Oct 2015

Nigel Paine.

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What is happening with sharpness in the UK!!! It is extraordinary. We have seen it with Mark Jayne in the Mach Loop and now Nigel Paine surprises us with the warbirds. It is almost impossible to write something that can match these photos, any words left just sound boring.

There are two aspects of sotting that amaze me, the pannings and the framing with so much detail. When both techniques are combined in one photo, it sparks and the images are engraved by fire in our memory, just like a short-sighted checking his glasses.

Those moments of astonishment don’t decrease at each photo, you realize that the spitefire fit perfectly any form, with less movement of course, but also in light aviation, conventional, the cessna and tobago have an great potential if you know how to catch them in the right moment.

You won’t deny that the expressions of the pilots ppl looking at the infinite can match the warbirds in matters of visual impact.

All of this comes from the hands, head, and the good eye of Nigel Paine, an English man who I had the opportunity to exchange words, and besides being a good spotter I have the impression he is even a better as a person. Within his work tools he uses the canon 7D Mk II, one 1D Mk III, and the compact Canon G1X. Between the lens it stands out the Canon EF70-200 f/2.8L, a Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 and the EF17-40 f/4L. He also used the EF300 f/2.8L, EF400 f/2.8L, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L and the mutiplier MkIII 2x.

On the question of how did he managed to get so much sharpness in his pannings, these were his words:

“My camera bodies are set up with AI-servo auto focus which is activated by the back button, 9 active focus points from which I select a single point depending on the shot, and drive mode is set to single shot for propeller driven aircraft or high speed burst for fast moving jets. On bright sunny days I manually select white balance and iso settings, but if light is variable with the sun going behind clouds frequently, then I use auto WB and iso. I mostly shoot handheld panning shots if I am close to the subject using a fast panning motion. If I am quite a distance from the subject and have to pan slowly, then I will use a monopod. My ‘method’ is to shoot 5 frames of each aircraft. 2 frames of the aircraft approaching from my side, 1 frame of the aircraft directly in front of me, and 2 frames of the aircraft moving away from me.”

You can follow Nigel on flickr or airplane pictures, where you will find much more photos in high resolution. Nigel thank you very much for join with airspotters.org

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Dragon Rapide. G-AIYR / HG691. | Lashenden / Headcorn. EGKH.| Canon EOS-1D TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 150mm f16 1/50s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Bristol – Blenheim IV G-BPIV | UK – England – Cosby-Foxlands Farm Airstrip | Canon EOS 7D Mark II @ 1/60s, f/7.1 at 150mm ISO 100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Supermarine Spitfire. G-CCCA / PV202. | Lashenden / Headcorn. EGKH. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 600mm f16 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Spitfire T9. G-CCCA. | Lashenden / Headcorn. EGKH. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 150mm f18 1/80s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc. PZ865. | Returning to Goodwood from the Battle of Britain Flypast. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 300mm f11 1/125s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Spitfire T9. G-CCCA.| Lashenden / Headcorn, EGKH. Gear up! | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 600mm f16 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Spitfire MkIX. G-LFIX / ML407.| The Grace Spitfire, low (very !) and fast at The Victory Show, Cosby. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 150mm f10 1/200s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | P-51 Mustang. G-MRLL.| The Victory Show, Cosby. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 600mm f10 1/160s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Supermarine Spitfire. G-CCCA / PV202. |Lashenden / Headcorn. EGKH. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 600mm f16 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | De Havilland Tiger Moth. G-ANCS. | Shoreham RAFA airshow.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 173mm f14 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | De Havilland Tiger Moth.|G-ANEN. Shoreham RAFA airshow.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 250mm f14 1/80s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Supermarine Spitfire IX. G-CGYJ.|Seen here arriving at the Headcorn Combined Ops airshow.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 150mm f10 1/125s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | De Havilland Dragon Rapide. G-AIDL. | Lashenden / Headcorn. EGKH.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 158mm f8 1/125s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Sea Hurricane Mk Ib Z7015 / G-BKTH. | Going up to display at Old Warden Best of British Airshow. | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 191mm f11 1/60s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Hawker Hurricane Mk 1. R4118 / G-HUPW.| Seen here at the Aero Legends Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary Ball and Airshow.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 150mm f10 1/125s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth. G-PWBE. | Going up on another pleasure flight. Lashenden / Headcorn. EGKH.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 213mm f10 1/125s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Spitfire MkIX. TD314 / G-CGYJ.| About to display at Headcorn Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary Ball & Airshow.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 173mm f10 1/125s ISO125.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Spitfire F Mk.Ia N3200 / G-CFGJ. |Climbing away from the grass strip at Old Warden Best of British Evening Airshow.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 600mm f6.3 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Spitfire T9. G-CCCA. | Lashenden / Headcorn, EGKH.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 483mm f11 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | Tornado GR4. ZD713.| RAF Lossiemouth. Joint Warrior 14 / 02.| Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 300mm f9 1/100s ISO100.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | P-51 Mustang. G-BTCD |Shoreham RAFA Airshow | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 273m f5.6 1/125s ISO160.

↑ Nigel Paine (c) | De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth, G-AIXJ. | Shoreham RAFA Airshow | Canon EOS 7D Mark II TAMRON SP 150-600mm @ 250m f7.1 1/100s ISO100.