Tornado GR4's - Thursday, Mach Loop [Pics Added]

[hyakuhei]

Well, what a day, an early pass from a Herc, plenty of great hawk passes courtesy of 19Sqn and 208Sqn and then came the fast-jet front-liners, GR4's and F-15's - I'm still working on a number of the images but here's my take on the GR4's.

As some of you will know from my other posts, I've been spending an increasing amount of time developing my post processing skills and in particular, looking for my own "style" I'd appreciate any feedback you'd like to give on these images

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Many thanks to everyone I spoke to up on the hill for their company

 

[Trappe]

I was looking forward to seeing some other shots from the upper shelf.

Very nice work Rob.

#2 looks familiar

 

[BAD WOLF]

Love em! They must be pretty low,are they on training or is it a display of some kind?

 

[markjayne]

Some very nice shots here Rob, #3 and #5 stand out

I've said it once and I'll say it again........lose that damn watermark from the middle of the image, it ruins shots IMO

Mark

 

[Lev67]

Superb set Rob, really like #'s 3 & 4

 

[FlyTVR]

Love them. No2 is incredible! However, the last one is my fav! EXCELLENT stuff.

Now, the Mach Loop - where is it? Is it Tal Y Llyn?

 

[Timc]

Very nice Rob, really like No.5 as it's very different from the norm, all are superbly captured and processed, you must share your secrets!

Tim

 

[Digitall]

Very nice images there Rob

 

[hyakuhei]

I think its interesting that no-one commented on #1 - I definately thought it was the weakest in the set but couldn't really finger why, I think perhaps there is too little contrast compared to the others?

Trappe:
Thanks Rory, I hope you don't mind me copying you for #2 I think the rotation works well for those sky shots.

BAD_WOLF:
Thanks for your comments, these jets were photographed training at low level in an area called the Mach Loop. There are a number of places within the Mach Loop that are ideal for photography, these shots were taken from Cad-West.
You can read more about the mach loop in the following links:
http://www.lowfly.net
http://www.warplane.co.uk
http://www.flylow-flyfast.co.uk
There are other areas in the UK where low flying takes place but I don't know much about them.

Markjayne:
Thanks for your comments Mark, sorry the watermark ruins the images for you but its staying

Lev67:
Thanks Neil, Really good of you to say so.

FlyTVR:
Thanks - You have a PM with some info

Timc:
Thanks Tim, The processing on the last shot wasn't all that hard, just fiddly, a few different layers with different levels of exposure masked and blended together, fiddled a little with dodge and burn before doing my favorite sky trick:
Drop the brightness down significantly and crank the contrast up! (Try it, instant interesting skies!)

Digitall:
Thanks Al, isn't it time you got yourself back up a mountain?

Thanks for all your comments guys

 

[eggbanjo]

Now they are a cool set of shots.

 

[Sandds]

Hi Rob.

Terrific set mate, hard to chose between them but I think #3 shades it for me .

I like the PP'd sky in the last one as well, gives a real dramatic feel to the image, very nice .

 

[Kediza]

Nice shots, especially the last shot

 

[hyakuhei]

Thoughts on this one please? I wasn't happy with #1 so I went back to lightroom and picked this one out for some special treatment.

The BG looks a little over saturated which could be the AdobeRGB to sRGB (long story) conversion...

#6

 

[andyred]

Cracking shots, esp No 2 - 4