Bournemouth Air Festival

Night Air

Night Air is the evening displays of the festival; these include air displays with pyrotechnic-laden planes, and would have included hot air balloons if it weren’t for the flooding. As the sun set the dusk lighting cast long shows with orange hues, the photos became more interestingly lit; with the day giving way to night the pyrotechnics on the planes lit up the sky, whilst the funfair rides provided a new experience in shooting in low light.

Exposure 1/400sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

The first part of the evening was a flypast from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – a Spitfire, a Hurricane and a Lancaster bomber. There’ll be some more images of them in full daylight later, but I find the setting sun adds something extra to the image.

Exposure 1/640sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

Exposure 1/640sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

The vignetting in these pictures is in-camera.

Whilst we were waiting for the sun to set a little more, the Sea King popped back to the RFA Mounts Bay, before completing a twilight flypast.

Exposure 1/400sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

Exposure 1/200sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

Then, the Tigers performed a sunset jump. First the dropped some tags to check windspeed and direction…

Exposure 1/160sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

Then, they jumped out of a plane. Yeah, I think it’s pretty stupid too.

Exposure 1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33

I love the tint the setting sun adds to the Union Jack.

He then came down to make a textbook landing by a flare on the beach, which added an extra dimension to the lighting.

Exposure 1/80sec, f/4.5, ISO 100, exposure bias -0.33 (-1.07)

The Tigers also did a daylight jump, but only this picture was worth showing.

By that point it was dark enough for the pyrotechnics to begin, starting with Brendan O’Brien’s Flying Circus.

Exposure 1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -1.67

Following him, the SWIP Team Twister Duo emerged, with not just fireworks, but some impressive LED lighting too.

Exposure 1/40sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -1.0

This was actually one of my favourite parts of the Festival; there was a calm quiet as they performed with atmospheric backing music, the gentle sound of the propellers to loudest noise to be heard.

Exposure 1/30sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -2.0

Exposure 1/40sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -2.0

Adding to the serenity of the display, a glider then was towed over with its own sparklers.

Exposure 1/40sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -2.0

With the end of the display, we were left admiring the last vestiges of daylight as the sun set over the Purbeck hills.

Exposure 1/40sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, exposure bias -2.0

I love the gradients of colour in that image.

After the dimply, we headed into Bournemouth proper to take a look at the funfair. I played about with a slower shutter speed, resulting in some ‘out of control fairground equipment’ shots.

Exposure 1.0sec, f/22, ISO 500

Exposure 0.5sec, f/14, ISO 500

The former of these two images is a testament to Canon’s Image Stabilization technology – it was a handheld shot with a whole second shutter speed but managed to stay pretty smooth (admittedly I had my back against a wall).

My final shot from the Night Air is from the Lower Gardens – now open after the flooding – with the Bournemouth Eye flying overhead.

Exposure 1/10sec, f/4, ISO 1000, exposure bias -1.0

Night Air was an interesting addition to the air festival concept, a relaxing change from the high octane flying of the daylight displays. It also gave me a chance to try some low light photography which I haven’t had much experience of.

Still, I’m sure you’re interested in some of that high octane flying, which starts on the next page.

RAF Training Vehicles >>

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