Camera Labs

Hi folks,

I made the trip down to Kemble on Sunday with the sole purpose of catching the Red Arrows. Well worth the trip and my enjoyment was also heightened by having a good laugh at all the photographers outside the airfield with huge white lenses who were, apparently, too mean to fork out £20 to support the event and get closer to the action.

Anyway, the old 5D2 worked its magic and I got plenty of shots which I won't bore you with. But serendipity is a wonderful thing and my favourite from the day is actually a shot processed to emphasise the mean mood of the weather. No graduated filters used but I did make liberal use of exposure compensation and curves during PP. Hope you enjoy.

The Red Arrows couldn't do their full vertical display for obvious reasons but their "Rolling" display was still awesome, especially given the unseasonal wind and the lumpy flying weather. If you fancy a good day out then check out their schedule. Heck, if you've got a big enough lens you don't even have to pay to watch 'em.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

nice work Bob, I really like it. The lighter clouds below and the darker above set the planes and the vapour trails off nicely.

Not sure about the blue border though.

_________________
Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Hi maxjj,

You are right about the border. I used it for the wedding shots I did for one of the Red Arrows pilots last year where it worked well but it doesn't work well in this image.

But examining the image above more closely I've also made a very unpleasant discovery and realised that Firefox 4 is mangling the colours horribly. Great blocks of purple with no graduation which don't look nearly so intrusive when the image is opened in IrfanView or PhotoShop or, I hate to admit, in Internet Explorer. Aargh!

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

love the cloud composition,love the contrast of the Arrows on the sky. great photo!

_________________
Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

As per the other comments, I like the contrast in the picture.
I get too carried away with "blue sky" mentality for my aviation pictures, so it's always good to see something different.
I remember as a kid, my mum and dad taking me to RAF Kemble as it was then, to watch them practice - I am how old......!

_________________
Dent, Arthur Dent.

Pentax k-30 and k-x with DAL 18-55mm and DAL 55-300mm, Tamron 18-50mm and Camera Labs Straps.

Terrific shot Bob .

Care to explain how you work with the curves ? I've been told that a 'S' curve often helps a lot but I don't think I really get how these curves work....

_________________
Sony α77V/VG-C77AM/α350/18-70/70-400 G SSM/NEX-5/18-55 OSS/Lowepro Pro Trekker 600 AW/CompuTrekker AW/Nova 140 AW/Street & Field gear/Toploader Pro 75 AW. And a huge wishlist...

My photos on Flickr...

Hi Joris,

Yes, it was an "S" curve I used. Because I wanted to emphasise the sky I dragged the curve down near the bottom left and I also dragged a second point near the top right upwards. Actually it was a bit more complicated than that because I didn't want to change the curve right at the bottom left but you can massage the curve by creating extra points to drag around. The big trick is to be gentle and aim for smooth curves without a rapid change of direction as it's very easy to create unwanted artefacts. The best advice I can offer is to play around, preferably working from a file derived from a RAW shot.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Cheers for the explanation, Bob ! Off to have a look what I can do in Aperture 3...

_________________
Sony α77V/VG-C77AM/α350/18-70/70-400 G SSM/NEX-5/18-55 OSS/Lowepro Pro Trekker 600 AW/CompuTrekker AW/Nova 140 AW/Street & Field gear/Toploader Pro 75 AW. And a huge wishlist...

My photos on Flickr...

Excellent shot!

_________________
Flickr