metering for airshows

nikonD60maty

nikonD60maty

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Name
Mathew
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hi guys and gals

this year i will be attending the fairford air show and i am hoping to get some great shots with your help.....fingers crossed :)

i have a Nikon D60 with a nikkor 70-300 vr...

my question is what metering mode should i be using?? as a lot of the frame is filled with sky

thanks for you :help:

Mat
 
The basic rules I follow is in constant light conditions (sunny day for instance) I use manual exposure. You set your settings and are good until you change area or the natural light changes. For an airshow on a sunny day this theoretically means you won't need to change your settings for the entirety. For changing light conditions (sunny intervals perhaps) I would use Aperture or Shutter priority, much less of a faff than re-doing your manual settings. Shutter priority will probably be the one to go for as you will want to specify a reasonably high shutter speed to freeze the planes. Use the ISO to control your aperture if you find it is straying towards the open or closed end with the shutter speed you want. (for this I'd use f/8 or f/5.6, and would compromise ISO to a certain degree to get there).

No matter what though, I always use evaluative metering, which tries to draw an average from the whole frame with a bias towards the center. Don't rely totally on the light meter, just use it as a guide to set up the exposure first of all. If you are unsure, take a test shot and check the histogram.

I apologise if that was garble but I do it without thinking and to put it into words is difficult for me.
 
thats brilliant advice and it all made sense.. i am seriously looking forward to RIAT this year :D just hope the weather holds up
 
manual...you can make adjustments for the changes of light on the fuselage...aka known as skin...tones

bias to speed selection..
 
I don't do many planes but whenever I do I usually shoot aperture priority wide open and use exposure compensation of +1 (sometimes more) stops to allow for the sky; like this one



Or, if I want to capture prop blur I use shutter priority but still use exposure compensation; like this one



(One day I will remove the dust bunny from near the prop on this one)
 
Why shoot wide open? Your shutter speeds will be stupidly high on a sunny day even with the ISO bottomed out, meaning you will get no prop movement whatsoever - and, if panning - no background blur. You will also be getting the worst IQ from the lens.
 
Not when your lens doesn't suffer from being wide open. I guess if it does then you pick an aperture more suitable. I have yet to find many occasions in the UK when shooting wide open exceeds 1/8000 second at ISO 100. Also note I said I use shutter priority if shutter blur is required.

Looking at the EXIF I see the first one is also shutter priority and isn't quite wide open.
I usually have the opposite problem with UK light in that I cannot get a fast enough shutter speed with a low ISO unless I am wide open - thinking horses jumping fences - so I am thankful my lenses are sharp wide open.
 
That's fair enough but I doubt a 70-300 is going to be sharpy sharp sharp wide open ;)
 
you don't want to high a shutter speed when the prop boys are flying as you want blur.

Slower shutter and good panning skills.
 
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