The original curator of the Rhinebeck Aerodrome in the early 70′s had a similar plane and this one was built in the 1990 to compliment the original. The small size, agility, lift and speed is amazing for a 1930 era plane. This particular plane is powered by a 175hp Ranger and can reach top speed of 110 mph. During the latter half of the air-show a few of the vintage aircraft take off and square off in the sky for some dogfights and special exercises for the spectators.
This Image was taken with the 200-400v2 (handheld) as this wonderful 1931 Great Lakes charged off the runway. The access to the runway is quite good so you can get rather close for your digital Images. You can sense the planes power,speed and movement by the streaking background of building,trees and runway, created by panning with the plane during takeoff. An added plus here is the pilots long white scarf, that is way cool…I have poseted some other Images from that day, and getting the sense of movement is key, for instance…
In a bald blue or gray sky , planes can look like bricks without something like clouds or another plane creating sometime of movement. You can try to blur a background, but it does not have that same feeling as a streaking background……
Another thing you don’t want to do is freeze the prop action, so for the most part you’re letting the camera take care of the aperture as you keep Shutter priority on at 250. Most of the camera settings are unique to this type of photography, and you have to prepare yourself and camera for the this outdoor adventure.
In my photography, I try to take some of the tips and advice that come form the pros, Moose Peterson has branched out from his self proclaimed comfort zone and expanded his photography prowess into winged flight. His recent daily blogs at the airshows in Reno and Oshkosh provide some of the insights that I have written about…if you want to see some really killer Images of warbirds and a way cool website, check out his latest work at…...warbirdimages.com
