
I thought I’d start this week with a few initial photos from the Malta International Airshow, which took place a month ago, mostly on the waters above St Paul’s Bay. For this event I headed up to Xemxija, and the cliffs of Rdum Irxaw, on the opposite side of the bay. I figured the point of view would be as good as I could hope for, and with some luck it would be a lot less crowded. I know those cliffs well enough, having hiked and climbed there before, so I was confident I’d find an out-of-the-way enough place. It turned out well, as my nearest neighbours were at least 10m away, which in these times is still preferred.
Needless to say, I took my longest lens with me, the trusty Sigma 150-600mm, together with its matched 1.4x extender and the APS-C sized sensor EOS M5, for a further 1.6x magnification due to its crop factor. A reach, all told, of 1344mm in full-frame equivalent terms. Of course, this kind of magnification is a pain to handle, especially with fast-moving subjects, but what can you do. At least in an airshow one gets more than enough practice time. I’m starting this collection of photos with the first plane I witnessed – the Italian CAP-21DS “The Silver Chicken”, doing its aerobatic display, above.
I also took some photos of other spectators, in the distance. The first of these, below, shows the battery at the tip of Mistra bay, which was initially where I was planning to go. Judging by the cars there, it’s a good thing I stopped at Xemxija. Mistra is further out, but Xemxija is higher up, and I think in the end that was in fact the better choice.

The official location of the airshow was the National Aquarium near Qawra Point, Buġibba. I was certain there would be a multitude of people there, which was enough reason to avoid it. I took a photo of the crowd there, below. Even the rocky shoreline below the aquarium was busier than I have ever seen it – I have often been swimming there, usually with barely anyone nearby, even in the height of summer, as it’s rather rough walking territory. The promenade above must have been utter insanity.
