Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens Sample Pictures

Tracking in AI Servo mode was used to capture this Common Tern in fast downwind flight. A fast-focusing lens is required to catch this type of shot.

A solitary coneflower bud hangs in the sun.

The Sun sets behind a huge mountain-like cloud over the mountains.

A Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor stealth fighter plane races across the sky over the main viewing area at this air show.
 
A plain white sky is not my favorite background, but I like how contrasting/menancing the plane looks in this shot. Waper vapor forming over the wings and trailing the plane along with the orange glow behind the engines give this shot the something extra I was looking for.

A little girl runs across the soccer field.

The GEICO Skytypers Airshow Team flies 6 of the 11 SNJ-2 planes still in existence at this time.
 
Air show photography tip: Because there is no indication of horizon-level in many air show performance pictures, rotate your camera to best-frame the action.
 
This tip is especially helpful when shooting a group of planes at distances too close for level framing.

A girl and her bike are backlit in this picture.

A little girl plays with her sand shovel at the beach.

The US Army Sky Soldiers Cobra Demonstration Team shows incredible synchronization in this picture. The bottom-most pilot will lose points for the slightly-off rear rotor position.
 
Important air show photography tip: Helicopters and prop planes in the air with their blades frozen sharp look unnatural to me - like they are going to fall from the sky. Use a shutter speed longer than 1/500 to give the blades some motion blur. The 1/250 shutter speed I was using with this 400mm lens resulted in a lot of motion-blurred shots, but I would rather have a few really good shots than a lot of OK shots.

A beautiful orange Zinnia framed by blue sky.

A young soccer player moves the ball toward the goal.

Leaves turned richly red in the fall.

Stunt Pilot Greg Poe performs for the crowd.
 
Air show photography tip: Use the show smoke as part of your picture design. In this case, the smoke trail forms the entire top of the frame and then curves to a point 1/3 of the frame from the left and the bottom. The smoke trail leads the viewer's eye to the strongly contrasting plane.
 
Also note the motion-blurred prop. A 1/500 shutter speed was adequate for this shot.

This 4-wheeler is highly customized - for beach rescue.

An Atlantic Ocean wave crashes over a dark rock.

Bright yellow Goldenrod stands in contrast to the dark background.

Multiflora Rose in the fall showing its bright red rose hips.

A member of the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team descends during a show.
 
Air show photography tip: When the sky is boring, fill the frame with your subject.

OK, my brain is running out of soccer picture captions for today. :)
 
An f/5.6 maximum aperture lens such as this one requires a reasonable amount of light to deliver shutter speeds high enough for stopping sports action. If the light is there, this lens performs very well. This overcast mid-morning game required ISO 640 for a barely-adequate 1/800 sec shutter speed.

Looking tantalizingly beautiful in its fall colors, Poison Ivy "leaves" memorable welts and itches.

A significant amount of water vapor appears over this F-22 Raptor as the pilot lifts the nose upward.
 
Air show photography tip: Watch for water vapor forming when a pilot lifts the nose of a high speed aircraft upward .

A fall Burning Bush living up to its name.

A Pink Coneflower is about to open up for the world to see.

The US Army Sky Soldiers Cobra Demonstration Team performs at Andrews AFB.
 
Air show photography tip: I like the S curve into the frame made by the smoke from the right-most Cobra helicopter and how it is balanced by the other three smoke paths. I also like how the Cobras strongly-contrast the white smoke.

Ornamental Maiden Grass plumes against a distant background of trees and sky.

A little girl sits in the hole she dug in the sand. That's a lot of work for the little shovel she has.

Four US Army Cobra helicopters fly in tight formation.
 
Air show photography tip: Consider taking backup gear.
 
I spent about 10 hours traveling to/from this particular air show. I took two complete camera and lens setups. Though I intended to use both throughout the event (one telephoto zoom lens and one long prime telephoto lens), one of my high-mileage 1Ds III bodies was DOA. Fortunately, I still got most of the shots I wanted.
 
Take lots of memory card capacity as well.

Sean Tucker rolls the one-of-a-kind Oracle Challenger Bi-plane high up into the sky.
 
Air show photography tip: Getting the right exposure for air show pictures is tough.
 
The primary subject can be black, white or any other color. And show aircraft are typically shiny. The sky can be deep blue, dark gray or bright white - and can be several of these or anything in between at the same time. And the aircraft can fly from sun to shade in a fraction of a second. The size of your subject in the frame can also change rapidly. These brightness variations can send auto exposures all over the place.
 
If the lighting conditions are constant, determine the correct exposure variables and lock these into a manual exposure setting. Then monitor the histogram to insure your setting holds throughout the event.
 
If lighting conditions are varying, you are going to want Av or Tv modes. Since the sky is likely a big influence on your exposure, some +EV correction will likely need to be dialed in. Again, monitor your results in the histogram and adjust your parameters for the next flight pass.

An F-22 Raptor heads-to-the-hanger so-to-speak.
 
Air show photography tip: Determine the air show shooting position so that aircraft are approaching you. The front of an aircraft often makes a better picture than the rear.