Always keen to try a different subject matter I decided to have a go at aviation photography by visiting the 2024 Sywell Airshow in late June. Sywell airshow used to happen every other year until the 2015 Shoreham Airshow crash when the decision was taken to cancel all future events. This was the first Sywell Airshow since 2014 and the first to take place since I moved to Northampton. It was open both the Saturday and Sunday and I decided to buy a ticket for the Sunday. The aircraft on show did not differ too much but the Red Arrows were only going to appear on the Sunday.
Sywell Airshow Ticket Prices & lINE-UP
The ticket price on the day was £50.00 for anyone 12 years and over. It was free of charge for anyone under 12. Parking was free though you could pay for premium parking to be closer to the entrance. I honestly could not any point in paying for premium parking. I believe there was a tiny discount for buying a ticket in advance before a certain date.
Leading up to the event Sywell Aerodrome were releasing information about the confirmed line-up on their social media channels. These included:
- P-47 Thunderbolt ‘Nellie B’. Built in Indiana in 1945 but now based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire.
- Boeing Stearman 46 Aviation. Wingwalking display team based in Switzerland. Piloted by Emiliano Del Bueno, his wife Danielle Del Bueno is the wingwalker.
- Red Arrows. Internationally famous RAF Aerobatic team who use Hawk T1 Aircraft.
- Boeing 727 operated by 2Excel Aviation which is an oil spill response aircraft.
- Various Spitfires & Hurricanes.
- Boeing B-17. Last airworthy B-17 in Europe based at Duxford.
- Various P51 Mustangs.
Airshow Photography Camera Settings
Since I do not normally photograph airshows I did some research on camera settings. I knew most of the basics already but I wanted to mentally prepare for the day. The biggest challenge I found was that Sywell airshow contained mostly propeller powered aircraft. With jet powered aircraft the advice is to use a fast shutter speed, at least 1/1000 second or perhaps even 1/2000 second. This was no problem on a bright day and I was happy to leave my ISO on auto since modern cameras and software can cope with image noise very well.
With propeller powered aircraft the advice is to use a much slower shutter speed. The reason for this advice is that you ideally want to preserve or show motion of the propellers in order to obtain a much more dynamic looking photo. If the propellers are not blurred then the image looks very static and lifeless. However using shutter speeds of between 1/60 second and 1/250 second really does seem to lower the ‘hit rate’ of acceptable images. Also on a very bright day using these slower shutter speeds might lead to overexposure, even at the lowest ISO and an aperture of say f16. It’s not uncommon for aviation photographers to have to use Neutral density filters to cut out some of the light reaching the digital camera sensor. This is probably more of an issue in certain hot countries. Even in a UK summer the intensity of the light is often within acceptable levels so that you do not need an ND filter.
Sywell Airshow Gallery
Below are just a very small selection of the images taken from the day. More appear on my Instagram and Facebook pages. Hopefully the organisers of the event will see it as a success and perhaps we may see the Sywell Airshow return every 2 years. Sywell Aerodrome is an interesting place to visit at other times of the year and they do hold various other events that you may be interested in. If you would like to know more please visit their website below.
