Pretty new in this hobby - Some tips and advices needed

E

elcrni

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Hi there guys,
Well, as the post title says, i am pretty newbie in this hobby and although i did some photos from time to time before with my old Olympus E500 i am now meeting a new problems and keep getting bad photos :-)
Aircrafts are my passion for many years now, well, since i was just a kid actually. For some years now i am a scale modeler but a year or so ago i fell in love with aircraft photography and i am hooked up now :-)
Naturally, i had to do a shopping and i started with Canon 450D, 18-55mm IS, 55-250 IS and Sigma 150-500mm, nothing professional or spectacular but i think decent enough for good photos (or not?).

So, on a perfectly sunny day i can maybe get a good photo here and there but 2 days ago i was at the Airshow on a cloudy and pretty bad day for photography and.... 99% of all my photos are awful, bleached, no contrast at all, poorly saturated... in one word BAD :-)

Now, i use shutter priority mode, 1/500 at 500mm and f8.0 and that's pretty much ok on a perfect sunny day but on sunday it was a disaster... Then i started asking, google-ing and a friend of mine who also takes phots of the planes mentioned CPL filter that takes care of saturation, contrast, reflections, haze?

Basically what i would like to know is do i need a CPL or UV or? (Both?) Am i making a mistake in some parameters or anything? What do i need for proper photo of an aircraft (considering sky in the background)

One thing that is clear to me is: better filter (equipment) costs more so i will not as which one is better as i am familiar with the philosophy of "pay more, get better".


Any tips, tricks, advices will be much much appreciated!



Kind regards to all,
Alek


http://www.maketar.com/DPP_0306.jpg
This one is the best one that i got

http://www.maketar.com/DPP_0285.jpg
This one is like the rest, too much haze, mist....
 
Hi Alek and welcome aboard. :wave:

First of all I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get decent aircraft shots with the gear you have. Both of the images you have provided are typical of images taken on dull days. Dull days produce dull images - it's as simple as that. Both images can be improved with a bit of processsing - they're both very light. They both look plenty sharp enough, I suspect it's the metering against the sky where you're going wrong and your camera meter is being over-influenced by all that sky.

Forget any idea of filters improving things -at least for the time being until we've sorted more basic problems.

Were these images originally very dark and you've had to lighten them in editing - that's the impression I'm getting?
 
Hi CT and many thanks for your reply!

Your are right, i really do need to improve more basic things before getting more equipment.
First image is a bit improved (contrast/brightness...) and the second one is just resized, no post processing at all so that answers your question, they are out of the camera as you see them.

Another and major thing is the dull day, i agree, but again, those are very very bad and i really think i could get it a bit better.

I don't expect becoming a pro overnight that's why i am seeking for advices and tips how to improve things :-)

Many thanks again,
Alek
 
Alek you need to go to your user control panel and enable the 'EDIT box over on the left there....

<-------

I'm not really supposed to do this till your 'edit' box is ticked- but here are your shots with just a bit of editing....

3920552441_7d762f8333_o.jpg


3921337356_ff59eaeb34_o.jpg


In all honesty there's not much wrong there - there's just no getting away from the dull conditions.

Hang around the forums - there are lots of guys here who are into aircraft photography who'll be able to give you loads of advice.
 
Edit: crossed post with CT. Seems like dull is dull :(

TBH it looks to me like your main problem is the atmosphere. There's always a lot of it with long lenses used at distance! It's a dull day and the sky is heavy with moisture killing contrast, and there's not much you can do about that.

Compared to a sunny day, there is vastly less mosture hanging in the air, plus you get a big lift from bright sun boosting contrast. It's as different as it can be.

You can do a bit by increasing contrast and saturation in the camera presets, or by doing the same in post processing. A polarising filter will also help, but you'll lose almost two stops using one, which is a major downside when the light is already lower than ideal.

Bottom line is the light is poo.
 
CT and HoppyUK, many thanks again guys, i am glad that its not all me whos the guilty here :-)
I am aware that the weather conditions were bad, too bad but that retouch from CT really cheered me up, alot.
In my profession i use photoshop alot but not so much for photo post process (I do industrial and architectural visualizations and use photoshop for making textures, tuning up the renders etc... but not so skilled at tuning up the bad photos :-) )
Other thing is the lens, at 500mm there is just not enough light and the filter would certainly add to one thing and lose on the other...

Also, what's the best option for fast moving objects when we talk about AF (AI focus or AI servo)?

Once again, many thanks guys, you really helped alot.

Cheers,
Alek
 
Use A1 Servo Alek - A1 Focus is crap -don't bother with it. ;)
 
Chaz Photos said:
Bad weather never helps but with a little photoshop how about this
3921482970_03e9f6000e_o.jpg

3921482984_a8f23e4041_o.jpg
Click to expand...

white and orange sky? I prefer the previous edit.

I'd suggest to familiarise with editing software such as Lightroom (shoot RAW, forget JPEG). Editing can make difference between a poor and average, or average and great shot. Overcast sky and shooting into the light normally means exposure problems.
 
Hi Guys,
After all this, i see that i must pay more attention to post process :-)

Forgive me, but i must continue asking questions :-)
What is the best f stop to use at 500mm (i know, it depends on the light and weather conditions, but lets say in the conditions like in my photos and in the clear sunny day)

Many thanks to all!
Kind regards,
Alek
 
Alek, everything goes against you with long lenses when the light is low. Post processing is obviously important but you must get an optimum file to work on in the first place - that's where the biggest gains will be made.

Perfect exposure and focus, sharpest aperture, highest shutter speed - it's difficult.

Your Sigma isn't the best lens and it's weakest at 500mm. There's CA in you first image, and do I detect a hint of camera shake? Hard to avoid with that much magnification on a dull day, especially when panning, but you're using OS aren't you? And a monopod?

TBH I bet the sharpest f/number is quite high on that lens, maybe f/11.
 
HoppyUK,
I am aware that i must get decent enough photo in the first place to be able to manipulate it in the post and thats why i am trying to learn how :-)
Sigma is good lens, but for sure its not the best out there, also, i am sure i can use it better than now and can get better results... with time.

Now about that OS :-) it was off, i know pretty stupid :-) and photos are taken from hand not a monopod or tripod... (please don't be mad at me for asking questions in the first place and not being satisfied with my photos when taking shots without OS and hand held camera)

The tricky part is to use f/11 at 500mm and still be able to freeze movement (still not so good at panning) by using 1/500 or higher and, using ISO 200 to get optimum noise free image... :-(

Thanks again for your patience!
Alek
 
HoppyUK said:
LOL Turd. Polish. Can't :D :lol:
Click to expand...

Not quite on topic but in fact you can, Mythbusters proved it.

Caused a bit of a stink:)

Do you shoot in RAW or jpeg as RAW will give you more latitiude in correcting things in PP?
 
PsiFox, as i had limited space on my memory card it was all JPEG but in other situations i usually shoot just RAW.

Thanks,
Alek
 
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