Charleston Airshow (Beware Lots of photos)

[Discus-n00b]

My goal this year was to hit a few more photography spots or events through the year, at least 1 airshow was on my list and this was only 2hrs away and free so I had to go. This is my first time ever attempting flying jets, airshows, or really any true moving subject. Learned a lot and now I really want to do more. Was BRUTALLY hot but it was a great show, truly a great weekend event for kids and adults if you have one nearby. The Thunderbirds were the main event. So please see below a selection of photos out of the 4284 I shot at the show.

Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr
Thunderbirds by Matt, on Flickr

P-51
P-51 by Matt, on Flickr
P-51 by Matt, on Flickr
P-51 by Matt, on Flickr
P-51 by Matt, on Flickr

F-35
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr
F-35 by Matt, on Flickr

T-6 Texan
T-6 Texan by Matt, on Flickr
T-6 Texan by Matt, on Flickr
T-6 Texan by Matt, on Flickr
T-6 Texan by Matt, on Flickr
T-6 Texan by Matt, on Flickr

C-47 A real treat for me, i absolutely love WWII history and have been obsessed with the Band of Brothers book/tv series since it came out so to see one of these flying in person was incredible
C-47 by Matt, on Flickr

A couple of static displays of the day
Blackhawk by Matt, on Flickr
Chinook by Matt, on Flickr
C-17 by Matt, on Flickr
B-29 by Matt, on Flickr
B-29 by Matt, on Flickr
P-51 Redtail by Matt, on Flickr
F-22 by Matt, on Flickr
F-22 by Matt, on Flickr
Dreamlifter by Matt, on Flickr

[brewmaster15]

Matt those are awesome shots.. that first pic is just crazy! I have not been to an airshow but if I get the chance I will. We have a really great Air museum here in CT, https://neam.org/
I have gone there many times over the years. I really enjoy taking pics there.
Al

[Second Hand Pat]

Love them all Matt and I love the fact you got clouds as backgrounds in the flight photos plus glad you had a change to shoot the F-35. I have not been to an airshow in three years. The last one for me was the Cocoa Beach Airshow and it was over the ocean which was really different. I may have a thread on it here on the forum. If I find it I will link it here.
Pat

[Discus-n00b]

Thanks!

Pat, really glad we had some clouds in the skies I think they make all the difference with plane shots. Very light whispy clouds in the morning then the bigger front started moving in (which is causing rain today thankfully I picked Sat and not Sun!) Gives you some reference that its flying and not just pasted onto a blue background. I noticed a lot of airshows in FL have cancelled, not sure what the reason for that is but seems to be a trend, there still are a few listed on the calendar for the year. Thought about going up to the Cherry Point airshow in NC but not sure I want to make the drive to be honest. I think I would like to pair an airshow day with another trip I plan later in the year (undecided destination).

The Canon R5 performed pretty well I'd say, I think me using a 1.4x teleconverter on my 100-400 did degrade a little quality which I kinda knew going in but I wanted some extra reach. I should of tried some without and cropped and looked at the results, next time maybe. I can't afford the big glass I really want so I have to improvise and take a few quality hits here and there. I did switch the R5 from Electronic shutter to Mechanical shutter, sacrificed a little bit of speed (20fps to 12fps) but I didn't want any of the possible warping the electronic shutter tends to give, and realistically I'm only 2fps short of what my 1dxii can give which I always found very sufficient. On the next one I think I would carry out some tests with the shutter and teleconverter.

[Discus Fever]

I love all of your pictures, I am a U.S. Air Force veteran and the Thunderbird F-16 scheme has always been my favorite. I fly RC airplanes and one of my planes is the F-16 Thunderbird scheme.

[LizStreithorst]

It took me until just now to look at this thread. I don't care about airplanes. All of a sudden I think airplanes rock.

I don't remember any names except for the F-35. It's my favorite. It looks deadly. I loved seeing the first ones fly. They are so beautiful. But when they fly too close together it gave me the chills.

I was impressed by the helicopter that looks like a big fat ugly limo. And the size of some of those huge airplanes blew me away.

These were fabulous shots. The truth is, the only reason I even looked is because I know what a good photographer you are. When you started talking about the camera stuff, you were speaking Greek. I'm going to go back now and look at them all again.