Reading WWII Air Show: 1911 Ely Curtiss "Pusher"

We traveled this weekend to Reading, PA to attend the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's WWII Weekend Air Show. It was great to get away with good friends. I have been to one other air-show so I don't know beans about planes. Watching the old WWII planes scream overhead was exciting. The afternoon concluded with a flight by the only B-29 Superfortress Bomber to still be flying in the world.  More on the B-29  later in the week. 

The plane above is a 1911 Ely Curtiss Pusher, here is the website set up for the folks that own and show this replica of the original planes. It's called a pusher because the engine sits behind the pilot. This was the first plane to take off from a ship, ushering in the era of Naval aviation. Watching the Curtiss fly by was nostalgic, and very interesting. We've come a long way from this plane to the modern day jets taking off from aircraft carriers.

Sometime Friday evening when cleaning lenses, charging batteries, and organizing for the trip, a chunk of crud made it's way to my camera sensor.  Thus, every photo I took on Saturday at the airshow had a huge black dot in the center of the photo. This was the frustrating part; thank goodness for a Lightroom's spot removal tool.

Planes fly fast. I have not had much experience with fast moving objects, unless you consider a mallard duck in flight a fast moving object. I practiced panning the camera extensively Saturday, and to my surprise did "ok" at capturing and centering my subject.  With my 70-300 lens, the quality shots I had were when the planes were relatively close to the reviewing area. When they flew far away or high in the air, I needed a little more reach than the lens could give. 

These are by far not my best photos, but they are worthwhile in the grand scheme of developing my photography. 

In closing, I've not plugged my personal photo blog much. Photos along the way... mirrors what I post here in general terms. The plan is to diversify the two at some point.  However, who has that kind of time?