Photographic equipment and Software

Prestwick

News

The New Year has brought more USAF Hercs into Prestwick as the withdrawl from Iraq continues, but for the most the weather has been pretty bad for any photography. Finally, on the 9th of January it turned out to be a good day, but by the time I was able to get to the airport I'd already missed 3 hercs departing and a formation overshoot by two Lossiemouth Tornados.

The remainder of the day did bring a few more movements, the results of which can be seen by clicking on the photo above. I was also able to fully test out my new 300mm lens in decent weather, and I've got to say I'm well chuffed with it; well worth the money if anyone is considering buying one themselves

My latest video from Lossiemouth, filmed during Joint warrior 2011, is available for download. Just click on the image below and save it to file

It can also be viewed directly or through YouTube

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This Weather Widget is provided by the Met Office

To achieve the images shown here I use a variety of camera equipment and software. My main setup is totally Canon. I have used their cameras since I first started taking pictures of aircraft back in the eighties. My current setup consists of:

	EOS 5D - 12.8MP full frame CMOS sensor. ISO settings extend from 100 to 1600. Capable of taking 3 fps. 9 point AF supported by 6 Assist AF points to improve subject tracking. Large 2.5" LCD screen. JPEG/RAW. Lightweight.
	Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM - L-type telephoto zoom lens with image stabilizer technology. The image stabilisation lens has a newly developed system that can achieve stabilizer effects equivalent to approx 3 stops in terms of shutter speed.
	Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L USM - L-type prime lens.
	Both lenses are complimented by the Canon Extender EF 2x, capable of extending the master lens focal length by 2x with minimal loss of less performance
	EOS 300D - 6.3MP CMOS sensor. ISO settings extend from 100 to 1600. 7 point AF. JPEG/RAW. Comes with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens as standard. An ideal second camera when one just isn't enough.
	Panasonic HDC-TM700 - Full HD 1920 x 1080/50p camcorder. 12x Optical Zoom. 32GB built in memory with options for aditional SD Cards
	Adobe Photoshop CS3 - The worlds best image-editing software. Used extensively to sharpen, crop and compose photographs, used by professionals around the world.
	Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 - One of the leading web authoring tools. Easy to use "point and shoot" web design with no real knowledge of HTML, CSS, Java etc required. Intergrates with PHP/SQL for web database design.
	Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 - Vegas™ Movie Studio Platinum Edition software has everything needed to produce spectacular HD movies. Powerful tools for video compositing, color correction, and surround sound mixing help you get feature-film results in your home studio. To share, upload movies to YouTube™, burn to Blu-ray Disc™, or author DVDs with custom menus and graphics.
	Wacom Intuos3 Tablet - comes with a Grip pen and mouse, ideal for retouching pictures. The surface represent 100% of the working screen area, is pressure sensitive and comes with a Touch strip and Express keys on both sides. These can be allocated whatever shortcuts you like, making things flow and work faster than with a standard mouse and keyboard
	Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW - The Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW will hold a Pro DSLR with lens attached (up to 300mm f/2.8), 4-5 additional lenses, flash unit, tripod, up to a 15.4? widescreen laptop, accessories and personal gear. It is a lightweight, yet rugged, hydration-ready expedition camera backpack. Inspired by Lowepro's world-famous Trekker series of backpacks, the Pro Trekker 300 AW is aimed at outdoor photographers, extreme sports shooters and serious enthusiasts who need a workhorse backpack that travels well wherever it may be required to go.