8 replies to this topic

[zener]

I’m a fairly new member, and am just getting used to my first “non point & shoot” camera, a D5600.  I’m finally taking the time to learn about real photography, but I have a long way to go, and have little to no experience with post production at this point.   I live near lots of airports, and have always enjoyed aviation related photography.

 

I do have some questions to post a little later regarding aircraft, or any fast moving subjects, but I was wondering what the general position is here on the forum regarding air enthusiasts who snap photos of commercial jetliners taking off or approaching airports.  I’m talking about legally and casually, from nearby public areas, parking lots, private property, etc. which happen to have good vantage points.

 

Some municipalities frown upon it more than others, and I wouldn’t encourage it in general in most cases, but having said that, I’ve seen some great shots.  I’ve seen a few online discussions where some folks think it is ok to photograph a jet, and others who think it is inappropriate. (I’m not talking about inside, in flight, or anything military related –  that’s all off limits).

 

So, before I discuss it further, I wanted to know what the consensus is around here.  If you all share any jet photos, I wouldn’t mind seeing some.

 

Thx, Zen

 

[Merco_61]

AFAIK, spotters are welcome here. In Europe, most of the bigger airports have designated locations for spotters to avoid the trouble with badly parked cars that get in the way.

[zener]

Thank you Merco.  You've helped me with a couple of other questions, and I appreciate your knowledge and input.  I saw some of your aviation shots in the gallery and they are spectacular.  I thought I'd see more aviation and jetliners in the gallery.

 

Security around airports is tighter in the US after the 9/11 attacks, particularly in some cities, and most authorities will at least tell you to move on.  It seems that the key is to find the right spots on private or public property, away from the airport, but close enough for some good angles.  

 

I had to take a friend into the city a few days ago.  I had a brand new 70 – 300mm inexpensive lens, and a D5600 that I don’t really know yet, but I wanted to take some test shots since I had to be there anyway.  I had limited time and couldn’t find some of the locations I was looking for, but snapped off some handheld bursts in full zoom and kept walking.

 

I was thinking I'd need more than 300mm to really get close enough, but wow, I was pleasantly surprised, amazed actually.  Of all that I took that day around 40% ended up as “keepers” for general viewing, with around 12% that I labeled as “sharp focus” for future processing.  I’m not sure how those rates compare to avg. handheld panning, but I really think some of the best ones have the potential to be really good, with proper processing ability, which I don’t have yet.  Overall, I’m very impressed with how that lens performed.  The different cloud / sky combinations really made some of the shots very dramatic that day.

 

I notice that many shots are viewable, and look nice on the 17” laptop screen, but when I enlarge to full size, which is about 20 times larger than my screen, that is when I can separate the tack sharp ones from some that are very slightly out but viewable otherwise.  I’m not even fully sure of which auto focus mode to use yet either.  Lots to learn.

 

So I’ll post some of these soon I guess, here or in the gallery.  They have not been processed yet, and some are a little dark from the ND filter I was using.  I’m still deciding on an editing program other than ViewNX2.  Sry for the long winded reply.

 

Zen

[Fletch]

I like aviation Photos if the photos show some action / activity in them.

[mariah]

I’m a fairly new member, and am just getting used to my first “non point & shoot” camera, a D5600.  I’m finally taking the time to learn about real photography, but I have a long way to go, and have little to no experience with post production at this point.   I live near lots of airports, and have always enjoyed aviation related photography.

 

I do have some questions to post a little later regarding aircraft, or any fast moving subjects, but I was wondering what the general position is here on the forum regarding air enthusiasts who snap photos of commercial jetliners taking off or approaching airports.  I’m talking about legally and casually, from nearby public areas, parking lots, private property, etc. which happen to have good vantage points.

 

Some municipalities frown upon it more than others, and I wouldn’t encourage it in general in most cases, but having said that, I’ve seen some great shots.  I’ve seen a few online discussions where some folks think it is ok to photograph a jet, and others who think it is inappropriate. (I’m not talking about inside, in flight, or anything military related –  that’s all off limits).

 

So, before I discuss it further, I wanted to know what the consensus is around here.  If you all share any jet photos, I wouldn’t mind seeing some.

 

Thx, Zen

 

Well aviation photos are quite nice and not a lot of people do it. You can definitely create unique photos and they will have certain values as mainly photographers love to take nature photos a lot. There are very few people who would be interested about aviation photos. If you take good motion pictures then you should do it.

[Merco_61]

There are lots of spotters, worldwide, but they tend to post to Airliners.net or local groups, rather than to general photography groups. I don't count myself as a spotter as my interests lie more with light aircraft than with airliners. I shoot and post enough to get the spotter accreditation at airshows, but that is about it. I have shot lots of promotional photos for the local light aircraft and glider clubs over the years, but that is another genre...

[Nikon Shooter]

It's been a long time since I shot real aircrafts but I covered
international models championships in different categories.

Would pictures of these satisfy you?
 

[Nikon Shooter]

… just getting used to my first “non point & shoot” camera.

That's funny, zener, to someone asking me why I got
such sophisticated camera I replied: "Because I can
configure it out to behave like a point and shoot!
 

[zener]

Well this post was from Oct. 2018, but thanks for the replies.

 

That airliners.net site is pretty cool.  Thanks!

 

Zener