PCC - club outings

Phew life has been very hectic of late and time seems to fly. In my last blog I was about to go on my second PCC club outing, which I did. We went to the Redcliffe Airport where Ron Byrne our "Outings Officer" had arranged for access to the tarmac and to the mound surrounding the landing strip.

We met at 09h00 and were to make a day of it, with shots around the airport in the morning, lunch on the peninsular opposite the Scarborough Yacht Club with afternoon shooting of parachutists on advice of the drop zone. The drop zone for parachutists changes depending on the weather and wind direction and so the drop zone (beach) is not known until shortly before the jump.

Ronnie was looking after a friend with a medical condition so I went off on BBB (Big Blue Beauty) my Kawasaki Nomad 1600VN but I wasn't sure what to expect so packed only the Sony a99 and my 18-250 zoom lens into the panniers. About 20 club members attended and it was marvellous having not only the opportunity to photograph a variety of aircraft from many varying angles but also the opportunity to learn from the most experienced club members.

I managed to take a number of wonderful shots, one of which would go on to score a Merit in PDI B grade open contest. I also received some valuable advice from Glenn Rossiter the club Vice President who noticed that my zoom lens opened unaided when my camera was hanging at my side. It seems that this is a fault unique to this particular lens but can be corrected with a little tape being applied just right - this has worked a treat.

Just before lunch Ronnie called and asked me to come back to her as she needed a little muscle to help with her friends needs so  I apologised to Ron and took my leave, promising to return in the afternoon if circumstance would allow it.

I did return in the afternoon but the event had been cancelled due to a fatal aircraft accident at Caboolture which claimed the lives of five people, the pilot and four skydivers.

I decided to collect my big 70-400G SSMII lens and put it through it's paces properly. I have used it several times with mixed results and I was determined to get the hang of this big lens, it weighs a ton (figuratively speaking of course - but heavy non the less).

After collecting the lens and a mono-pod I rode over to Pelican Park as there is usually quite a bit of activity on the water with Jet-skies, Kite Surfers and the like. As it happened there were a number of Jet-skie tube rides which were ideal for panning, object tracking and quick focus. The lens has three preset focus buttons which I'm still struggling with, I tend to press them accidentally a lot while using the zoom.

More practice needed. Till next time I'll leave you with my merit winning image - so proud :)