North American P-51D Mustang (Enlarge)

Hi,

Wonderful shot of the P-51!

I like seeing it on the grass too. From what I have learned many of these WWII birds were operated from either grass or gravel runways.

Without sounding too critical, . . . a little more Propeller blur to enhance action/movement/life would have been nice here.

I've looked through your "Recently Uploaded" folder after picking this one off the front page of PN when it was submitted for critique. You have some very nice shots of some unusual Aircraft. But again, in my opinion many of them lack "life."

I noted that you shoot mostly in Shutter Priority with the Shutter speed of 1/800th.

I too use the 100-400. It's a fine lens for Air Shows IMHO and at the lower ISO's. I find the IS setting for Panning useful also. 

In my experiences I find that I can still maintain reasonable sharpness of the Aircraft itself and get good Prop blur using a Shutter Speed of around 1/250th as a good starting point depending on the type of Aircraft and the Propeller's speed. Even as slow as 1/125th if on the ground or, smaller Aircraft like the Piper Cubs, Cessanas and such.

Just a thought should you want to add a little more "life" to these nice Aviation photographs. A little experimenting with slower Shutter Speeds might be worth a try next Air Show opportunity.

Cheers & Regards always,

Jim j.

Hey Joao, I attended a WWll reenactment last weekend and I had the chance to see a few of these birds fly in action. It was an impressive show

Ahhh, my favorite bird.  Beautiful... Mike

Jim: thanks for your visit, kind comment and tip. You are absolutely right about the propeller blur, I agree with you and I know that with slower speed I may achieve that purpose (example: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=14107715). I did these shots at the "La Ferté Alais air festival", I was not very confortable due to several reasons but the main one was the sunshine (very strong) and the crowd there...no excuse, but I wanted to register every aircraft and forgot the "propeller blur"...I guess it's the way to learn...next air festival I'll try to do better! Best regards!

Tony: Thanks for your visit and comment! Best regards!

Mike: thanks for your visit. I agree with you, this is a superb aircraft (with a beautiful engine sound!). Best regards!