Central Coast Airfest - Planes of Fame Museum Air Show

[JayLT4]

A few shots from the recent Central Coast Airfest in Santa Maria, California. This was a show I was really looking forward to as there were so many planes I wanted to see, a lot of which I had never seen in person let alone fly.

The weather on Saturday was rough, pure sun and warm. Add to that the way the sun starts to get in front of you in the afternoon and it makes getting good shots pretty difficult. Thankfully Sunday cooled down and added some nice clouds to help diffuse the harsh sun.

I'm still sorting through pics, and there are planes that I haven't even been able to sort through and process yet, but I'm slowly working through them.

One of the planes I was very much looking forward to see was the Grumman F&F Tigercat, one of only about 8 that are still flying. I'm a big P38 fan as well and the F7F has a lot of similar lines from the front, just a bit more exaggerated. There was also the only known flying P-51H in attendance as well. Throw in the trio of P-47's, a trio of P40's. two P38's, two TBM Avengers, an SBD Dauntless, Bearcat, Firefly, Hawker Seafury, two B-25 Mitchells, and around a dozen other various P-51 models among others and it was just a joy to see and hear.

There were a couple jets there as well, specifically Jason Somes Mig-17 and Greg Colyer's T-33. Pics of those later.

These were shot on my R5II and RF 100-500 for flight shots, RF 14-35 for a few static shots. I had my EF 500 f/4L IS II with me as well, but honestly since I'm shooting at a lower shutter speed (1/100th to 1/320th on average) the F/4 lens really wouldn't make much difference compared to the 100-500 since my aperture is going to need to stop down quite a bit to tame the sun for the slower shutter speed. I do plan on adding some nice ND filters in the future so the aperture doesn't have to stop down so much. It get's a little crazy when shooting 1/40th or so. Also, having the flexibility to zoom, and the MUCH lighter weight of the 100-500 made it more enjoyable to shoot throughout the weekend.

All pictures downsized to 2500px on the long edge for easier uploading

--
My Flickr page; https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaylt4/

 

[BobKnDP]

Very nice.

I'd hoped for a B17G, though. (My late father was the co-pilot of one in WWII.) ;-)

 

[Curvature]

Amazing shots. I particularly like the first a few images in the early morning when the sun wasn't that much strong. The colors and lighting are just that impressive.

I went to this airshow last year. This year I planned to go but the gov shuts down and there's no military active jets. Even though your photos are so NICE.

Hope I can shoot some nice pics just like yours one day.

 

[Planterz]

That's an amazing assortment of warbirds. I'm a big fan of the F7F, and the P-38 is probably my favorite WWII bird. We've got a nice little museum here in Tucson, but none of the planes here are airworthy. Planes of Fame and Yanks are close to the top of my bucket list - with my parents moving to the Bay area, no doubt I'll be able to get to Chino in the not-too-distant future.

Next time, I suggest popping on an ND filter - looks like one stop should be sufficient, perhaps 2 stops if it's brighter. That'll let you slow your shutter speed down without having to shrink your aperture quite so small. Not that there's anything wrong with your shots (much better than I've done so far). They're sharp, but keeping your aperture open and avoiding diffraction might let you get even sharper ones.

 

[drsnoopy]

A few shots from the recent Central Coast Airfest in Santa Maria, California. This was a show I was really looking forward to as there were so many planes I wanted to see, a lot of which I had never seen in person let alone fly.

The weather on Saturday was rough, pure sun and warm. Add to that the way the sun starts to get in front of you in the afternoon and it makes getting good shots pretty difficult. Thankfully Sunday cooled down and added some nice clouds to help diffuse the harsh sun.

I'm still sorting through pics, and there are planes that I haven't even been able to sort through and process yet, but I'm slowly working through them.

One of the planes I was very much looking forward to see was the Grumman F&F Tigercat, one of only about 8 that are still flying. I'm a big P38 fan as well and the F7F has a lot of similar lines from the front, just a bit more exaggerated. There was also the only known flying P-51H in attendance as well. Throw in the trio of P-47's, a trio of P40's. two P38's, two TBM Avengers, an SBD Dauntless, Bearcat, Firefly, Hawker Seafury, two B-25 Mitchells, and around a dozen other various P-51 models among others and it was just a joy to see and hear.

There were a couple jets there as well, specifically Jason Somes Mig-17 and Greg Colyer's T-33. Pics of those later.

These were shot on my R5II and RF 100-500 for flight shots, RF 14-35 for a few static shots. I had my EF 500 f/4L IS II with me as well, but honestly since I'm shooting at a lower shutter speed (1/100th to 1/320th on average) the F/4 lens really wouldn't make much difference compared to the 100-500 since my aperture is going to need to stop down quite a bit to tame the sun for the slower shutter speed. I do plan on adding some nice ND filters in the future so the aperture doesn't have to stop down so much. It get's a little crazy when shooting 1/40th or so. Also, having the flexibility to zoom, and the MUCH lighter weight of the 100-500 made it more enjoyable to shoot throughout the weekend.

All pictures downsized to 2500px on the long edge for easier uploading

--
My Flickr page; https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaylt4/

Fabulous images, thanks for sharing. Great photography! You are indeed fortunate to have such an airfield and display. Far more still flying than here in the UK.

 

[R2D2]

A few shots from the recent Central Coast Airfest in Santa Maria, California. This was a show I was really looking forward to as there were so many planes I wanted to see, a lot of which I had never seen in person let alone fly.

The weather on Saturday was rough, pure sun and warm. Add to that the way the sun starts to get in front of you in the afternoon and it makes getting good shots pretty difficult. Thankfully Sunday cooled down and added some nice clouds to help diffuse the harsh sun.

I'm still sorting through pics, and there are planes that I haven't even been able to sort through and process yet, but I'm slowly working through them.

One of the planes I was very much looking forward to see was the Grumman F&F Tigercat, one of only about 8 that are still flying. I'm a big P38 fan as well and the F7F has a lot of similar lines from the front, just a bit more exaggerated. There was also the only known flying P-51H in attendance as well. Throw in the trio of P-47's, a trio of P40's. two P38's, two TBM Avengers, an SBD Dauntless, Bearcat, Firefly, Hawker Seafury, two B-25 Mitchells, and around a dozen other various P-51 models among others and it was just a joy to see and hear.

There were a couple jets there as well, specifically Jason Somes Mig-17 and Greg Colyer's T-33. Pics of those later.

These were shot on my R5II and RF 100-500 for flight shots, RF 14-35 for a few static shots. I had my EF 500 f/4L IS II with me as well, but honestly since I'm shooting at a lower shutter speed (1/100th to 1/320th on average) the F/4 lens really wouldn't make much difference compared to the 100-500 since my aperture is going to need to stop down quite a bit to tame the sun for the slower shutter speed. I do plan on adding some nice ND filters in the future so the aperture doesn't have to stop down so much. It get's a little crazy when shooting 1/40th or so. Also, having the flexibility to zoom, and the MUCH lighter weight of the 100-500 made it more enjoyable to shoot throughout the weekend.

All pictures downsized to 2500px on the long edge for easier uploading

Spectacular shooting, as always!!!

You have the technique(s) down pat. What a great selection of aircraft.

Thanks for posting these (for us to aspire to!).

R2