Pelicans of the Shem

When I've traveled to South Carolina, seems I always find some time to spend at Shem Creek in Charleston.  The waterfront area is built up, commercialized, nicely.  What I like the most are the commercial fishing boats.  All the masts, booms and nets.  And the colors.  The scenery lines are everywhere.  And the colors.

And where there are free fish to be had, Pelicans are around.  I'm guessing the locals think of Pelicans as trash birds - and they may be.  But for the tourist in me will overlook societies harsh judgement.

Pelican on a Roost

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

350 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 110 (AUTO)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX, Polarizer

Pelican Committed to Takeoff

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

175 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX, Polarizer

Pelican Water Takeoff

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 220 (AUTO)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX, Polarizer

Pelican Water Takeoff

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 (AUTO)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX, Polarizer

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

Last Saturday's Eagle chase yielded some surprising guest shots.  One of the unexpected guests was a pair of Sandhill Cranes.

This was a very cool event.  Through a long clearing, over a mix of water and grass, a pair of Cranes flew just about right over the spot where I was standing.  I watched their approach for I'm guessing, about 300 yards.  I heard them before I saw them.  I'm guessing I watched them for about 15 seconds - but felt like minutes.  In a good way.  Plenty of time to get the camera up and acquire focus.  No rookie mistakes.  Even had time to breathe.

One of the few events I could watch the entire event unfold through the camera, and not miss much.

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

NIKON D850 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 (Auto)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

NIKON D850 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (Auto)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

NIKON D850 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 (Auto)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Very cool experience to have a subject fly so close.  Will be tough to beat.

More from MCAS Beaufort - Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion

I really enjoyed the MAGTF demo at the MCAS Beaufort Airshow.  

I have a number of F-35, F-18 and demo team (Blue Angels) shots already.  Not that the shows are boring, I could listen to the sound of Freedom all day long.  For those events to get something different, I have to experiment with fames, and angles, and exposure triangle stuff.  Not much success in that department this time around - other than I know what to rule out at future events.

But, helicopters.  Very little library and very little experience.  Not like a jet where you set the speed as high as you are comfortable with and GO!  Props, not matter if it is for thrust or lift take some amount of planning.  A new toy.

You have to have some amount blur on the main rotor - and still be able to see the tail rotor.  The main rotor turns at under 200 RPM.  At a diameter of 79 feet, the RMP must keep the blade tips from going super sonic.  And however the math works out, about 185 RPM will do that.  The tail rotors diameter is 16 feet.  It can turn a bit faster.

So the dilemma is shoot slow enough for the main rotor and fast enough for the tail rotor.

In these three shots, I was 'experimenting' with shutter speeds.  I know to get a full rotation of blur on a C-130, that is 1/60 second.  If it is not moving, very doable.  That being said that same shutter speed on a UH-1 renders both main and tail rotors invisible as posted here.  Depends on what you like.  But catching a moving object at that speed is a bit beyond my normal capability.  But I can get a good percentage of shots at 1/100th of a second.

In the end for me, as long as the rotor isn't frozen I'm good.

Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G

280 mm, 1/60th sec, f/22.0, ISO 100

EV 0 (Polarizer), Shutter Priority, Size FX

Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G

310 mm, 1/100th sec, f/16.0, ISO 100

EV 0 (Polarizer), Shutter Priority, Size FX

Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion

NIKON D6 Ver.01.51/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G

185 mm, 1/125th sec, f/16.0, ISO 100

EV 0 (Polarizer), Shutter Priority, Size FX

I really like the last shot.  Blur is OK, but both helicopters are reasonably sharp.  There was a lot of movement going on here.

As to lessons learned, I think I'll be keeping to 1/80th to 1/100th second for my larger aircraft shots.

And as is said, no matter how many shots didn't turn out - a bad day at the show is better than a day at (fill in blank).