fleetweek.

Going to try to photograph fleetweek this weekend. The challenge will be trying to photographing fast moving jets with glare of afternoon sun and glare off SF, Bay. Any advice oncamera settings. How fast should I set my shutter without getting alot of glare off the water or sun? Cal Seal

As fast as you can if you intend to capture a jet flying by at 500+mph.

Try using a CPL (Polarizer) filter. It will be a bit tricky keeping it set but will be your best bet to eliminate glare. I don't know what your Coolpix 997 can do, but EOI is right, get the shutter speed up as fast as you can and use a panning technique.

Hi Joseph. Thanks for the info. The Blue Angels and the Patriots jet team (I caught them a couple of weeks ago at Mather Field here in Sacramento) both will be flying this weekend so my little Coolpix will be fired up for sure. Perhaps I can get some shots of them with the GG Bridge in the background. Dont know if you watched the Braves-Giants last night but just before the game the Blue Angels did a fly bye in tight formation. Wow. Will use the Polarizer for sure. Maybe 1/500 will do it. By the way your article on DOF was spot on. DOF can make or break a potentially great pix.. I know.. Thanks again Cal Seal!!!

Hi essence. Thanks for the reply. I see you are a son of the Bay Area too. I grew up in Oakland when it was a much different place than it is now. Will you be at Fleetweek too? I scored some box seats near Pier 39 so I hear they are good so we will see. I like your location.. My dad always said give me my ocean, my mountains, and my redwoods.. So every year we camped at Prairie Creek where all three were present( plus fishing on the Klamath River) It wasnt till many years later that I understood what he meant... I get it now.. Love all three plus the vineyards. Leaves should be changing soon up hiway 29. Will you get some shots and post them if possible. I miss the area. Dont forget the vineyards up in Lake County. They are beautiful in the Fall. Mt Konocti makes a great shot!. Go Giants... Cal Seal

Good luck with the shooting. The Blue Angels come here every other year for the Air and Water Show. The Thunderbirds come the other years. A couple of years ago I tried shooting without a zoom lens and it didn't work out all that well since all my shots were rather wide. By summer '09 I had my 70-300 VR lens and it was much better but now trying to get in tight on them doing fly bys toward each other and catching both planes was difficult. I'll have to look at my photos and see if any are worth posting. Have fun!