To single out one photo from two thousand plus that I took at the Bray Air Display of 2022 could be a challenge, but I narrowed it down immediately by focusing on Rescue 116.
Men and woman in the emergency services often face horrendous conditions and go into situations that others are running from. In particular, the Irish Coast Guard whether it is on a boat or in a helicopter, battle the elements to extreme levels to rescue people. In March 2017, the crew of Rescue 116 were tragically lost close to Blacksod Lighthouse, and a country mourned. They paid the ultimate price. When I hear the rotors of a helicopter, and especially if I see the Red and White and know it is a CHC machine, I think of Dara and her crew.
The Bray Air Display in 2022 was my first and I am grateful to Derek for the invite to go with him. I had never been to an air display before and had no experience of shooting aircraft. I looked at a YouTube video shared on Facebook by a club mate the day before and was surprised to hear that the the best shots would be at a shutter speed of 1/320 sec. or less. This really surprised me as when I am shooting (or at least trying to) birds in flight I would look for a very fast shutter speed probably in region of 1/3200 sec or higher if light allowed.
So the approach I took on the day was manual mode with auto ISO (my choice the vast majority of the time) and to take the initial shots at a very fast shutter speed to nail a sharp shot and to gradually slow down the shutter until the shot was soft and out of focus. I have no idea how I managed this shot which I have featured here. The shutter speed was 1/80 sec. with a 100-400mm lens plus extender at 248 mm (bang went my normal safe double the focal length logic). The bright light caused the need for an aperture of f20 and an ISO of 100. I really like the blur of the tail rotor with the orange tips highlighting the motion blur.
Comments
Post a Comment