Sun position and shooting

[snakedoctor]

Hi again everyone.  So yesterday was my first time at Rickenbacker.  Does anybody have any suggestions when shooting into the sun?  I got home from the gathering yesterday and found out the most of my photos were backlit.  I tried over exposing the shots a smidge, but obviously not enough.  I was affraid to wash everything out.  On that note, can anyone refresh my memory about shooting at Nellis.  I can't remember for the life of me where the position of the sun was there last year.  Please share thoughts and/or tips.

Thanks everyone!

[M.M.]

Does anybody have any suggestions when shooting into the sun?  I got home from the gathering yesterday and found out the most of my photos were backlit.  I tried over exposing the shots a smidge, but obviously not enough.

Overexpose more.  Check the histograms from your shots, keep adding exposure compensation until either (a) the planes look light enough or (b) the sky is nearly blown out.  Also, shoot RAW so you have more ability to correct the exposure in post-processing.

As for Nellis, the crowd's on the west side of the 03-21 runways.  It's backlit in the morning, but the sun moves around just enough to front-light the Thunderbirds at the end.

-M.M.

[demar727]

what settings to you find work out great

im really getting tired of my shots coming out bad when i shoot into the sun.. i just cant figure out the settings


shoot M? or AV?  ISO setting? etc


any help would be awesome

thanks 

[mik]

there's backlit and then there's BACKLIT.  dialing in exposure compensation works sometimes, cleaning the garage, or cutting the grass is sometimes a better use of time.

silhouettes are cool sometimes, if that's the kind of into the sun you're talking about make the best of it

[skippyscage]

I've pondering how to answer this for a few days, and Mik has pretty much hit the nail on the head.

use it to your advantage for silhouettes or move so the sun is behind you

[Clubber]

or move so the sun is behind you

LOL! That's a pretty BIG move! The only way that'll happen is if they move the showbox behind the crowd or you stand at either end of the flightline and just get the banking shots...

Shooting in Toronto (which has horrid lighting) for the past eon has taught me that there isn't much at all you can do. I don't bother anymore simply because no one really needs to see a photo of a silhouette Hornet - I got that when I was 8 years old 

[skippyscage]

LOL! That's a pretty BIG move! The only way that'll happen is if they move the showbox behind the crowd or you stand at either end of the flightline and just get the banking shots...

Shooting in Toronto (which has horrid lighting) for the past eon has taught me that there isn't much at all you can do. I don't bother anymore simply because no one really needs to see a photo of a silhouette Hornet - I got that when I was 8 years old 

exactly - get creative - as you already say shoot from the end and just the banking shots.

move outside the airfield - walk if you need to - I did just exactly that in the Czech Republic - over a 1 hour walk through muddy fields.

it all depends on your desire for good photos I guess - I wasn't prepared to go all that way to get backlit shots myself.

[Mickey]

And the sun moves from east to west and the aircraft fly from one side to the other. So you don't have to shoot into the sun all the time, you can move during the day to have as much time with the aircraft away from the sun.

Make sure to disconnect metering from AF-servo tracking (refer to this hread and this one as well - if you're shooting Canon), so that you meter at the moment you actually take the picture, instead of being left with the metering done at the other side of the base when you locked-on the AF. With the 40D a seperate button has been introduced  for this purpose.

Good luck and take your walking boots next time !

Mickey