10 Essential Tips To Get Great Blue Angels Photos By Jim

This weekend is Fleet Week here in San Francisco and given numerous emails I’ve received about photographing the event I thought I would consolidate my tips to photographing the Blue Angels. Following these tips should put you on the fast track to walking away with some great photos.

Logistics - Be Prepared
In San Francisco that means get to the show very early. Parking is always a challenge and will test your patience. Don’t let the search for parking ruin your day. If you want to avoid that aggravation then take public transportation and/or park far away.

Bring a lunch or a snack. Get the nutrients and fluids you need in your system ahead of time so you can keep your eye on the show and not your bag of chips.

Finding an obstructed view can be a challenge. Arriving early will not only enable you to find the best location possible but will give you the time to scout out various spots to set up.

Know Where Center-Point Is
Center-point is the physical location that all Blue Angels maneuvers are centered around. This is the mark they aim to criss cross over and navigate around. For Fleet Week here in San Francisco that point is in front of Aquatic Park. Knowing this location is critical if you plan to capture the Blue Angels Criss-Cross maneuver.

Location, Location, Location!
As with realestate location is everything. In San Francisco for Fleet Week there really isn’t a bad spot. I have taken photos of the Blue Angels from a variety of locations over the years including Aquatic Park, Fort Mason, Pier 39, Crissy Field,  Angel Island, and around the Golden Gate Bridge. Depending on what type of photo you want, what background subjects you’d like to have and the amount of hiking or crowds you’ll have to deal with choose appropriately. Honestly there isn’t a bad spot.

Focal Length
It is possible to get great photos of the Blue Angels here in San Francisco with virtually any focal length. Most air show photographs that you’ll see are taken with longer focal lengths to zoom in on the planes.  What focal length you’ll need for such shots depends on your location and the magnification factor of your dSLR. Its possible to get great tight photos using a focal length of anywhere from 200 to 400mm. Unless you’re very far away a longer focal length is over kill. In addition super long focal lengths make it challenging to track the planes. With that being said it is possible to get phenomenal photos of the Blue Angels with a shorter and even wide focal length. Shorter focal lengths enable you to capture not just the planes flying overhead, but the crowd around you.

Normal Autofocus or Servo Mode
You’ll have to experiment with this. For those that are unfamiliar with the difference… Autofocus requires you to half click the Shutter Release Button to focus on your subject.  Servo enables you to focus your subject in or near the center point of the frame and as the subject moves closer or farther the camera automatically focuses for you. The upside to Servo is that you can pan with a subject with minimal work to keep it in focus… in theory. If for any reason your camera confuses your point of focus your camera will keep your subject, the plane(s), blurred. If this happens enough you’ll be ripping your hair out. To avoid this you can stick with the normal Autofocus and half click and shoot quickly as you pan. This can take some practice.

Capture the Action with a Fast Shutter Speed
Greater than 1/800 sec for slower maneuvers
Over 1/1200 sec for faster maneuvers
>1/2000 sec for speed demonstrations
To attain such fast shutter speeds you’ll need to pay attention to what ISO your camera is set to. 400 ISO is a good starting point, but if weather conditions are cloudy you may need to bump your ISO up.

Don’t Use A Polarizer
If you do minimize the polarization to get the fastest shutter speed possible and to minimize over darkening the sky.

Include Your Surroundings
Clouds add a heightened sense of … altitude. Landmarks and people provide a needed sense of scale.

Be Considerate
Fleet Week brings out tons of people. Sure you may cross paths with someone having a bad day, but its in your best interest to take the high road with most any confrontation. Remember that this is a family event and there will be many kids in attendance. If you’re in a location where you might obstruct the view of a child or shorter person do what you can to move and clear the way for them to see the show.

Have Fun
These tips should put you on track to get some great photos and have an even better time at the event.

If you take photos of this weekends Fleet Week airshow add a link in the comments. I’d love to see what you come away with.

Prints
Like the photos displayed here? My Blue Angels photos can be seen and purchased directly via my photo archive Blue Angels 2007 and Blue Angels 2006

Technorati Tags: Photography, Photo, Tip, Blue Angels, Fleet Week, airshow, San Francisco,California

© Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved - JMG-Galleries

心境的由来 I

发给大家或者放在Pisacaweb上面照片的大多数的左下角都是符号+文字，那些是会说话的东西，是我心境的感觉啊。下面慢慢说出来和总结一下。

       

       其中符号变化如下： 

 

                 早 ————————————————————> 新

        开始摄影的想法是以科技的角度来观察世界，所以采用了原子运动的形式来考察我的照片，不过现在进入了强子的时代，好像还没有更新的符号来表示科学了，呵呵。强子世界看样子没有办法进入了，这个时间持续的比较长，SONY717照片都是使用这个符号，Nikon D200也有一些。使用了D200刚刚入手，千张时候，发现好相机没有好片子，困顿！为了只好进入中国传统社会了，希望以阴阳的形式来表述对社会或者自己对视角的看法了，当然这个只是口号上面的东西了，我自己叶公好龙，对于中医也是这样的了，好在时间很短，D200超过2000以后就换成现在的符号了。使用了这个符号的原因是因为我使用了GPS来记录照片的位置，如何来告诉大家我的照片有东南西北呢，照了PS里面的符号，也只有这个还稍微想想样子，所以也就是用它了。使用这个照片大约占了全部照片的三分之二强，主要是现在照片，无论D200还是T100都使用了GPS，即使没有使用GPS tracker，我也会用LOCR把照片的经度纬度放上去。所以这个符号将一直使用下去，出发有新的可以告诉大家坐标的符号。:)

       文字变化的情况是这样的：

Nanoworm:

        在使用SONY的717时候，左下角的文字基本都是nanoworm，这个是网名，主要是为了注册了不会有重名的，至今还没有发现重名，但是有两个例外，MSN中有个Nano-worm的日本人，他本来计划注册Nanoworm的，没有想到我先注册了，所以只好注册Nano-worm呵呵，这个人还不时和我聊聊天。还有一个就是Gmail的信箱，当时巴西老友在Gmail开始注册一个月就给我发来邀请，马上注册了，但是暂时感觉Gmail不是特别方便，搁置一边。又过了一个月知道了Gmail的系统使用的据说Java升级到一个Ajax技术，所以想仔细看看新技术，没有想到不能登录了，只好请老友重新邀请，注册了Nanowormx。后来不小心，认识Echo发现这个帐号被无耻人拿去了，而且放在同学录中，我欲哭无泪啊。大家如发现nanoworm@gmail.com的EMail非本人，而是无耻之人。

Big-Cat（Da-cat）：

        家有小女，但皮得很，非常不愿意听话，没有一时老实劲儿。没有办法，希望她能够稍微温柔一些，所以内心感觉大猫带着小猫应该是比较好玩吧，同时也温柔一些。

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————       

       当然名字变化主要还是近2年来使用D200和T100使用，因为D200比较多，所以基本也都是这样的感觉名字。  Da-Cat，Da-Cat@GPS （含义还是参考前面，因为没有想好从如何表示GPS所以也带了@）

Lotus Dong & Lotus Moving：莲动风动还是心动，这个也是开始把感觉写在照片的开始啊，为啥由此说法呢？06年回家，照常和老爸老妈去老家千年历史的“荷花湾“赏荷、照荷，一阵阵微风吹过，莲花随之驿动，心情也不断荡漾，感觉清爽，不经意想起了六祖说的蟠动、风动和心动的典故了，所以这个时间的照片都是在这样感觉。同时感觉自己对于照相的感觉还是莲动阶段吧，渴望能够通过技术学习来进化到风动或者心动的阶段。

2008年镜头不多增加，同时使用的相机也多了起来，对于照相的感觉也自然多了起来。冬日，在沈阳浑河边上，在严冬腊月真是千里冰封万里雪飘，但是河水尚未完全冰冻，里面的流水撞击着上面的冰，发出了咚咚和嘎嘎想的声音，在荒野之中格外的响亮，好像是水在唱歌，所以这个时间照的照片我都叫“冰歌IS”，回家了给小孩讲冰会唱歌，她也非常兴希望能够和我一块去听冰唱歌。不过非常遗憾，天太冷了，冰全封了，中间的流水笑了很多很多，歌声不够响亮，只有站在冰上才稍微有些，但小孩子还是不大敢上去。Anyway，这个时间感觉，心在流动。

随着天气的变化，心情也开始变化了很多。南方雪灾的时候，东北还是普通的情况。三月的春风吹来，浑河上面冰歌不在了，开始出现了流水，在照片上可以看见冰和水一起向远处流去。我的心境就是Non-Ice Heart，也就是不是冰心了，当然是春水了。随着春风的到来，浑河也称之为“春河”，河边的树木生丫了小草变绿了“ 春丫”又过了一段时间桃花开了，丁香也开了，每天晚上接了孩子，在南运河上面走着，看着”春花“闻着花香真是高兴啊。

今年照片非常多，但是为什么要照相呢？照相爱好乎？奢侈的发烧乎？还是其它的东西，困惑中，终于有一天有些感觉，我思故我在，因此需要”以影像感知世界，以思考洞察内心“，这个就是目前阶段对于摄影的理解吧，实际上大学的时候读过马赫的书”感觉的分析“，能够将运动和人的认知反应出来，以定量的方式来度量感觉，是非常Physics的。我看世界需要的”感觉哲思“，来体味镜头，欣赏和美感自然。

今年主要的标记是”感觉哲思“，其中偶然也可以看见”红色眼睛“”非常色彩“”摸鱼（者）“”毛秋“

”仲秋幼齿“ ”月下黑河“，是有感而发的，五一陪着老爸老妈去鸟岛游玩，老爸老妈虽然感觉门票太贵了，但是还是非常高兴的，老爸老妈也拿着我以前的717，相互照相，感觉春天的由来，自然之中之快啊。鸟岛中的小鸟也是人工散养着，所以鸟尽管怕人与人保持距离，还是可以接近的，所以我照了一系列小鸟们的研究，鸟眼睛是红色的，看着人，人也看着他的，就像小孩子说的，小鸟是大自然的，不是人类的。呵呵。盛夏颜色也是令人感动的，蓝天白云加上阳光透过枝叶的，真正光影的色彩，所以我称他们是”非常色彩“啊。现在沈阳的天水和地已经非常好了，在浑河边上，南北运河边上经常是若干人在垂钓，也有人携儿带女拿着小孩时候的瓶瓶罐罐，放点面包渣什么的来捉小鱼，非常有意思，当然也有人在放生，所以湿地中可以看见泥鳅和甲鱼了，虔诚的力量，我一方面知道需要虔诚，另外一方面也需要有人在幻想儿时的捉小鱼，所以每次看见他们后的照片我就叫’摸鱼了”。虽然今年照相过2万了，但是好像有人提醒我一下，对于金属所照相很少，初秋时间照了几张，因为初秋也是很早的时间，我一般喜欢这样的时间叫做“毛秋”。呵呵。今年给小孩子照了两次像，第一次儿童节，第二次是中秋，因为小孩也叫幼齿，所以小孩子露着眼睛的照片就叫做“仲秋幼齿”了。中秋晚上，到了浑河边上，随意照了几张，没有三脚架，所以至少东找西找支撑地方，照了几张，因为是月下的浑河，黑色的，所以叫做”月下黑河“，不是很恐怖的地方。：）呵呵。

云淡：最近使用的符号，因为沈阳入秋以后，天真蓝云真白，色彩及其丰富，给人感觉“秋高气爽 天高云淡”，用卡机上班一路照了一路，感觉非常兴奋，同时与Onlighting和丛去丁香湖照片也是这样的，因此都是云淡了，希望色秋的名字都是这样啊。

5 Ways to Shoot Autumn Leaves by Jeff

CC Photo by Nicholas Below

Autumn is all about color and leaves. Red, orange and yellow suddenly becomes the predominant color of nature instead of the usual green. What you need to know is that red, orange and yellow areadvancing colors. This means that if you look at different colored objects at a same distance from you, the objects that are colored red, orange and yellow will appear closer. This is the reason why photos of autumn landscapes look like they're jumping right at you. Below are five tips you can use to help you get creative with autumn leaves.

1. Play With Color

There is no rule in photography that prohibits you from moving things around to get the best possible shot. Try playing around with different colored leaves and different angles to get the effect you want.


CC Photo by Clearly Ambiguous
2. Get Low

Get on your belly and shoot leaves as they lie on the grass. A wide aperture will greatly help your composition since it will blur out any distracting elements that may block your subject. In the photo below an aperture setting of f/1.4 was used to blur out the grass between the camera and leaf.


CC Photo by Jeff Kubina
3. Don't Forget the City

Capturing autumn does not need to be limited to forests and parks. Look for fallen leaves on sidewalks and city streets. The bright autumn colors will really pop out of the gray surroundings.


CC Photo by moriza
4. Leaves on Water

There is something really peaceful about leaves floating on puddles or rivers. Try capturing a photo with ripples on the surface of the water to make it look more dynamic.


CC Photo by Waechor
5. Play with Your Shutter Speed

Freeze the leaves in mid-air by shooting at 1/500. This technique is especially effective if you're shooting another subject that may be blocked by the falling leaves. Alternately, you can go the abstract route by shooting at a low shutter speed to emphasize the motion of the leaves.


CC Photo by darkpatator

神奇的OUTLOOK

网上开始叫卖199的office2007，买了一个算是给微软的回报吧，咱不用盗版。但是大家也看到微软客服巨牛，所谓花了钱的正版的不好用，尽管制作精美，回答完全正确，实在是没有汗颜啊，所以也不得不用crack的。真是没有办法。:)。希望这个不是中国怪胎，而是微软怪胎。

最近升级到了OFFICE2007，出现巨怪巨怪的事情，给大家发送照片的时候，大家收不到照片，很多人都是webmail.dat。但是转发给我一切OK，大家和我说过，我说大家太土，我最新版本没有问题。可怕事情出现了一次，以后又一次和再一次出现，朋友们给我发信打电话问我，我抓狂了。所以一个月时间不敢给大家发照片。

国庆之后，再次手痒，照了一些照片，给大家发送，那个古来找我，你又忽悠我们，怎么没有附件，我看了一下，原来Foxmail。不知道谁的问题。晚上回家来，不管尝试，好在onlighting在。

经历一次又一次失败，找原因从EMail系统到outlook，不断抓狂，摇摇欲坠崩溃前兆，出现了啊。好在，没有放弃，在我彻底崩溃之前，在onlight帮助下经过数十次的尝试，在没有发现问题原因情况下，找到可以让大家看到附件办法，把照片用压缩一下，今后不能直接用JPG给大家发送了。唉！此时GOOGLE也“够不到了”。吐血啊。我昏倒，好在不是吐血倒地。

国庆照片

发件人 色秋

发件人 鸟岛野鸟

发件人 色秋

   奥运结束了，但忙碌还是没有结束，只好在家照相了。国庆长假也是在实验室和家里了。好在2日和父母在浑河一游，4日老丛、onlighting骑车去了丁香湖湖，总算有一次被秋色所征服。2日没有秋高气爽天高云淡的感觉，但是落叶知秋啊。有丝丝阳光照下来散在落叶上面，冷冷的，让人知道沈阳秋天来了。4日天空还是比较照顾情绪的，天空有云还算蓝，从沈阳东南向西北出发，一路过来东塔、省政府、北塔、舍利塔，还是了解了一下沈阳，地名也变成了眼前的东西。在沈阳大扒照顾下面，沈阳环境也是好了很多，即使是挖沙形成大水湾也搞成了大家休闲之处，起名字叫丁香湖，唯一遗憾是丁香湖被废旧拆卸市场包围着，看样子可见的东西没有了，没有形的羁绊还是有的啊。选了十张照片放在Picasaweb上面，其中三幅发给大家。沈阳塔湾，还是很有名地方，据说那里是大陆最后一位有舍利高僧葬身之所，看见了舍利塔发现塔周围的障碍物都被大扒了，此地空余此塔，非常有感觉，比较了一下google 地图上面的位置发现变化是从今年开始的。希望周围不要象北塔那样从高楼中找也找不到。真是举头不见塔唯见高楼啊。