A day at the air show
Sunderland International Air Show 2007
(Junior’s picture special)
“Junior”, my son, is ten and will be going into Year 6 at school next term and is developing an interest in history and things military and for the past couple of years has enjoyed watching the displays at the Sunderland International Air Show. However, in the past, he has had the misfortune of a lot of young lads, a short attention span, but it didn’t hamper his enjoyment too much. This year we decided to pick a new location to watch the skies from, we found a convenient spot to park the car in Whitburn Village, South Tyneside, just a mile from the main event at the sea front in Sunderland, and walked down to the beach on this rather warm but breezy afternoon. The slope of the small cliff face afforded some shelter from the stiff westerly breeze and all in all it was an ideal location. We were among a large crowd who obviously knew the advantages of this spot, a little local knowledge goes a long way.
The show this year would be a little different because of the commitments abroad for the RAF and the Royal Navy, some of the British planes would not be flying this year and their places would be taken by crews from foreign forces, similarly the RAF’s Red Arrows would not be performing on both days of the show, they will be closing the procedures tomorrow. Perhaps this was the reason why the crowds were a little thinner on day one this year, but I’m sure it will be quite packed tomorrow.
I had decided that perhaps today might just be the day to introduce “Junior” to photography and he was thrilled to little bits when I put my old Konica Minolta Dimage Z3 in his hands and gave him a few rudimentary instructions, I allowed him to use the camera in the auto and sports mode which should suit the fast moving targets quite nicely. Over the course of four hours he shot over 350 files, most of the first hundred were pure clouds with no airplanes at all but it it didn’t take him long to catch up with them and keep them in the viewfinder. We’ll be back again tomorrow to catch the Red Arrows and see how his photography progresses, I’ll be posting a short series in South Shields Daily Photo so do visit there and have a look.
But for now, can I invite you to congratulate “Junior” on his efforts and allow you to enjoy his first batch of pictures, all the pictures on this page are his work (don’t go pinching them -he won’t be pleased!) grandfather will probably be delighted.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Great photos and don’t worry about the photos you took and missed the plane as you could use those cloud photoes to learn Meteorology.
Curly..some of the photos would not enlarge.
Bruce Douglas
July 28, 2007 at 8:53 pm
I’m really jealous, they are top class photos.
Dave Smith
July 28, 2007 at 10:05 pm
They all enlarged for me Bruce, you should try broadband or be prepared to be patient and wait for the photos to load, could take a while on dial up.
Dave Smith
July 28, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Great pictures! I enjoyed seeing the photos of those planes. It must have been a treat to actually go out there and have a chance to watch them in action.
sherri
July 28, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Hello “Junior”, you took some great photos – I look forward to seeing more of yours alongside your dad’s?!
S Wilson
July 28, 2007 at 11:03 pm
[...] It was day one of the Sunderland International Air Show yesterday, it takes place just on the boundary of South Shields and South Tyneside and it’s something we cannot miss – most of the planes fly over us anyway. My ten year old son “Junior” enjoyed his first day behind the lens of my old camera and you can see his pictures in my other blog here. [...]
On a wing and a prayer « South Shields Daily Photo
July 29, 2007 at 12:02 am
chip off the owld block
looks like he has a good teacher
sless
July 29, 2007 at 3:24 am
Well done “Junior” glad to see you following in the footsteps of your dad. Grandad is very proud – keep up the good work. These were really stunning photographs.
Trigger17
July 29, 2007 at 9:32 am
Grandad isn’t the only one who is proud of “Junior”, Uncle Mac and Aunty Maureen are equally so.
You certainly seem to have your Dad’s eye for catching the subject. Stick to it, and we look forward to the day you get your own “Junior Photo of the Day”
Hebburn Mac
July 29, 2007 at 10:12 am
Brill Photos Curly.
p wakeman
July 29, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Thanks for your kind words everyone. I hope you all like my pictures i will have some more tomorrow – bye.
Junior curly
July 29, 2007 at 9:34 pm
This young man is well on his way to become a good photographer–of course, he had a great teacher! Very nice job; probably better than many of us on the daily blog list!
Kate
July 30, 2007 at 11:05 am