Aircraft photography & photo editing

Airshow photography: camera settings for jets, propellers and aerobatics

Jets want fast shutter speeds, propellers slow ones, aerobatic teams room in the frame. Which starting values to switch between at an airshow, and why the sky tricks your exposure.

Autofocus for aircraft: AF-C, AF area, subject detection and tracking

Blurry landings are rarely a shutter speed problem. Most of the time the autofocus is set wrong: mode, AF area, subject detection and tracking sensitivity for aircraft, explained clearly.

The best camera for plane spotting: a buying guide by budget and ambition

The most expensive body doesn’t take the best aircraft photos – the one that fits your spots, your lens and your budget does. This buying guide sorts camera classes by ambition instead of by spec sheet.

Cropping aircraft photos: aspect ratio, alignment and room in the frame

The crop decides whether a sharp aircraft photo also looks good. Aspect ratios compared, leveling by horizon or fuselage, space in the direction of flight and the typical cropping mistakes.

Bridge cameras and superzooms for plane spotting: strengths and limits

Huge zoom, one body, no lens changes: bridge cameras look like the perfect spotter camera. What sensor size, autofocus and atmosphere leave of that – and when reaching for a bridge still pays off.

Capture One, Lightroom or DxO: which RAW converter suits your aircraft photos?

Three RAW converters, three philosophies: Lightroom Classic as the all-round archive tool, Capture One for color and control, DxO PhotoLab for noise and lens correction. The comparison from a spotter’s point of view.

Log profiles and color grading for aircraft videos: from flat raw clip to finished look

Why log footage looks flat, when it’s worth it at the airport and how to take aircraft clips step by step from exposure to the finished grade – without blown-out fuselages and banding in the sky.

Sequence composites: a takeoff or landing as a photo series in one image

One aircraft, five positions, one image: how to shoot a takeoff or landing sequence as a composite, pick the right frames and put them together cleanly in your photo editor.

APS-C, MFT or full frame: crop factor and reach in plane spotting

A smaller sensor doesn’t lengthen your lens – it crops. Why that still gives you real reach at the airport fence, when full frame comes out ahead and how to compare pixels on the aircraft instead of megapixels.