Photographing the Blue Angels
A few months ago, I was invited to attend the upcoming graduation for my nephew in New Bern, North Carolina. It would be a celebration of a milestone and one of the last opportunities for the family to see him before being sent out to boot camp for the United States Air Force. As part of the celebration, we planned go to attend the MCAS Cherrypoint Airshow at the Marine Corps base. The main attraction of the show — the US Navy Blue Angels.
Luckily for me, I know a few people and asked for if we could get friends and family passes as a gift to the newly-graduated.
The Experience
This wasn’t my first time shooting the Blue Angels. I’ve actually had the opportunity to photograph them a number of times however this was my first time attending an airshow on a military base. As a result, this airshow offered quite a bit more in terms of variety and spectacle. We were situated right in the middle of the flight line which offered one of the best views of the entire airfield.
The Aircraft
One of the key differences between this airshow and the others I have attended was the variety of aircraft. Previously, I had attended a handful of shows in Georgia at civilian airfields. While these shows were great, you typically have propeller aircraft showcasing until the Blue Angels are ready to take off. Since this show took place on a military installation, we had access to a much wider variety of high-peformance fighter jets.
Ground Forces
Another great component of this airshow was the display put on by our brave men and women of the US Marines. Midway through the show, they were helicoptered in so they could put on a mock battlefield approach towards the airstrip. It was interesting to see and even more interesting to see that even the US Military takes it’s social marketing very seriously when I noticed on of their soldiers holding a camera mounted with a shotgun mic to grab some great content.
The Blue Angels
Of course the main attraction for these shows is always the Blue Angels. As impressive as the shows I have attended in Georgia have been, the Cherrypoint show was even more spectacular. The addition of the pyrotechnics really gave the show some additional flair. The backdrop of the Blue Angels’ F-18 hornet jets were perfect for enhancing the composition of the photos, especially during the low pass of Fat Albert, the Blue Angels C-130J aircraft.
Even though the F-18 fighter jets were less advanced than some of those we saw earlier in the show, the aerial maneuvering of the six Blue Angel pilots is what really stands out. The Angels squadron are highly skilled when it comes to flying their jets in precise maneuvers that are quite impressive — even more impressive when you photograph them. Photographs really highlight the level of precision it takes to fly these jets, at high speeds, within feet of each other.
How I Shot It
At this point, I have the advantage of experience when it comes to shooting at these airshows. Because I have been to multiple events, I have a good feel for what to look for and what equipment I need to capture these fast-moving objects. For this outing, I used two lenses on my Sony A7IV camera body — the Sigma 70-200MM F2.8 and the Sony FE 200-600 MM F5.6-6.3. Both lenses are great and gave me more than enough reach to capture the action. The main difficulty was deciding which to use and stick to when the Blue Angels started their display — constantly switching lenses on one body is a real pain so I chose to stick with the 200-600 when the Angels took off.
Originally I was hesitant to choose the longer zoom lens because of the variable aperture and slower speed. But luckily for me, the overcast turned into a very bright day which allowed me to keep a fast shutter speed above 1/2000 throughout the show. This was great because I could capture sharp images without having to worry about handholding the camera.
For the non-Blue Angels shots, I alternated between the two lenses. The Sigma is always a great option for shooting when the action isn’t taking place too far away from the field — remember these aircraft are pretty large so “far off” is relative.
Again, I tried to keep a fast shutter speed in order to stop the action in camera. I relied on Continuous Autofocus and a high-speed shutter to capture tons of shots, in quick succession, just in case one shot wasn’t in focus giving me a lot of options to select from.
If you would like a more detailed gear list of what I typically use for these airshows, you can find it here.
Overall Impressions
Blue Angels #2 | LCDR Jack Keilty - High Resolution Print Available Upon Request
The MCAS Cherrypoint Airshow was absolutely incredible. Honestly, we were lucky to get in as quickly as we did because many people waited over five hours to enter; many other never even made it in. Despite some logistical issues with traffic, I had a blast and would highly recommend this show to anyone who is into aviation photography. The event-grounds did get packed and lines were extremely long for food, to get in and to leave. The staff was likely overwhelmed by the over 70,000 estimated spectators.
I am sure these are all issues that will be addressed before their next showing so check them out when the Blue Angels come back to town. If you’d like to visit any of their upcoming shows, you can find their full schedule here.
