1. The first question anybody asks is "what camera are you using". I tell them a Nikon (sorry Canon shooters-yes I know Canon delivers a bit clearer photo, but I like the feel of Nikons and Nikon has closed the gap some with their new models). "Yeah, but what model", they ask. I say, "doesn't matter". When shooting airshows, the only thing that really matters is the lenses you use. Give me any Nikon SLR and I will produce pretty much the same photos. For a normal person, get a 70-300mm zoom and you will get some good shots and be happy. For advance or those with money to burn, then size matters. Get the longest, fastest lens you can afford. I currently use a Nikon 70-200 F2.8 and a 2x teleconverter which bumps it up to 140-400 F5.6-with the 1.5x crop factor of the camera's digital sensor, I am at 280-600mm. Even at 600mm, I still can't get as close as I would like. "So, if you had money coming out your ears, what lens would you get"? For a cool $5000, I would get a Nikon 200-400 F4 VR and a 1.4x teleconverter for extra power. Now we're talking...but wait!! I hope you can hold that 7lb. monster for a few hours! I don't use a monopod or tripod. They end up getting in the way and it is hard to control the camera while keeping up with planes. I have a flag shoulder harness that I stick my monopod in and use every once in awhile-it works OK for slower moving planes.

2. Use manual exposure! Even when the sun is at your back, the sky will still mess with your cameras meter and under expose the airplane making it darker. On a cloudy day, it is worse and will make the planes mere shadows. Same for when the sun is in front of you (I hate when this happens). You generally don't want a picture of a shadow on a blue sky so you have to expose for the plane instead which has its own problem-goodbye blue sky. I use a Seikonic meter to measure exactly what I want to expose whether it be something lit by the sun or in shadow. If you don't have a meter, you can use your camera's meter and get a reading off the grass, the palm of your hand or a plane/object in the same light.

More tips to come...