Fleet Week In SF - 2010

This year's Fleet Week in San Francisco was considered the largest in 20 years, thanks to a new Fleet Week committee :) I was fortunate enough to attend this past Saturday. The event draws in over one million visitors. I'd love to find out what the actual attendance was. I've rarely seen San Francisco so crowded. Not to mention, the day was absolutely gorgeous!

I set out to capture the aerial show with friends and fellow photographers Kevin Ash, Michael Duarte, and Justin Chase. Thanks to Kevin, we were all able to shoot from the "Friends and family" section for the Blue Angels. Though everyone had fantastic seating. We chose to sit up front and along the water in order to get the best possible view. Its been years since I've had the opportunity to see the Blue Angels. They certainly did not disappoint. I had a great time. I also enjoyed viewing The Patriots, and Sean Tucker! These pilots all put on a stellar performance!

I rented a Canon 100 - 400mm f/4.5-5.6L from BorrowLenses since this would be my first time photographing an event like this. I wanted extra reach. Awesome lens! Great subject matter. There is so much to concentrate on. I have heightened respect for people that shoot these kind of events regularly. Kevin was able to give a lot of great advice on how to capture the aircraft as he has attended several shows (including multiple days from this year's event)! So I have to plug his work. He got some amazing captures. As for me, I managed to get a few decent images! I would have liked to have captured more scenes that depicted how low these planes fly, but sadly the shots weren't very clear. I can't wait to take another crack at an event like this in the future!