Last Night - 4th December
Derek Smith • 5 December 2024
Gavin Smith
Portrait of our speaker Gavin Smith by Derek Smith
Westland Wildcat
This photo of ZZ409 Augusta Westland Wildcat is one of my best of an aircraft in flight, by Derek Smith
Last night our speaker the very articulate Gavin Smith, a self-confessed aircraft “geek” gave us a very interesting talk on aircraft photography. Gavin is a volunteer guide at the Coningsby Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and the International Bomber Command Centre.
For many experienced photographers some of the knowledge he imparted was fairly obvious, shoot in RAW in order to draw out the most dynamic range and detail from the image, and use a lens greater than a 300mm focal length.
One of the nuggets of information that Gavin spoke on that I hadn’t appreciated is that many Royal Air Force airfields have a single runway orientated in a southwest, northeast direction, owing to the British prevailing winds, the viewing areas, workshops, administration buildings are often located to the north of the runway, resulting in photographers forced into taking photos of aircraft in flight against a bright sky looking to the south. Coningsby, Duxford, and East Kirkby airfields are orientated in this manner making life more difficult for photographers.
Gavin showed us stunning images of aircraft in flight, very closely cropped views of aircraft in flight, showing every single panel, fastenings, and rivets on the fuselage in sharp detail. The photos of aircraft low flying through the “Mach Loop” valley in Wales were especially strong in dynamic composition, the RAF Airbus A400M cargo aircraft steeply banking through the valley, and looking down onto the RAF GR1 Panavia Tornado, still in desert camouflage, as it passed through the valley below Gavin’s viewpoint. Gavin likes to photograph the pilots at the controls, in their “office” as he put it.
Some of the tips that Gavin shared were to shoot in Aperture, or Shutter priority, and to “pan” through the expected track of an aircraft to meter for correct exposure as the ISO may need to be raised if the aircraft is flying into an area of shadow.
Keep an eye on shutter speed for propeller driven aircraft to blur the propellers, on take-off the propellers will be turning faster than for a throttled back fly-past, or landing.
Other personal preferences from Gavin were as follows:
Shoot on the bright side with partial metering (+2/3 / +1 EV) and expect the sky to be blown out.
In post processing “push” shadows, dampen the highlights, and saturation. Don’t over sharpen or use excessive clarity. A vignette, or graduated filter can soften the corners, and draw the viewers eye to the subject.
Thanks, Gavin, for an interesting talk, with valuable insights and tips, punctuated with stunning photography, a great evening which I’m sure we all enjoyed.
Louth Photographic Society
Last night our members enjoyed a visit to the Swaby valley nature reserve. We crossed over two fields from South Thoresby, then followed the course of the Swaby Beck chalk stream through the valley, the public footpath was bounded by dense vegetation that hindered our progress at times. There was plenty to see around the reserve, myriad butterflies flitted around in a very lively manner, making for difficult photography, I spotted several small grasshoppers, and soldier beetles in the long grass, I tried to photograph a ladybird, but it was gone by the time I focussed on the creature. It was a very enjoyable evening, with good friendly company, and our camera skills were needed for the macro photography, these are a few of my photos from the evening.
Good Morning All Last week's outing was re-scheduled due to a clash with a certain world cup match, the good news was a victory for England, however we intend to still hold the outing on Wednesday 22 nd July. I did go to the Festival of Flight at the Shuttleworth collection, Old Warden last weekend. It was too windy for some of the old Biplanes, but we were treated to a four-and-a-half-hour display featuring many planes that I had never seen fly before. The De Havilland Comet was built to compete in the 1934 race from Britain to Australia, only three were built and it's good to see it flying, the aircraft design was quite advanced for 1934. This week, Wednesday 8th July, we have another camera club outing to the Swaby Valley, meeting at 6pm. Swaby is just off the A16 heading from Louth to Skegness. Regards Graham
Last night’s Louth Photographic Societies outing to Kirkby gravel pits nature reserve was cancelled as some members preferred to watch some sporting gentleman by the name of Harry Kane. (Congratulations to the England team) The reserve is small, and simply laid out, a public footpath leads along a tree lined avenue to the river Bain at the back of the reserve. Historic sand and gravel extraction has left a large lake in the centre of the reserve, several ducks and waterfowl inhabit the lake and there is a bird hide on the shoreline. Returning to the road, there is a path running parallel to the road bounded by a hedge, insects of various types can be found in this area, damselflies, butterflies, and hover-flies are often prolific. Our outing to Kirkby Gravel pits is now scheduled for Wednesday 22nd July. Parking is on the verge by the roadside. Kirkby Gravel pits are fairly close to where I live, and it’s reserve that I often visit, these are some photos from a visit in July last year.
Good morning, All, Last week at the club we had our monthly print competition, Trees and Open. There was a very good entry with a high standard of photography on show. Tony Gaskins was first in the Open and I managed a first in the trees, all the results are on our website and there is also a blog on the evening. This week, Wednesday 1st July, we are having an outing to Kirkby Gravel Pits, if we meet at 6.30 at the reserve, though you can arrive earlier as there are usually dragonflies etc around the entrance. If we walk straight ahead first, then anyone who arrives late can find us. I have struggled to find a map, but you can see the location on the Lincolnshire wildlife Trust website. Kirkby Grave Pits is also a good reserve for birds. Tattershall Road 1 mile south of Kirkby-on-Bain Woodhall Spa Nearest postcode LN10 6YN. Please note - postcodes are for the nearest registered address as we are unable to get postcodes for nature reserves.
A print competition was held last night with the categories of "Trees" as the subject, and "Open". Our judge for the evening was Gail Wrigg from Barton who did an expert job. The first category to be judged was the "Open" with the high standard of prints making the choice of top placement difficult, and Gail held back 9 prints for further evaluation. There were some chuckles from members around one of Richard Hildred's prints of wooden electricity poles titled "In my previous life I used to be one of them" an "in" joke from Richard, which totally baffled Gail. After the break Gail judged the "Trees" category, with 7 prints held back this time for awarding of higher marks, the beautiful colours of some trees, especially the autumnal images contrasting with the stunning monochrome infrared prints from Richard Hildred. It was a great evening, with excellent prints on display, and the website Competition page has been updated with the full results.
Good Morning All Last week we visited the nature reserves at Fir Hill quarry and Muckton wood. I have written a blog report on the evening which is on our website. You can always try something a little different like I did using camera movement. This week, Wednesday 24th June, a print competition will be held, with the categories of "Trees" and "Open" and is to be judged by Gail Wrigg. The following week we have an outing to Kirkby Gravel pits. If you want advice on camera settings etc the outings are the perfect opportunity to ask other members while we all have our cameras. Regards Graham
Each year Louth Photographic Society begins a new project, one photo taken each month on a specific subject, that's 12 photos presented on "Project Night" in January. Last year the subject was "Prime Time" one photo each month taken with the same fixed focal length lens. This year the subject is water, the subject sounds easy enough, and I've completed 5 photos already, but I'm struggling a little with a photo for June. I'm currently on holiday in Corfu, an island surrounded by water which should be easy, but I'm yet to find the "definitive" photo for the project. These are my photos so far this month: Best regards Derek
Good Evening All
Summer is here at last, maybe?
Last night a few of our members had an outing to Old Bolingbroke village. Initially visiting the Lincolnshire Wildlife Reserve of Sow Dale, off Spilsby Hill at the village entrance, I was a little hesitant at first at entering the reserve because of the grazing cattle. When the cattle herd moved up the hill we climbed over the stile and entered the reserve, as we began to take some photos around the reserve though, the herd returned, but seemed quite docile. Later in the evening we moved on to Bolingbroke castle, and took several photos of the castle, fauna, and flora. It was a lovely evening, good to get out with cameras, and socialise with others.
