Blue Angels Celebrate Healthcare Workers Over Houston
May 6, 2020 was a very special day with the Blue Angels doing a fly-over of the Houston area in celebration of healthcare workers on National Nurses Day. Major thank you to all of the healthcare workers out there fighting the good fight.
They published the flight pattern for the Blue Angels so knew that they would be in my area around 1:00 p.m. as they headed to Ellington Field to land. Got into position in my driveway with my camera and 500mm lens with 1.4X teleconverter to see what I could grab.
Got to get a few test shots off with a redtailed hawk flying by very high in the air. Set my camera for birds in flight with positive exposure compensation. Would normally use +1 but with the dark planes, cranked it up to + 1 2/3. Set the aperture to F8 but should have used F11 in hindsight. Had my back-up 1DX with my 100-400 lens but would have not had time to grab it if I wanted to.
Had no idea that they would come in so low and so close to my house. My wife and just asked if we would hear them coming and I said no, they travel so fast that the sound follows them. Just after that I spotted them coming in fast over the trees. Had my new camera ready to go and started to focus and shoot. Used all focus points and held the hammer down and got 75 photos in the sequence. Having 16 frames/second came in handy. Had to pause once to reposition as my neighbor’s tree was blocking my view. They were too close to get all 6 planes in the frame so focused on the lead planes.
It was great to see them this close, not in an airshow. Was also glad that they had their smoke on. They likely buzzed NASA’s Johnson Space Center, which is a couple of miles, as FA-18 flies, north of my house.
Both photos are uncropped, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm handheld
Veterans Day Salute
This post is dedicated to all veterans past and present. Thank you for your sacrifices.
These are photos of the Blue Angels from 2018 Wings Over Houston airshow on Sunday Oct 21.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 100-400 II lens, handheld
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/2500 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/2500 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/2500 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/3200 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority, converted to B&W using NIK Silver Effects Pro
1/2500 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
Memorial Day Tribute
In tribute to all that have served, here are some Blue Angels photos from the 2014 Wings Over Houston airshow. The moon was out which made for a cool background.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 lens, handheld
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/3200 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Blue Angels at Wings Over Houston
Spent two full days last weekend taking photos at the Wings Over Houston airshow. It was great weather, which brought out record crowds as they sold out the show on Sunday. Got to hang out with Christine and her father on Saturday, who is a former A4 pilot. The Blue Angels were awesome as always. With bright blue sky’s, blue jets and harsh sunlight, decided to try B&W for something different, which helped to bring out the details in the smoke trails with the higher contrast. Took lots of photos so more to come.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 lens, handheld
1/1250sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Blue Angels Turn and Burn at Wings Over Houston
The Blue Angles put on another great show at the Wings Over Houston airshow this year. Spent the afternoon on Friday along Hwy 3 near the end of the runway. Hand held my 500mm lens for about 3 hours, which was a good work out. The biggest challenge was keeping it steady with the high winds. I like the different angles that you can get from this location. Spent Saturday along the flight line near show center but just got the typical airshow shots. Here are some of my favorite Blue Angels shots from Friday. Most of these are full frame with very little cropping. It was time to turn and burn…
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens, handheld
Shutter priority, 1/320 sec @ F14, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/2000 sec @ F4.5, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Tim Timmis Photography 