A Big Congrats to Matt Sokol, First A.Net Pic!

[Iberia A340-600]

Congratulations Matt!!

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1205130/L/

[stuart schechter]

Congrats!! Now If only I could do this!

[PhilDernerJr]

Congrats, Matt! I thought you already had some, as your shots lately have been lookin great. Hats off!

[NIKV69]

I may be crazy but wasn't that the bird that arrived right before the 380? Did you upload a shot of that as well?

Now If only I could do this!

You can! You have to reach down and find the force! If you need be you can get a couple of droids, go find Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda and they will help you realize the force! May it be with you!

[ATAIndy]

Just keep pushing and practicing Stuart. That's what I do, and I just got my first on to JP.net. Also, listen to the advice given from other photographers and screeners, it really helps.

[stuart schechter]

I don't have a camera that can do moving shots. Also it has no long zoom. 28-135mm

[ATAIndy]

Well, in that case pray for a nice camera! :P

[G-BOAD]

Thanks!
It feels great
A big thanks to Phil Gengler for letting me use his camera for this shot.

Yes, it did come in right before the A380, but i did not use this camera to capture the 380's arrival.

[nwafan20]

Nice pic! Congrats on the first of many I hope!

[moose135]

I don't have a camera that can do moving shots. Also it has no long zoom. 28-135mm

What are you shooting with? You might think you cannot get "A.net quality" shots (whatever that means) but let us know what you are working with, and lets see if we can't give you some advice. That's what we are here for.

Of course, if you are using a camera phone, make sure you send them directly to Tommy to screen :D

[pgengler]

Some cameras/lenses make it a lot easier to get good shots, or to get them more often, but it's possible to get good shots with most any camera/lens.

First thing, with a "short" lens like the 28-135, is to find a place where you don't need to have a 400mm lens; shooting planes coming into Rwy. 31 at LGA from the World's Fair Marina is an ideal place. (I haven't been to Planeview Park, but that might work too; basically, you want to be as close to the planes as possible).

Second, know the lens' limits and work with them. Most lenses are a lot sharper at around f/8 - f/11 than they are wide open (f/3.5-f/5.6 for most of the less-expensive lenses), so shoot in aperature priority mode ("Av" with Canon cameras) and set it for between f/8 and f/11. You're probably only getting to get good shots in good light, so if you're shooting for JP/Anet, save yourself the trouble of shooting on cloudy days or at early morning/late evening hours.

Third, and this sort of relates to step 2, is to watch your shutter speed. The general rule of thumb is that the minimum shutter speed you can use before you get shake is about 1/<focal length>, or for a 28-135 lens, 1/135s, which is actually an advantage over big glass (where you can end up with 1/400s or 1/800s and still have shake). For jets especially*, the faster the shutter speed the less likely you'll see shake. Up the ISO setting for a faster shutter speed, but don't go too high or else you'll get more noise in the photos (most SLRs are good up to ISO 400 or 800, especially in good light, since shadows get noiser first).

Fourth, and this step is optional and is mostly personal preference, but shoot bursts (holding the shutter release button down without letting up and following the plane as it goes). It takes up more space on the card, but it can help with shake introduced by pressing/releasing the shutter (i.e., the first and last shots of the burst will have shake, but the middle shots should be better).

It may seem a bit daunting at first, but after a couple of times out it becomes something of a second nature to get the camera set up "right".

Also, I shoot with an SLR, but the advice can apply to point-and-shoot cameras too, as long as they allow you some control over settings. (The biggest exception is choice of ISO; I wouldn't go higher than ISO 200 on a P&S because they're much more prone to noisy images than an SLR.)

* I say "for jets especially" because lots of people prefer to get "prop blur" in shots of turboprops and GA planes. It's harder to get right, and it's mostly a personal preference thing; there are plenty of good photos where the photog has "stopped the prop".

[pgengler]

Thanks!
It feels great
A big thanks to Phil Gengler for letting me use his camera for this shot.

Congratulations, and you're quite welcome, though it's a little embarassing that I don't have any shots up on Anet yet!

[stuart schechter]

I have a Powershot A630. The burst shot is 1.8 shots/sec. I go to LGA but never have gotten to Planeview park and Worlds Fair Marina. I went when there was bad light so naturally everything came out crap. I will definately play around with the ISO and the Aperture priority.

[wunaladreamin]

My thing is I don't have photoshop. I'm editing with the software that came with my dslr, which I don't think has a sharpening function. Have any of you ever had pics accepted using just the software that came with your camera? A;so, without photoshop, how does one resize an image to fit the requirements for a site like j.net?