Spitfire BM597 Display at Loch Ewe WWII Festival

[CosmonautX]

The Russian Arctic Convoy Project based at Loch Ewe held a WWII Festival this weekend to mark the 75th anniversary of the Arctic convoys from Loch Ewe to Russia. As well as various displays, replica aircraft and themed events the organisers arranged for a display at the convoy memorial and above Aultbea by BM597 from the Historic Aircraft Collection, piloted by Charlie Brown.

A few emails back and forward with the organisers and the HAC gave some idea of where and when the display was going to be, so I took a chance and made the 2 hour drive to Aultbea and set up on a hill on the side of Loch Ewe in cracking weather to try and catch it. Charlie Brown came in low on the far side of the loch and made a lovely high, looping display by the memorial, then came in by Aultbea to continue with what was essentially a second display. Unfortunately, it was also a high display, and though he exited right by the hillside I'd camped out on he left a couple of hundred feet higher than I'd hoped so I missed out on getting any close shots of the aircraft, or any topsides looking down the loch.

I spent the drive home stewing, trying to figure out how to salvage the afternoon's shooting and when I started working on the photos this morning I decided to try for some composite images using the sequences of shots I'd got of a couple of his display sections. I've finished one so far, and while I think it needs some tweaking to properly reflect the form of the manoeuvres I'm reasonably satisfied with it. It's made up of just over 20 separate images composited together, and while I've had to use Photoshop tools to extend and fill the sky in gaps the shots that it's made up of have otherwise only had a little development in Lightroom (spectacular clear blue skies on the west coast helped a lot!)

The full image is enormous (I've included a sample of one sequence shot underneath too) so I hope it reads OK at the reduced size! I've popped a couple of other shots in as well. I was pretty disappointed to have missed the chance to catch the aircraft lower and closer, but on reflection being able to see this kind of display by an experienced pilot in such a stunning location was a treat in itself.

Spitfire Display by Cosmonaut X, on Flickr

DSC_5311 by Cosmonaut X, on Flickr

DSC_5276 by Cosmonaut X, on Flickr

DSC_5354 by Cosmonaut X, on Flickr

[Cornish-guy]

Considering how far away the Spit was you did a great job - its clear and nice and sharp, what was your focus set up for that mate?


C.

[CosmonautX]

Cheers! If I remember correctly, I was set up for single-point AF-C, shooting at f11 and around 1/200s. The weather really helped though - if it had been at all overcast, I'd have struggled to get the Spit as sharp - and I think being that bit further away helped with following the aircraft smoothly. I still had a fair few duds because of the low-ish shutter speed at that focal length, but I managed a reasonable number of keepers even if the Spit is fairly small in the frame.

[Wallace]

I'm glad it worked out for you. An interesting set of images.
Did you go all the way along the coast to the gun emplacements?

Done a set of near infra reds there a number of years ago.

The multiple exposure is interesting, it may have been better zooming out further still and including some of the landscape as well at the flying, putting content in context.

[CosmonautX]

Thanks, Wallace. I didn't make it to the gun emplacements this time, but hopefully next time. These were taken from the hillside above the NATO refuelling point which seemed to be the most elevated position that gave the best chance of catching the Spitfire on the display exit - sadly not quite, but worth a shot!

I take the point re: including landscape, as the image feels a little disconnected without it. I did get a number of landscape shots before and after the display, and I think I got some sequences where Aultbea is in the shot so it may be possible to put together an image that includes all of the elements, but I'm not sure how well that would work. I'll certainly be trying pulling back to try this again on future displays though, as I think it has potential even if I still prefer to try and get tight shots of the aircraft itself.

Are your shots of the emplacements on your Flickr?