Puckapunyal live fire 2

[Nikon boy]

F111 Dropping live bombs and impacts

Bombs away



Boom ..first bombs land others still airborne



And again



All down

[Raskill]

MUHAHAHA!

I was on a range once, and the FA18's were dropping 500 pounders on their bombing range a few KM's away. An awesome feeling!

[zafra52]

Very nice pictures and well taken. However, I know
they have to practice somewhere, but it still is an
act of environmental vandalism. I wonder whose job
is to clean after…

[Killakoala]

OH YEAH!!!!!! Way cool... Great capture.

[Willy wombat]

Terrific series

[Matt. K]

Nice series!
However....for more impact you need to get much, much, much, much closer.

[dawesy]

Cool shots! Like Matt says, closer would be cooler, but I guess that is a function of lenses available, I certainly wouldn't be walking over there!

My only critique would be around exposure. I'm going to take a punt and say this was auto exposure. In the last 3 images when the bombs are exploding, the foreground gets noticeably darker from from #2 to #3 and a bit more to #4 I think. I'm guessing that this is the result of the metering compensating for the bright explosions. While it's held the detail there, to me it'a s little dark an when you bring it up may result in some noise issues.

If this is a shot you'll get more chances to take, have a play with manual metering. Spend some time before the aircraft arrives to get the exposure right and then leave it set for the bombing run. You may find that to keep enough detail in the explosions you need to under expose a little, but at least it will be consistent. Of course, if this is a once in a lifetime thing, none of that is really relevant!

Either way they are a cool set of captures and certainly not easy.

Cheers.

[Wink]

I know they have to practice somewhere, but it still is an act of environmental vandalism. I wonder whose job is to clean after…

Actually, they put a hell of a lot of time into caring for the Pucka range. There's heaps of rules and regulations about what people can and can't do on the range and where they can or can't do it.
They only use certain areas for live ammo training. They don't just go and level a new patch of bush every time.

I work at Pucka and have somehow managed to miss the chance to see these big demonstrations every single time they've been on.

[Nikon boy]

Thanks for the positive feedback

Dawesy yes it was auto exposure and i take your suggestions so will consider them if i get the chance again

Some things that influenced me to go Shutter priority/auto was that i had been put on an elevated platform that was far from stable i had press guys all around me who had way too much gear with them that made moving even a few inches extremely difficult for example the guy next to me had 4 camera bodies a cannon 800,600,400,300 and 70-200, 4 on monopods balanced dangerously all around me !!! we couldn't hear the commentary so we didnt know what was happening , we had an Abrams tank within 15 feet of us letting off a round every few minutes so i just gave in and let the camera do as much work as it could so i could attempt to capture the images, but i take your point !!

Interestingly the guy next to me slipped with his placement of his 600mm lens on its monopod and it went over the railing ! i grabbed it with my left arm and he retrieved it i wrenched my shoulder and he just looked at me as if it was my fault ! being freelance i own and pay for my gear and treat it well ,some people leave me shaking my head in the way they treat theirs but such is life i guess

Cheers

[surenj]

Interestingly the guy next to me slipped with his placement of his 600mm lens on its monopod and it went over the railing !

Never place a 600 precariously over a railing. You must be left handed to catch like that!

[Nikon boy]

Surenj

I was watching the guy at the time as he was bumping me so saw what he was doing and due to the noise levels couldnt speak to make myself heard to warn him so just did a left hand grab somersault ,,,,with pike and 10 degree difficulty !!!

And as i said received no thanks just a dirty look

I wonder what his reaction would have been if i had let it drop the 20 feet to the ground !

Cheers

[dawesy]

I can certainly understand going auto with that lot going on! Like I said I think they are good captures, but that's be the on thing I'd tweak if possible.

Cheers!

[wendellt]

your pictures show the terror of war it must of been quite an experience i heard an explosion once but have neve fel the shock of it
how did you get around were you on foot or on a ground vehicle seems like you covered alot of ground