It was a perfect night for taking photographs of the Blades Aerobatic Display Team when they visited Peterhead Scottish Week yesterday. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the crowds were out in force at the Lido. Having taken time to get my camera loaded with a telephoto lens, made sure that the shutter speed was fast enough and the motor drive switched on,  I positioned myself beside the fence on the corner of the South Road, overlooking the Bay and the harbour mouth. I was able to lean on the fence as I tried to track the little planes as they shot over the bay in front of me. The sun was behind me, giving ideal lighting conditions. All I had to do was wait, taking the opportunity to try out my camera in the evening sunshine as an oil supply boat made its way into the harbour.

Before long there was an excited buzz round about me as we heard the sound of the planes, and the show began. This was the first time I had seen the Blades Team, and the first time I have tried to photograph an aerial display, unless you count the little red dots that I captured during the Red Arrows visit to Peterhead a few years ago.  This time I was not disappointed, either in the great show that the Blades put on, or in my resulting photographs.

I don’t know what the people in the crowd near me thought of me as my camera rattled off several hundred shots, the motor drive giving its distinctive clicking noise.  ( I wouldn’t have done that in the days when I used film and had to get it processed!)  The hard work came today when I had to sit at the computer, throw away most of the pictures, whittling the set down to about thirty or so, and then do some working in cropping and improving them.  If you want to see the set just CLICK HERE.

Here area few pictures from the show.