As I wrote here, when we returned from Kalpitiya it was just in time to watch the first of two rehearsals for three days of joint Sri Lankan and Indian air display to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Sri Lankan Air Force.  We were so fortunate because not only was our balcony almost exactly on the central point for opposing passes, but unlike on the jammed-solid Galle Face Green I could operate my camera smoothly without banging elbows with a jostling crowd or getting frustrated with some tall guy in front.  In fact, for the final day I used my rock-solid tripod and gimbal to use very slow shutter speeds for helicopter rotor blur whilst preserving a sharp fuselage.  There was an ice cold gin and tonic and bowl of devilled cashew nuts on the table behind me, too.  How civilised! 

Unusually, each display and therefore both practices were held in the last hour before sunset – and not only that, but looking directly in to the sun out over the Laccadive Sea from the Colombo shore line.  Especially for the first of the air displays it was pretty brutal for photography; the sun searing down from a cloudless sky. It did though bring creative opportunities of the sort that I have never had at an air show previously and might never again.  These were usually when looking obliquely at the subject with the sun nearing the horizon to pick out details with a golden hue or bring smoke trails to life. 

When shooting aircraft in flight I normally over-expose a little to bring them out of being simply silhouettes but that wasn’t enough this time round, the light being so intense that it would just burn out the sky if I tried.  Instead, I switched between this technique and slightly under-exposing when simply going for a silhouette was the better option.

I hope you enjoy the pics.

Steve