Airport Photography
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A One-Day Spotting Trip in Los Angeles: Flight Museum, Santa Monica Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Van Nuys Airport
I haven’t really been out to spot planes much since the pandemic. This Golden Week, I took a trip to the U.S. and had a buddy show me around three airports in one day.
First, we visited the Museum of Flying, a private non-profit aerospace museum located in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in 1974, closed in 2002, and reopened in a new facility in 2012. The museum showcases aviation history, focusing on Donald Douglas and the Douglas Aircraft Company of Southern California.
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Haneda Airport Terminal 2 for the First Time in Half a Year
The high temperatures persisted for 3-4 months this summer; I had no desire to go out taking photos, so I haven’t touched my camera for over three months. Entering October, it finally cooled down a bit, so I came to Haneda Airport on Saturday to relax. As always, the observation deck was crowded with aviation enthusiasts, but I noticed that mirrorless camera users have become the mainstream, making DSLR users like myself a minority.
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Using AI Denoising to Re-process Some High-Noise Images
In April 2023, Lightroom Classic (version 12.3) introduced an AI Denoising feature, claiming that
using artificial intelligence to process any Bayer or X-Trans RAW file can reduce noise without losing fine image details.
I tried this feature on the day of its release and found it extremely practical. This weekend, I dug up some old photos that I had given up on due to strong image noise, re-edited them, and brought them back to light.
In the photo above, the ISO is 12800, but after AI noise reduction processing, obvious noise spots are basically invisible.
The ISO of the photo above is 160, but due to strong backlighting, I was not very satisfied with the noise in the original photo during editing.
After processing with AI, the image looks much cleaner when viewed again.
In this daytime photo where air quality was poor and there were many color noise spots in the sky, using AI noise reduction also achieves a certain beautifying effect.
I have been very busy with work recently, so I didn’t have much energy to go to the airport to take photos on the weekend. I had to dig out some old photos to do the job. .
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First Shots of Haneda Airport in 2023
It’s been three years since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, and I’ve been going out for photography less and less. I really don’t know how much longer I can keep up this hobby. It would be a pity to let such good equipment go unused, so I took a holiday at the beginning of the year to visit Haneda Airport to practice.
First, I went to the third passenger terminal to look at the international flights. The most eye-catching one was ITA Airways’ brand new A350. This is the first time I’ve seen ITA Airways (formerly Alitalia) with its blue livery,
and it is the airframe EI-IFF, featuring a special livery commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit.
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Recovery of International Flights at Haneda Airport
The COVID-19 situation has gradually improved recently, and everyone is no longer afraid of infection. After all, even if infected, it’s just a fever and cold symptoms similar to the flu. Therefore, the tourism industry has begun to recover gradually.
Since autumn, I’ve started going out to visit museums, art galleries, concerts, temples, etc. On this day, since the Visibility was a bit better, I decided to head to Runway at Haneda Airport to take some photos of airplanes.
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New Image Editing Powerhouse: TourBox Elite
I purchased a piece of hardware called TourBox Elite for photo editing.
After getting the hang of it for a bit, it feels pretty good.I used it for editing in Lightroom. After completing the initial setup, and spending nearly 30 minutes memorizing the locations of the knobs, scroll wheels, D-pad, and various function keys, the rate at which I used the keyboard and mouse did indeed drop significantly.
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2022 Revisiting Senrigawa at Osaka Itami Airport
It has been five years since my last visit to the plane spotting holy land—the Senri River bank at Osaka Itami Airport. This time, taking advantage of the Golden Week consecutive holidays, I made a special trip to Osaka for another few hours of photography. Speaking of which, local transportation has evolved somewhat. First, take the Hankyu Railway from Osaka Umeda to Sone Station. Then, use the shared bicycle app “HELLOCYCLING,” and after a ten-minute ride, you’ll arrive at the Senri River.
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First Shots at Haneda Airport in 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t let up, so I haven’t been to the airport to spot planes for nearly half a year. I’m really rusty, so I headed to Haneda Airport on this day (Vernal Equinox holiday, March 21st) to practice.
Also, due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, European international flights have largely been grounded, so I skipped Terminal 3 and just hung out at the Terminal 2 observation deck to try and regain my old touch. By the way, I bought the Sony a7m4 several months ago and took it out for the first time to shoot planes, but I only ended up with these two shots. The other photos were still taken with the Canon 5D4.
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Commemorating the Ukrainian Su-27 Air Show
I read online that the Ukrainian pilot, Colonel Oleksandr “Grey Wolf” Oksanchenko, was shot down and killed over Kyiv on the night of Friday last week by an S-400. From 2013 to 2018, he served as a Su-27 display pilot for the Ukrainian Air Force. I also photographed his display in the UK. I am posting some photos here to honor and thank this excellent pilot for his spectacular performances.
July 14, 2018
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A Long-Awaited Look at Haneda Airport Terminal 3
Recently, the COVID-19 situation has improved, with the number of infections just a fraction of what it was during the peak of the fifth wave. So, while the weather is still good, I came to the airport to see the planes I haven’t seen in a while, even though most international flights haven’t resumed yet.
The most striking sight today was this Lufthansa Airbus A340-300, a rare four-engine aircraft.
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Olympic Broadcast Helicopter Airbus Helicopters H125
The Tokyo Olympics concluded nearly a month ago. I went to the seaside to watch the windsurfing finals and managed to snap a few photos of the Airbus Helicopters H125 broadcast helicopter. I’m sharing them here.
Airbus Helicopters H125 (AS-350B3e) - Toho Air Service JA506E
Here is a description of this aircraft type, borrowed from the official Airbus website:
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Old Photos of Transair Boeing 737-200 N810TA that Ditched at Sea
Based on a reader’s comment, I just learned that the Boeing 737-200 freighter N810TA, which I photographed before, performed a ditching near Hawaii last night. Fortunately, the pilots have been rescued!
This aircraft had its maiden flight on July 23, 1975, and was delivered to Pacific Western Airlines in Canada on October 10 of the same year. It is nearly 46 years old this year.
The airframe has presumably sunk to the bottom of the sea… So I am sharing some previous photos. -
A Relaxing Trip to Tokyo International Airport in March
Work hasn’t been going well lately, so I came out this weekend to take some photos and change the mood.
Started today at Tokyo Haneda Airport Terminal 2. The mainstay fleet of the past—the 787/777 large passenger jets—is hard to spot now; the 767/321/320/737 have become the absolute main force.
However, with the sunlight behind me, let’s capture a moment for the hard-working maintenance crew.
When it comes to plane photos, takeoff is naturally the most charming part.
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First Visit to the Airport to Watch Planes in 2021
After entering 2021, due to the worsening pandemic situation, the Japanese government once again declared a state of emergency. Although there was no strict lockdown, economic activities like tourism and business travel came to a standstill again.
I have been working from home for nearly a year, and my camera has basically been sitting idle. I really don’t know how long this situation will last. To change my mood, I occasionally come to Haneda Airport for a walk; otherwise, I might even forget how to take photos.
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Posting Old Photos during the COVID-19 Pandemic 25: The Afterburner Plume of a Fighter Jet
Since the onset of winter, due to the rapid surge in infections, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency again this week, urging people to stay home as much as possible.
It’s a good chance to keep sorting through old photos at home.
The nozzle flames of fighter jets in afterburner always make for some of the best shutter opportunities—today, I’ve picked out a few such shots to share. -
COVID-19 Pandemic Old Photo Post 24: Boeing 737 MAX
Continuing the series of old photos from the COVID-19 pandemic era. Recently, I saw that the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX grounding incident, which lasted for nearly two years, has finally seen progress. To commemorate this, here are a few old photos from the 2018 Farnborough Airshow.
The above are photos of the air display; below are a few shots from the ground.
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Throwback to the Old Days: HondaJet HA-420
Continuing with the series of old photos from the COVID-19 pandemic era, today we are featuring the HondaJet HA-420. All photos were taken at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow.
The HondaJet HA-420 is the first aircraft developed by Honda Aircraft Company.
The HondaJet is an unconventional low-wing monoplane, featuring a composite fuselage and an aluminum wing. The aircraft is equipped with two GE Honda Aero Engines HF120 turbofan engines mounted on the wings. It features retractable landing gear, with both main landing gear and the nose gear being of the single-wheel type.
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Throwback to Embraer E190-E2 Passenger Aircraft
Continuing the series of throwback photos from the COVID-19 pandemic, today I am posting the Embraer E190-E2 in the “Shark” livery. All photos were taken at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow.
Exterior
The E190-E2 is the first model of the Embraer E-Jets E2 jet series. Compared to the current generation E190 aircraft, the E190-E2 features 75% new systems; fuel consumption is improved by 17.3% over the E190, and is 10% better than direct competitors, making it the most efficient single-aisle series aircraft globally.
The E-Jets E2 series utilizes new Pratt & Whitney PurePower Geared TurbofanTM high-performance engines, reducing fuel consumption by 11% compared to the previous generation CF34; Meanwhile, the E-Jets E2’s new wing creatively adopts a raked wingtip design co-planar with the main wing, increasing the wing span length.
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A Relaxing Trip to the Airport
As the weather turns colder, the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has recently peaked in Japan, with no sign of letting up. Working from home every day and rarely going out was stifling, so I came to the airport to watch the airplanes and relax.
I love capturing planes pulling up nose-high from the front in this kind of backlit condition,
Especially since this is a JAL special livery aircraft featuring “Nippon Festival”. -
Posting old photos during the COVID-19 pandemic 21 The last production Boeing 727
Continuing my series of posting old photos during the COVID-19 pandemic, today I’m posting the Boeing 727. All photos were taken at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow.
Takeoff
The introduction on wikipedia is as follows:
The Boeing 727 is a medium-range, three-engine, narrow-body passenger aircraft produced and developed by the American Boeing Company. It has a seating capacity of 149 to 189 people and a range of 2,400 to 2,700 nautical miles. The Boeing 727 uses Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines, a T-tail, and places the engines at the rear of the fuselage. The No. 2 engine is located above the fuselage and below the tail, connected to the intake by an S-duct.
The Boeing 727 inherited the success of the Boeing 707, using the same cockpit design and fuselage cross-section. The first Boeing 727-100 flew in 1963 and was delivered to Eastern Air Lines the following year to enter service. The Boeing 727-200 is a stretched fuselage version, which flew for the first time in 1967 and was delivered to Northeast Airlines for service. During its production run, the Boeing 727 was the main aircraft type for US domestic routes as well as medium and short-range international routes. The Boeing 727 also has a freighter version and a passenger-freighter convertible version.