THE PASSIONATE AVIATOR:
Emmanuel Canaan
Shoot what you love and your pictures will always be spectacular.
And that is exactly what Emmanuel does. His love for aviation
clearly shows in the pictures he clicked. Excerpts from Prateek’s
conversation with him:
Prateek: Tell us something about yourself?
Emmanuel: I’ve loved aviation since I was a child. I would press my
face up to the glass at the airport to watch the planes and at home I
would pull a sheet over my head and pretend to be in the cockpit of an
airplane. I later earned my pilot’s license when I was 17 and worked in
the airline industry for many years in various roles.
Prateek: What is the essential gear for aviation photography? Share
some tips for amateurs?
Emmanuel: If you’re doing air-to-air photography, it’s very important to
be able to shoot both wide angle shots of the aircraft, and get some close-up shots of the occupants of the aircraft.
To accomplish that, I fly with two camera bodies. This allows me to mount a 24-105 mm lens on my Canon 6D for
the wide-angle shots, and then zoom in tight with a 70-200 mm lens on my Canon 7D MK II. Having two cameras
allows me to have flexibility in the event of an equipment failure, as well as greater efficiency since I don’t have to
try and change lenses in the air. If you’re shooting airshows on the ground, I highly recommend a long telephoto
lens, such as a 100-400 mm (or larger), paired up with a camera that can capture many frames per second (such
as my Canon 7D MK II). The biggest tip I can offer is be very careful not to stop the propeller when shooting prop-
driven aircraft. Too fast of a shutter speed, and you’ll stop the propeller. This will give people a sense that the
aircraft is crashing and simply doesn’t look good. Also, learn to shoot in RAW as this will give you a lot of flexibility
when editing.
Prateek: You must
have attended and
photographed
various
air
shows, tell us
now about your
most spectacular
experience?
Emmanuel:
For
me, I don’t think
anything will ever
top being able to
fly alongside the
U.S. Navy’s Blue
Angels at San
Francisco’s Fleet
Week air show.
That is a dream
Classy Lady Canon EOS REBEL T4i 24mm F/6.3 1/250s ISO100
for most aviation
photographers
and it’s hard to describe the thrill of having six fighter jets flying in tight formation with you. The Fleet Week air
show itself should not be missed, but if you can only make it to one air show in your life, it should be the EAA
AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
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