Chicago’s Air and Water show is one of the best summertime freebies viewed along the lakefront from Fullerton to Oak Street, with North Avenue Beach as the focal point. Featuring the talents U.S. Navy Blue Angels, AeroShell Aerobatic Team, Chicago Fire Department Air and Sea Rescue Team, Lima Lima Flight Team, The Firebirds, U.S. Navy Leap Frogs Parachute Team, Sean Tucker & Team Oracle,Ed Hamill and his Air Force Reserve Bi-Plane,Red Bull MiG, and U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights. Check out the 53 year history of the event here.
Getting the shot:
Gear is very important when capturing these high speed speticals. Your point and shoot will have a very difficult time catching anything really moving and even some DSLR’s and lens combinations will be challenged. You’ll need to have some reach for single air craft and a bit wider for the team shots. Several fast, high capacity memory card are also suggested because you will be shooting in rapid fire mode. You will have a low than “normal” success rate so expect to take a lot of shots and be prepared cull your shorts for the winners. Tight crops can also be anticipated depending on your setup.
My gear – Nikon D300, Nikon f/2.8 300m, Nikon 1.7 Teleconverter. Effective reach 765mm
My settings – ISO 400 with shutter speed between 1/1600 and 1/2500 a second + 1/3 EV
See the slide show here