I am excited to share two things:
- I have officially graduated from my Canon EOS SL3 (farewell), and I am now on a Sony A7R III.
- I have finally visited Sidewinder
That being said, shooting on 42MP and being able to use my ISO above 320 is a liberating experience. For those not in the loop, Sidewinder is a military training route in Southern California well known for its low-level flying and unique aircraft. It’s been a bucket list spotting destination of mine for a while, however spotting here with my old setup would’ve been pretty sub-optimal. I joined the whale himself, @Altaria55, along with a few other friends on the fun road trip from Vegas. A 10 hour drive leaving at 2AM and returning home at 9PM.
I rented a Sony 200-600mm for these shots.
First catch of the morning, a four ship of Nellis F-35A Lightnings bringing thunder to the valley.
Both of the Groom Lake (Area 51) vipers were out and about, however I only focused one and my camera failed to focus it. Added to the irony.
A civilian-owned Morane Paris Jet, once owned by the French Navy also came by for a run. One of the last ones left in the wild.
According to radio calls by the Groom Lake Vipers, these guys didn’t call on CTAF forcing the 2nd Viper abort their low-level and dive in later down the canyon to intercept them. Truly some insane stuff.
A solo F-16D from Edwards making a few runs throughout the day. This is the widest F-16 variant yet it’s still not as wide as @AndrewWu.
The grand finale that sent us home. An F-15 pilot of California ANG Fresno we were in communication with split off from his party to greet us by two high speed passes before RTB.
Sony A7R III
Tamron 150-500mm F/5-6.7
Tamron 28-75mm G2 F/2.8
Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod
