Pacific airshow gold coast 2023

Wow.. what a day!

The Pacific Airshow, after finding huge success in Huntington Beach, California USA, has made it’s way to Australia’s sunny Gold Coast (which happens to be my home town!). The 3 day event (18-20th August 2023) was jam packed with action; each day’s schedule consisting of 4+ hours of non-stop acts. I attended on the Saturday 19th. Amazingly, through my work I was able to borrow an RF 100-500 to go with my Canon RP. Shooting with this lens was such a pleasure and I’m so thrilled with how my photos turned out.

It was quite the challenge to get my settings right, as this was my first Air Show, plus I don’t usually photograph fast moving subjects. I was trying to capture the impression of movement as much as possible while still having my subjects sharp. This meant a lot of trial and error and a lot of testing different shutter speeds. If you’re curious about any of the settings I’ve used feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @sierra_nova. The whole process was a ton of fun, and I am super happy with the results.

The event was a major success, drawing crowds of hundreds of thousands to the beaches, apartments and surrounding areas. Featuring impressive performances including The Roulettes, an F-18 fighter jet, world renowned Matt Hall, Aarron Deliu and countless others. Following the success, event organisers have confirmed that the Pacific Airshow will be returning to the Gold Coast for at least the next four years!

I will be selling a select number of prints from the day, so keep an eye out!

Overall, it was a really fun day and I’m definitely going again next year. I hope you’ve enjoyed my images! Big thanks to Canon for getting me in to the event and for lending the awesome 100-500 lens.