Aug 15, 2021 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge, T-6 Texan
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | North American T-6 Texan The North American T-6 Texan Two-Seat Advanced Trainer is a military single-engine aircraft primarily used as a trainer. It’s first flight was on April 1st, 1935. Before the end of its production run, nearly 16,000 planes were built. The T-6 Texan was used extensively during WWII and the Korean conflict. It was even used to some extent during the Vietnam War. In fact, a few are still in operational service today. Of course, many are flown regularly in fly-ins and air shows around the world. See TBM Avenger Gathering 2018 | a 7 Image Story for other aircraft at the gathering.
The Back Story This image is a classic example of using panning technique to both blur the propeller and show motion by making the background blur. I began panning at start of takeoff roll, began a burst well ahead of this image, and continued well past the image. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | Annual TBM Avenger Gathering 2018 |
| Location | KVYS Illinois Valley Regional Airport in Peru, IL. |
| Date/Time | 5/19/2018 4:34 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Fair Skies | 84°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Began panning at start of takeoff roll, began burst ahead of this image, and continued well past the image. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a Nikon FT-1 Adapter & Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR lens |
Exposure
| 82mm (221mm) f/11 1/100s -0.33ev 160iso |
| Post | Used retouch to take out a runway light. |
Aug 14, 2021 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge, Waco YKC
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | Waco Time to go back to the golden age of aviation! The soft sepia finish adds to the old image look. This beautiful Waco made several takeoffs and landings on Antique Field the day I was able to attend the Blakesburg AAA Fly-in.
The Back Story Positioning at the Blakesburg AAA Fly-in, is easy. There are no crowds and the planes fly all day. Like all propeller plane shots, the shutter speed must be low enough to make the prop blur. Needless to say, it’s all about keeping the plane in the frame whiling panning and clicking with the hammer down. For more soft sepia aviation images, see Soft Sepia Aircraft | a 7 Image Story. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | Back to Blakesburg AAA Fly-in |
| Location | Antique Field near Blakesburg, IA |
| Date/Time | 9/01/2017 2:39 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Fair Skies | 73°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Position at runway’s edge, watch the backgrounds, pan to keep shutter speeds down, clicks. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens |
Exposure
| 110mm (297mm) f/11 1/60s .33ev 160iso |
| Post | Converted color to soft sepia. |
Aug 13, 2021 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, Lighthouses, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | Timeless Manistee Light The Manistee Light looks so tranquil even though it’s a very windy day. For more Midwest seascapes, see Midwest Seascapes | a 7 Image Story.
The Back Story How do you get tranquility on a windy day! With wind gusts blowing at 25 knots, waves at 3 to 4 feet, and hard sun light, a long exposure seems near impossible. Enter a 6 stop neutral density filter and magic; a 6 second exposure tames those waves, calms the wind a bit, and takes those shadows out of the image. Tranquility at last! The only problem; keeping the camera still with all that wind and sand blowing in your face. A tripod helps, but only a little. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | Windy Day at the Manistee Lighthouse |
| Location | Manistee, MI |
| Date/Time | 9/29/2016 1:05pm Local Time |
| Weather | Fair Skies | 70°F | Moderate Winds with High Gusts |
| Method | Used a tripod on the beach and held it down due to high gusty winds. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens plus a 6 stop ND filter on a tripod |
Exposure
| 31.9mm (86mm) f/16 6.0s 0ev 160iso |
| Post | Sharpened lighthouse a bit and smoothed clouds a bit. |
Aug 12, 2021 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge, Skydiving
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | Skydiving Color The parachutes at the World Parachuting Championships are so colorful. Even with the deep blue, bald skies, the colorful parachute makes the photo.
The Back Story I spent the afternoon at the World Parachuting Championships. This year the event was held only an hour away from where I live. The event is mot crowded so you just wait for the subject to float down to you. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | World Parachuting Championships 2016 |
| Location | 8N2 SkyDive Chicago Airport, Ottawa, IL USA |
| Date/Time | 9/18/2016 3:22pm Local Time |
| Weather | Fair Skies | 79°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Simple click after waiting for skydiver to get close enough to the ground. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens |
Exposure
| 77.1mm (208mm) f/4.8 1/1000s -0.33ev 180iso |
| Post | Lightened inside of parachute a bit. |
Aug 11, 2021 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, Martin JRM Mars, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | Martin JRM Mars Dropping Water The Martin JRM Mars flying boats are the world’s largest flying boats ever flown operationally. Although seven were built, only two remain flying, the Hawaii Mars JRM-3 pictured here and the Philippine Mars. They have been refitted as firefighting water bombers carrying 7,200 gallons of water.
This Martin JRM Mars is dropping 7,200 gallons of water on runway 18/36 at AirVenture 2016. You might ask: how do they get the water? Well, the Captain lands on the water normally, but keeps the the aircraft “on the step” at 60-70 knots. The Flight Engineer controls the power to keep the aircraft “on the step” and selects the scoops to the “down” position to inject the water into the tanks at the rate of about a ton per second. The 7200 gallon pickup time averages 25 seconds. When the tanks are full, the scoops are raised, takeoff power is applied by the Flight Engineer and the Captain makes a normal loaded takeoff. Pretty slick! Unfortunately water landings are not without risks. This Hawaii Mars JRM-3 flying boat sustained some damage to the hull when it was scooping up water on Lake Winnebago. One of the scoops hit something hard that was submerged in the lake.
The Back Story This image really shows the versatility of the 30-110mm lens on the Nikon 1 V3. As I was walking toward the warbird area at Oshkosh, this big bird flew over to demonstrate its firefighting capabilities. Luckily, the 30-110mm was on the camera instead of the 70-300mm. It enabled me to quickly capture several images as the Mars flew closer. I started panning before it flew through the smoke and kept the hammer down well through the water drop. Remember, 55mm turns into 148mm on the Nikon 1 V3. For more information and images on using the Nikon 1 V3 for aviation, see Nikon 1 V3 for Aviation | a 7 Image Story. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | A Day at Oshkosh AirVenture 2016 |
| Location | KOSH, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, WI |
| Date/Time | 7/27/2016 4:38pm Local Time |
| Weather | Cloudy | 72°F | Moderate Winds |
| Method | Started panning before it flew through the smoke and kept the hammer down well through the water drop. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens |
Exposure
| 55.1mm (148mm) f/14 1/100s -0.33ev 160iso |
| Post | Added definition to water, smoothed the smoke a bit, and sharpen plane lettering. |
Aug 10, 2021 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom, B-29 Superfortress, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | B-29 Cockpit The B-29 Cockpit seems quite large. What a view! Notice anything a bit out of place; perhaps, something not available in the 1940s? During WWII, 3,970 Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers were built. The B-29 began active service in 1944. It was needed in the World War II Pacific theater due to its long range and large bomb loads. Later, it was also used in the Korean War and remained in service until the late 1950s. Today, a few Superfortresses have been preserved, restored, and put on static display, but only two B-29s, “FIFI” & “Doc“, are airworthy. “FiFi” is maintained and operated by the Commemorative Air Force. “Doc” is maintained and operated by Doc’s Friends. Do you see anything in the cockpit a bit unusual, that was not available in the 1940s?
The Back Story This image was captured on a tour of the B-29. Fifi came to an airport near me to sell tours and rides. It was a cloudy, rainy day. The image as captured was to dark to see the instrument panel so I lightened them up in post processing. For more information and images on using the Nikon 1 V3 for aviation, see Nikon 1 V3 for Aviation | a 7 Image Story. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | B-29 “Fifi” Tour |
| Location | KARR Aurora Municipal Airport |
| Date/Time | 7/15/2016 2:29pm Local Time |
| Weather | Cloudy | 72°F | Moderate Winds |
| Method | Get as much light as possible without overexposure. Then, lighten more in post processing. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom lens |
Exposure
| 10mm (27mm) f/7.1 1/200s -0.33ev 400iso |
| Post | Lightened up the instrument panel by reducing the black point in post processing and reduced noise. |
Aug 9, 2021 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge, Opossum
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | Opossum with Babies Unless you get out and about at o’dark thirty or at least at first light, it’s not likely you’ll be seeing a site like this one. Male opossums are called jacks and females are called jills, while the young are joeys. It it possum or opossum? The term possum includes about 70 species of marsupials native to Australia. Opossum includes over 100 species of marsupials living in the Western Hemisphere.
The Back Story While visiting family and walking the dogs early one morning, this Opossum came running through the yard and across the road. I quickly took the dogs inside, grabbed the camera, and got back outside just in time to capture a few decent images. For information and images about using the Nikon 1 V3 for getting good images while hiking, see Nikon 1 V3 for Walkabout Wildlife. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | Walking the Dogs |
| Location | Lake County, Illinois |
| Date/Time | 6/07/2016 6:14am Local Time |
| Weather | Partly Cloudy | 56°F | Moderate Winds |
| Method | Quickly took dogs indoors, ran to get camera, back just in time to capture a few images. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens |
Exposure
| 110mm (297mm) f/6.3 1/200s 0ev 1600iso |
| Post | |
Aug 8, 2021 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge, Piper J-3 Cub, Piper PA-18 Super Cub
Nikon 1 V3 Hodgepodge | Cub & Super Cub Two iconic airplanes flying from nice snow make for memorable images. This image is one of my favorite aviation images. To see the entire story with all seven images, go to Ski Plane Weekend | a 7 Image Story.
The Back Story Of course, the difficulty to capturing good airplane images in the winter with snow, is to keep the shutter speed low enough to blur the prop and pan well enough to keep the wings and fuselage in sharp focus while dealing with bright, hard mid-day light. A 1/125s shutter speed is about as high as I like for a click like this one. Luckily this day had bright overcast in between snow showers and I was able to get down to 1/60s. Getting just the right spacing of the two Cubs with just the right blowing snow while the camera and I were freezing meant several hundred burst mode images. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | Sky Plane Weekend |
| Location | KCAD Wexford County Airport |
| Date/Time | 2/13/2016 10:16pm Local Time |
| Weather | Light Snow | 0°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Waited for Super Cub to taxis into position under the Cub’s wing, then clicks with 1/60s to blur prop. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V3 with a 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens |
Exposure
| 61.6mm (166mm) f/16 1/60s -0.67ev 160iso |
| Post | |
