Garysted's photostream  

Well, I've been into aviation photography since the mid 80's. Starting off on a old Olympus OM10 film SLR while still at school, and taught the basics by my dad. Although nowhere near as many as in the past, I'm lucky in that I live within reasonable distance of several military airfields, Wattisham (just a few miles), Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Marham and Coningsby are my favourite haunts when my work hours (and the weather) allow. I don't tend to visit too many of the major airshows in the UK, as I prefer to photograph military aircraft during their normal operations from the fence at airfields. That way you're able to set up the pictures as you want, and not be restricted by the modern air show format. The downside of this is that you're not guaranteed anything, and can sitting in a cold field for hours, by the fence and away from the car hoping that the jet' actually come back and catch some sun!

A little information about the camera equipment used. I started my digital career with a Canon Eos 350D in late 2005, initally using my old 75-300mm USM carried over from my film camera. Although adequate, this lens was very limiting at longer range and with increased distances nowadays at airshows between aircraft and the crowdline it became apparent that something better was needed. I acquired the popular 100-400L IS in the summer 2006, and that remains my primary long range lens. I added a Eos 400D body in 2007, enabling the use of a long and short range lens at the same time without swapping lenses in the field. With the sensitivity of digital bodies to dust spots, this was highly desirable. The Canon 28-135 IS became my standard short range lens in 2009. A new Eos 550D body was acquired in 2010, allowing the retirement of the older Eos 350D. Although I did not intend to change this line up for the foreseeable future, an unexpected opportunity in August 2011 meant that I acquired an Eos 7D as my new primary camera body, along with a fixed 300mm L 'prime'. The Eos 400D has been retired, and the Eos 550D is now my no2 camera body.

For a larger selection on pics (1000+) visit my own website below. I also have over a thousand images that have made the grade at Airliners.net.