Oregon GTG at the air show? - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/13/2007 06:21:41 PM · #26

buckwheat and I went to Sunday's show too. I took 304 shots. I'm just starting to look at them now. So far, I haven't seen anything special.

We hung out near the fire and rescue crews, at the far right of the flight line. This let us get right up next to the barrier without having to deal with the crowd. We had the area almost to ourselves.

We left just before the Blue Angels started their show. We've seen their show dozens of times, and the raindrops were getting too frequent for my taste.

Message edited by author 2007-08-13 18:22:15.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

08/16/2007 12:28:26 AM · #27

I was there at the airshow, there were quite a few people with large lenses but I did not see this thread in time so didn't ask.

I don't quite agree about taming down the show. They had fewer jets (one F15, no F18 this time, and I guess Stealth does not do tricks), but the small planes did what they always do. There was fewer of them, though.

This is what I have so far, but I have the other two days to go through:

//wild-light.com/album/People%20and%20Events/Airshow%2C%2008.11.07

MikeJ

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

08/16/2007 12:52:22 AM · #28

I've either been to or heard (we live a few blocks from the airport) almost every airshow they have had there in the last 17 of 20 airshows. I didn't go last year because I had a shoot in Salem. It was 2 or 3 years ago that was probably the dullest airshow with a few others over the years not much better than that. This year was not bad, but it was a lot tamer and slower than past airshows when they have had a major act like the Blue Angles. There were very few static displays this time as well.

I think the Thunderbirds put on a better act, although the Blue Angles have prettier planes. I've only seen the Canadian Snowbirds one time but they do a pretty good show as well. I understand they lost a jet and pilot last May as well.

I don't think the airshow will be going on at Hillsboro much longer though. It's just getting to built up and too many of the local residence and businesses don't like the disruption to them during the weekend of a show. There is a lot of pressure to do away with it here.

Having been in the Air Force for 9 years and growing up as a Air Force brat, I've been to a lot of air shows over the years. It's too bad there are so few of the really big ones like they use to have on the airbases with hundreds of jets and planes to take a look at and a large number of aireal acts to watch.

It looks like you were in the reserved seating or else on the taxi way next to the reserved seating area. I was to the right of the taxi way almost in front of that gameboy truck that kept blaring away most of the show.

Mike

Message edited by author 2007-08-16 00:55:12.

08/16/2007 01:06:04 AM · #29

Yes, I was in the reserved seating, near the center (section B most of the time).

I did photograph Thunderbirds two years ago, they were pretty cool:

//wild-light.com/image/People%20and%20Events/Airshow%2C%2009.10.05/web_2187.jpg

But for me the highlight of the show was this:

//wild-light.com/image/People%20and%20Events/Airshow%2C%2009.10.05/web_1695.jpg

I've never seen it since then.

BTW, I agree about static displays, I think this was what they really cut down on, not so much the performers but the visitors. After all, it was a non-performing demo plane which crashed last year.

Message edited by author 2007-08-16 01:07:50.

Mick

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/16/2007 02:10:46 AM · #30

Originally posted by pikus:

Where did that F-117 come from? We didn't see any there for Sunday's show. Or did it only show up after the Blue Angels did their show?

BTW, what lens did you use?

08/16/2007 02:22:15 AM · #31

F-117 was there on Sunday too, I have some images, still editing (it was just after Red Bull, about 1:40pm). It was going to some other event, something in Clackamas I think, that KC135 was actually here to refuel the Stealth, not to entertain the crowds (but we did not get to see the refueling).

I used Canon 100-400 f4/5.6 IS L all the time.

08/16/2007 02:26:08 AM · #32

Hey Picus you and I got a lot of the same shots and it looks like we were really close to eachother... You were in section B and most of the time I was up in the bleachers to the left of that in the veterans seating on Sunday. I have just a few edited and will post them in just a sec....

08/16/2007 02:34:07 AM · #33

Out of 605 shots these were some I picked as the better ones but there are more I like. Not sure you'll like the editing here either. I think it has a certain feel to all of these that I like but I like the heritage flight one the best with the A10 and A1

08/16/2007 02:41:26 AM · #34

Bleachers, mmm. Lucky you. I lost several good shots because of the speaker stand.

You really brightened up the heritage flight, the Skyraider was painted fairly dark. What did you do to enhance the lighting in 5703, it looks almost like glow?

08/16/2007 03:24:59 AM · #35

It was after midnight when I was working on those and did it until 3 am so I honestly can't tell you cause I just kept trying things but I know it was all within the advanced ruleset. All of it was in layers and playing with only the hue/sat, the brightness/contrast and the shadows/highlights/midtones. The bg I had separated by layer and saturated the color where it was really bad noise but blue and then used an extreme gausian blur but went back to it and deleted where the gausian blur went over the area where the planes were then played with the opacity to get just the right amount of color without overdoing it. Since the sky was so gray I wanted to make it look more like blue sky if I could. As for the layer with the planes it really is just the way I used the midtones contrast, shadow highlight levels and the overall contrast. I may have used usm but I think I shyed away from it mostly in all these edits for fear of doing too much (I tend to go overboard sometimes on usm - or at least comments have said as much).

I've really been learning how to process different parts of shots differently using layer via copy in normal mode and then if its too much on that layer then I just back off a little in the opacity.

I've got some wedding shots I really need to get to tomorrow but when I get done with those I'll go back and try to repeat what I did and keep track of it so I can tell you better. And then if you really do like it and want to do it then I can send you my original with the steps so you can repeat it too. Or since you have similiar shots maybe it would work on one of yours.

Do you like it though? With all my learning and playing around with stuff sometimes I go a little far and have been told as much so I was kind of worried how that would be recieved. I had thought about putting that one in the free study but shyed away because I thought it'd be too much for others. But I like it.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

08/16/2007 11:42:51 AM · #36

Ah, the blur, that probably explains the "glowing mist" lighting. I like the effect, it makes the photo look older. I could have used something like this on photos of WWII planes.

ourwebstop

Canon EOS-20D

08/16/2007 11:57:57 AM · #37

ah man... I didn't see this thread until just now. I was at the airshow (section O front-row seats) on Saturday. I have a whole smear of shots -- I'm using Aperture for the first time for processing -- should have some pics up later today or tomorrow.

We're heading up to Edmonds, WA this weekend to shoot the NW Regional Disc-Dog competition (Frisbee-dogs). We may be competing in one of the events. Pictures to follow.

Brian

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

08/16/2007 12:42:23 PM · #38

Originally posted by pikus:

Ah, the blur, that probably explains the "glowing mist" lighting. I like the effect, it makes the photo look older. I could have used something like this on photos of WWII planes.

The blur was only used on the bg though. The planes have no blur at all on them because on the layer with only the bg I (deleted the planes on that layer) deleted the spill over where the planes were after the blur.

MikeJ

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

08/17/2007 12:56:36 AM · #39

Brian, I was at a frisbee trial a few years ago and got some pictures. I hadn't heard of one in the area since them. Darn, I'm going over to Walla Walla on Sat or that would be tempting to go to as well... although it's a ways to run up for the day from here.

Mike

08/17/2007 02:10:30 AM · #40

Originally posted by Sheryll:

I started processing my own Sunday shots. Now I know where this lighting came from. And the planes do look a lot lighter under overcast sky. You didn't edit it nearly as much as I thought when I compared it with my Saturday shots, which I'm still working on, but the pictures of the night show from Friday are up:
//wild-light.com/image/People%20and%20Events/Airshow%2C%2008.10.07/web_6246.jpg
//wild-light.com/image/People%20and%20Events/Airshow%2C%2008.10.07/web_6545.jpg

Mick

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/18/2007 10:26:14 PM · #41

I finally got time to edit some of my shots from the air show...

08/19/2007 01:51:11 AM · #42

picus that JATO shot is awesome. I'm sure the Angels PAO (public affairs assistant) would love to get that one. Might be something to look into.