I went to the airport today

[flyhigh]

And this is what I did
I took these at PVD and even though most of them aren't that good, I'm still happy with what I took

[I_Money]

Did it inspire you!

I had written quite a rude post, about the purpose of going to the airport. Probably because I really do not like flying as a passenger (even if Doug is upfront, infact it is worse - I would have Doug next to me at the strip club), but I do remember my friend who is know a Captain on the A320s in the UK, say he used to go to Gatwick just sit there and it made him want to be a pilot even more. It makes me want to go to the bar!

[flyhigh]

I wanted to share my pictures to see what you guys thought about them.

[I_Money]

Airplanes in flight are very difficult to take pictures of, start with something easier, and see what works, and looks good.

You pictures have 2 major problem - first of the sun is not behind you. This is why your pictures are dark, and not particularly clear.
You do not fram the subject well - you have fences between you, it is small - get your subject to fill up the frame, check what else is in the frame including what is behind it.

[flyhigh]

[ QUOTE ]
Airplanes in flight are very difficult to take pictures of, start with something easier, and see what works, and looks good.

You pictures have 2 major problem - first of the sun is not behind you. This is why your pictures are dark, and not particularly clear.
You do not fram the subject well - you have fences between you, it is small - get your subject to fill up the frame, check what else is in the frame including what is behind it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you very much for the advice. I'm fairly new at photography and welcome any advice I can get.

[Joe]

Are all the pictures from today? Because if you took this one today at around 1:30ish, I'm the guy flying it. Flew a solo x-c to ASH today...

EDIT: Same airplane is also in my avatar.

[flyhigh]

[ QUOTE ]
Are all the pictures from today? Because if you took this one today at around 1:30ish, I'm the guy flying it. Flew a solo x-c to ASH today...

EDIT: Same airplane is also in my avatar.

[/ QUOTE ]They are from today so that's you flying it

Save it,show it to your everyone and say that's you flying.

[Joe]

[ QUOTE ]
They are from today so that's you flying it

Save it,show it to your everyone and say that's you flying.

[/ QUOTE ]
Cool...

[Stone Cold]

Joe, is Tweety still up there flying? Just curious...I have 185 in my logbook a few times, but flew Tweety more. Seeing those pics brought back some memories, mostly cold ones, but memories none-the-less.

Fly safe and say hi to Bob and Zeke for me. Tell them it's the Texan that was in the Navy and they'll know. I hope everything else up there is going good!!!

TX

[PhotoPilot]

Excellent beginning, flyhigh!

One of my first suggestions is to learn how to use your camera without all of the nifty automatic features. Knowing how the camera works before allowing it to make decisions for you is a must if you want to walk away with first class images. For instance, you used autofocus, right? That pesky computer in your camera thought the fence was the most important part of the image, so it focused on that instead of the plane. If you had done the job on your own, you could have tweaked the focus to throw the fence out of focus and sharpen up the subject a little more.

You're also using the autoexposure feature and it's being fooled by a tricky situation. The camera meter thinks like Iain - it wants you to shoot with the sun directly behind you. Unfortunately, that often makes for rather flat lighting. If you can incorporate shadows to emphasize the shape and contour of the subject, you'll have a much more successful image. The hard part is getting the camera to give you the proper exposure. In this case, the images came out a little dark. What happened is the meter saw the bright, sun-lit blue sky and said to itself, "Wow! That's way too bright! I'd better make it darker so that it looks like a middle tone (or brightness)." The result is that your sky, your planes, and your fences all look just a smidge too dingy and dark. Ever see a photo of snow that looks like ash? Same thing happens there, too. The converse is that you can photograph something dark (like a crow or an SR-71) and the camera will try to make it lighter.

The solution, as with the autofocus, is to take control of the automation. Tell the camera what you want to properly expose or just do it all yourself. Unfortunately, without knowing what kind of camera you use and what your photographic background is, there are too many possible methods to explain here. Get out your manual and see what it says about "exposure compensation." That will give you a good head start and let you boss that camera meter around a bit more.

As for your composition, you could, indeed, tighten up the framing a bit. However, remember that a tight shot isn't automatically a good one. Give the subject room to live; Think about the story it's trying to tell. If a plane is landing, we know that it's descending and moving forward . . . give it room to do the same in the image. Compose the photograph with the plane slightly higher than the middle of the frame with space for it to move into. You might even be able to include the runway in the bottom of the image so that the story is more complete and we know what the ending will be. The same applies to the horizontal framing. Give the plane room to move forward and into the story. Play with the composition of different planes and phases of flight and find the storys that say the most to you.

Now, on that note, let's talk about subjects that are dead center in the frame: Why do most average photographers stick the airplanes in the middle? First, they often don't think of the flow, composition, or story. Second, they use autofocus and . . . the autofocus sensor is where? In the middle of the frame! Can you imagine what Ansel Adams' images would have looked like if he had been forced to put every subject in the center of his frame because he was a slave to his autofocus sensor? Yuck! Yet another reason to go manual before you embrace the technology that your camera unfortunately came with.

Check your local Community Ed programs for some basic black and white photography classes. They're a great way to learn about how cameras work and how to make them work for you. Good luck and keep it up!

[MrLeisure757]

[ QUOTE ]
Are all the pictures from today? Because if you took this one today at around 1:30ish, I'm the guy flying it. Flew a solo x-c to ASH today...

EDIT: Same airplane is also in my avatar.

[/ QUOTE ]


You were in Nashua today? What time? I fly out of ASH and did a nice two-hour solo on Saturday in preparation for my solo XC. I was in Warrior N31634.

[flyhigh]

Photo Pilot- THANK YOU!!! for the advice. I pulled out the manuel and I found out about exposure settings and white balance. I will play around with those settings and hopefully I will get some better shots I will look around town and see if there are any classes I can take about photography. Thanks again.

[Joe]

[ QUOTE ]
Joe, is Tweety still up there flying? Just curious...I have 185 in my logbook a few times, but flew Tweety more. Seeing those pics brought back some memories, mostly cold ones, but memories none-the-less.

Fly safe and say hi to Bob and Zeke for me. Tell them it's the Texan that was in the Navy and they'll know. I hope everything else up there is going good!!!

TX

[/ QUOTE ]

Tweety is alive and well; I've flown it a few times when 185 is down. Not checked out in it though. And things are starting to warm up here... a little...

[Joe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Are all the pictures from today? Because if you took this one today at around 1:30ish, I'm the guy flying it. Flew a solo x-c to ASH today...

EDIT: Same airplane is also in my avatar.

[/ QUOTE ]


You were in Nashua today? What time? I fly out of ASH and did a nice two-hour solo on Saturday in preparation for my solo XC. I was in Warrior N31634.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was there around 12:30... Parked in front of the tower. I wasn't sure where the FBO was, so I went into the DWC building (in the pic). No one was there, so I closed my flight plan with my cell phone. I then took a walk down and found GFW (I think that's what it was) and "tended to the needs of my bladder." Then I hopped back in and left. I think there was a helicopter doing takeoffs and landings when I was there too...