Red Arrows: The joys of photographing fast planes

Red Arrows

The Red Arrows are the RAF display team for the UK, and their red jets have become an iconic symbol to see at major events. They are based out of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, and on a recent visit to family, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to see them practising overhead. Of course, this wasn't without it's difficulties, which I'll go into in a minute!

Photographing planes (and fast ones at that!): Some tips

Telephoto is your friend

Funnily enough, even when they're flying low, planes will still be quite small to photograph unless you have your telephoto zoom handy. I was using my Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II Lens, which taking into account the crop factor on my 60D meant I could zoom to about 400mm. As you can see from the photos below, that meant I could just about fill the frame when the planes were up close.

High Shutter speed and AI-Servo are your other friends

As I was trying to capture the detail of the planes, I wanted as high a shutter speed as I could. This also ensured things like smoke trails were frozen in time, rather than becoming too streaky. Of course, you may want to have some blur if you want to show how fast the planes are going; as always, it's up to you! This is especially true of propellors; a fast shutter speed can result in propellors being stationary, which can ruin the flight illusion slightly.

The second thing needed, given the planes are in motion, was the switching of Autofocus from 'One Shot' to 'AI Servo'. These may be called something different on your camera, but a general summary is:

• One Shot - focussing on stationary objects. This is the normal mode, whereby you focus on on object and retain that focus only. If said object subsequently moves around (such as closer or further away), then they may move out of focus and would require you to refocus
• AI Servo - for action shots. Here, you select the object to focus on, and the camera will try and retain the focus on that object as it moves. Certainly not foolproof, but it will at least try and keep focussing as whatever you are trying to photograph moves around

(Note: there is a third option typically which attempts to merge these, so that focus locks on something stationary but then switches to servo if it starts moving. This isn't that reliable though, and most people stick the mode they know they want)

Fast planes definitely fit into the category of moving, so AI Servo was the best option. It is also useful when doing panning shots, which would have been an option here had I wanted.

Panning and anticipation

The last tip I'd give would be to try and prepare for the shot in question, rather than just pointing and firing. The process I followed was something like:

1. Work out where the plane would be coming from. This was a mixture of listening to the engine roar and looking for telltale signs like smoke trails.
2. Work out where the plane would be going. Is the plane going overhead or across me? This helps me work out what direction I would be panning
3. Find the plane with lens at minimum zoom. This makes it easier to get the plane in position before then zooming in
4. Once zoomed in, get focus lock on the plane and start panning with it
5. SHOOT PHOTOS!
6. Keep panning in same direction after I stopped

Panning is something that comes with practice, but the aim should be to move in a smooth manner in relation to the object. You don't necessarily shoot for the duration of this, and in reality you should start panning, snap photos, then keep panning. This ensures that the first/last photos aren't too blurry potentially.

Summary

As you'd expect, the tips I listed above were what I learned as I went. I was fortunate to be able to keep getting shots, as they went around similar loops several times. I'm hoping to get to Farnborough Air Show this year, when maybe I'll be able to get some formation shots and be a little more adventurous with my framing.

Please visit my website for more photos

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter