Airshows are exciting spectacles of planes and aerobatics. There is lots going on and many things to photograph. Here are some quick tips to help get the best images you can.
1. Overexpose by 1 to 2 stops.
When you are taking photos of flying planes, you are shooting them against the sky. And the sky is bright. Really bright! And the meter in your camera is not very smart. It will try make the very bright sky a neutral grey and this will turn your planes into silhouettes. To counteract this, you will want to increase your exposure by a stop or two. I usually shoot in either aperture priority or shutter priority mode, so I just roll the exposure compensation dial up to +1 or +2. You can pull the highlights down again in Lightroom to recover the sky, but at least you will have the details in your subjects.
2. Use continuous tracking auto-focus
You’ll be trying to focus on fast moving planes. Let your camera do the work for you. Set your camera's auto-focus to continuous tracking. Half press the shutter and the camera will do it's best to keep your subject in focus. Pan with the plane, trying to keep it centered in your view and only fully press the shutter when you want to take the shot. While your camera will do its best, some cameras have better tracking than others and this won't guarantee all your shots will be in perfectly tack sharp focus. So this leads us to the next tip.
3. Shoot in high speed continuous burst
Gone are the days of 36 shot film and motor-drive attachments. Digital storage is cheap and almost all cameras have a burst mode. So make sure you have a big, fast memory card and burst away! Half press the shutter to get your auto-focus tracking going and pan with the plane as it approaches and then gently squeeze and hold the shutter to shoot a continuous burst as it passes. Keep your movements smooth, no jerky motions, and release the shutter when the plane has passed, or you've lost track of it. Afterwards you will have hundreds of images to go through, but you will have a better chance of getting at least a few good ones from each fly-by. Keep the good ones and delete the rest.
The most important thing to remember is to just go out and have fun. Hopefully these tips should help you come away with some great shots to remember your day.
And one final parting tip: remember to bring a hat and use sunscreen! It is never pleasant to come away with a bad sunburn.
