as I love what it produces, is a bit clunky and not as user friendly as current day top of the line mirrorless 35mm cameras so it requires a level of familiarity and dexterity beyond the norm, but each time I use it I am more convinced that the results are worth the effort. "Intentionality" is a word one hears often in discussions about Hasselblads, always has been, but what happens when you want to shoot subjects that don't allow the luxury of intentionality? Sure, you have all the time in the world when you are shooting landscapes or studio work, even portraiture, but it doesn't exist in air to air work, it's all moment to moment. The way I try to fill the gap is being ultra prepared, and having the R5II at my side as a back up.
Hope this isn't too long an answer to your question.
Hi Jim, many thanks for your very thorough and informative answer - I very much appreciate the time you took to write it and put into context the challenges you faced and limitations you identified. It puts into perspective your lifetime of experience and knowing how to make the most out of any situation. Those are some pretty nice full prop circles for 1/60. Are those pilots able to indulge you with adjusting prop pitch and RPM to give you these results?
Danpbphoto wrote:
Just great photography Douglas!
I think a book is in the future?
You REALLY captured the essence of our Country's 250th birthday!
The few snippets the local tv stations showed are not nearly as nice as yours.
Extremely well seen and composed!
Dan
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Zane Adams wrote:
Douglas,
Beautiful series of the Washington Monument.
Amazing tech to be able to decorate with light!
BTW, the F4, F-100, ME262 (replica) and the TA-4 are still owned and operated by the Collings Foundation.
Randy's FighterJets Inc. is "representing" the aircraft for the season.
Not exactly sure how it works but it's some sort of an airshow partnership.
The A-4 and Me-262 are very reliable aircraft and fairly easy to maintain. The F-100 is not as easy and the F-4 is even less easy to keep running at all.
Since the started flying them, the F-4 has had limited trips beyond Houston and the F-100 has never flown beyond there, It will be interesting to see if they can keep them running for their commitments.
Looking forward to seeing them on the road for sure!
Thank you Dan and Zane! I am looking forward to seeing the F-4 flying here in the US. I went to Belgium last year mainly to see the F-4 flown by Hellenic Air Force. Now, if some organization can get an F-14 flying here... I don't recall I even saw one flying. Maybe the new Iranian government can donate one back to us, if they haven't been all destroyed by the Israelis last year.
For a good laugh, this hooded merganser hen wasn't impressed by the two boys.
My pleasure Bud! I was a little concerned about prop motion because we are limited to 90 knots in the R44 with the doors off and that is approach speed for both of those aircraft so they are powered back a bit. I'm wondering if the bladed shutter in the Hasselblad lenses offers an advantage? I seem to be getting nice discs at higher shutter speeds, time for a little research.
We plan on shooting the Cirrus again in better light and I have four or five additional subjects in the que. I am anxious to explore all the dark corners of the X2DII and make it a part of my hand before I use it in more challenging scenarios. I lost some images in this last go around because of a peculiar setting, or possibly the low contrast in the soft light, on the one hand that is disappointing, on the other it's all about knowing everything there is to know about a new tool.
A few aviation shots taken at Wilmington Airport (ILM) in Wilmington NC. This airport is a military buffs delight, as it gets many training flights from Navy, Marine and Coast Guard units along the mid-Atlantic coast.
we've proven that, with some preparation, the Hasselblad can perform beautifully in a fast paced environment, this evening I let it breathe and do what it was born to do..............
I've been looking forward to shooting landscapes and skycapes with the X2DII, this opportunity just presented itself. This camera is going to motivate me to go places and shoot things that I probably would not have done otherwise, that alone makes the investment worthwhile.
