Airport Photography
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Posting Old Photos 2 During the COVID-19 Pandemic: V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor Aircraft
Stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic with nothing to do, I’ve been restoring some old photos to pass the time. Here are a few shots of the V-22 Osprey from the 2018 Air Tattoo.
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Throwback Photo under the COVID-19 Pandemic 1: Lancer Strategic Bomber
Stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and bored, I’ve been spending my time restoring old photos. First up are a few shots of the B-1B Lancer from the 2018 Air Tattoo.
Here is a summary from Wikipedia:
The B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force. It was developed by North American Aviation (later merged with Rockwell, which was then acquired by Boeing) in the 1970s, first flew in 1974, and entered service in 1985.
The aircraft’s most prominent feature is its variable-sweep wing configuration. When fully extended, the wingspan reaches 41.78 meters; at maximum sweep, it is 23.84 meters. The variable-sweep wing is a solution designed to reconcile conflicting requirements, such as high-speed flight, low wind gust loads, long endurance, and excellent takeoff and landing performance. Thanks to this design, the B-1 can take off for combat missions from civil airports with shorter Runways; dispersing the fleet in advance avoids total destruction from an enemy preemptive strike on air bases.
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Airport Photography over the Sea, Part 2
It has been three and a half years since the last time I went spotting at sea for Haneda Airport from Tokyo Bay. Taking advantage of the good weather, I joined a similar activity again, and the results were quite satisfying.
Thai Airways Boeing 747-400, this type is becoming increasingly rare. <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/1/1/8/5815811.jpg?v=v444724ab677>
ANA’s 2020 Olympics Special Livery. Front lighting. Blue sky background. Side-top view. A perfect aviation photo. <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/7/6/5/5815567.jpg?v=v4d6ea61e207>
While these photos may not look particularly special at first glance, actually shooting aircraft in the sky from low ground, 99.9% of the time you get the belly, not the full side of the fuselage, and it is usually backlit. This is a location understood only by an extremely niche group, yielding a result akin to close-up aerial photography.
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The Holdout at Narita Airport: Higashihime Shrine
This is the most unique shrine in the world, built right at the approach end of Runway 34R at Narita Airport, yet it is not managed by the airport. Aircraft pass overhead at a height of 15 meters/50 feet, which looks spectacular from the ground. But if you have taken a flight to Narita Airport and felt that it takes a long time to taxi after landing, You should remember this famous “holdout,” as it forces aircraft to make a large detour to return to the terminal.
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Airport at Dusk
The weather forecast called for cloudy skies—not exactly an ideal day for photography—but I still grabbed my camera and headed out to try my luck. After all, it had been nearly a year since I last photographed the night view at Tokyo International Airport’s (Haneda) Terminal 1.
It turned out to be a slightly eerie sunset. After the sun went down, in the dark of night, a ray of afterglow illuminated both Mount Fuji and the airport terminal, yielding an unexpected harvest.
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Watching the J-20 at the 2018 Zhuhai Airshow
Ever since making a connection with the Zhuhai Airshow two years ago (please see Unexpected Gains from Zhuhai Airshow 2016), my colleagues Mr. K and Mr. T and I made a pact to return together this year.
As an aviation enthusiast, I wouldn’t call myself a military fanatic, and I don’t have a special passion for fighter jets. However, seeing many friends on Weibo/Moments/Twitter heading to the south side shooting spot “Gun Tower” or the Back Mountain of Zhuhai Airport since late October, such as Taihu Shage and Aviation New Vision - Chibi, whom I met at the Royal International Air Tattoo, and seeing the massive amount of high-definition photos of the stealth fighter J-20 they took, I was truly envious.
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Photographing the F-35 Lightning II at the Royal International Air Tattoo
F-35 Lightning II is arguably the most advanced fighter jet in existence today. Seeing it in person for the first time, I was initially struck by the sheer sound of its engines. When the P&W F135 kicks in the afterburner, you can hear a unique metallic roar; In terms of noise, a single engine feels louder than the three-engine Trident airliner.
USA - Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II 15-5164 <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/0/7/5157709.jpg?v=v42b38a6e3e4 referrerpolicy=“no-referrer”> I also managed to get this photo of the USAF F-35A, taken on the third day of the Air Tattoo, featured on A-net. Thank you so much!
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Photo of 787 at Farnborough Airshow Featured by Official Airliners.net Account
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - Untitled (Biman Bangladesh) - N1015B <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/9/2/5116299.jpg?v=v442cdc863cd referrerpolicy=“no-referrer”>
N1015B is a Boeing 787 test aircraft, that occasionally changes its livery when participating in various airshows. For example, the All Nippon Airways (ANA) livery used at Farnborough two years ago, but this time it features the Biman Bangladesh Airlines livery, which is quite refreshing.
This N1015B is renowned at airshows for conducting high-maneuverability demonstration flights, often dubbed by the media as “a fighter jet among airliners.” I witnessed it on-site this time, and it was truly an eye-opening and spectacular sight.
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Recent a-net photo submissions
They are just ordinary photos, nothing to speak of in terms of beauty, But noticing that the China Southern aircraft at Haneda Airport recently are very new, I checked their manufacturing dates.
Currently, China Southern Airlines’ Guangzhou-Tokyo route CZ385/CZ386 primarily uses the A330, (Guangzhou 09:15 - Haneda 14:20 / Haneda 15:40 - Guangzhou 19:25) For example, Airbus A330-343 B-1063 <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/5/7/5/5034575.jpg?v=v4e3f9bc9e45> This one rolled off the assembly line this March; a brand-new airframe just looks pleasing to the eye.
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American Airlines' First Boeing 787 Passenger Aircraft N800AN
Featured on the official website again, posting here to commemorate. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - American Airlines N800AN <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/3/3/5027339.jpg?v=v48a8379d484>
As the caption says, “Nice afternoon light,” The soft light before the winter dusk is exactly the target every photographer pursues. Even more coincidentally, I caught the landing of American Airlines’ first Boeing 787 passenger aircraft, N800AN, and the timing was perfect.
Additionally, the shadow cast by the main wing on the fuselage is very clear, and the shape of the deployed Flaps can be seen very distinctly.
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Headline on Airliners.net Homepage TOP 5 OF THE LAST 24 HOURS
The most prominent section on the homepage of www.airliners.net is the “TOP 5 OF THE LAST 24 HOURS,” which features the 5 most viewed photos in the last 24 hours and is updated every hour.
Because this Singapore Airlines A350 was recommended by the official account, <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/5/5/5/5003555.jpg?v=v4fc6c7c0cad> it ranked first for the first time, so I took a screenshot to commemorate the moment.
Actually, this photo was taken nearly a year ago. Aside from the good lighting, I didn’t think there was anything special about it. It’s just a standard spotting side shot, pretty incredible… Anyway, thanks for the recommendation from the official site.
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Featured on Airliners.net's Official SNS Account
It is a great honor to have my photo featured for the first time by Airliners.net’s official SNS account. This ANA A321neo, registration JA131A, was shot at Haneda at the end of last month. In fact, I had also photographed this airframe in Osaka before, and that shot was accepted by anet as well. It seems I have some fate with this aircraft.
JA131A is ANA’s first A321neo, and the first domestic route aircraft equipped with an inflight entertainment system at every seat, entering service on September 8, 2017.
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Spotting Planes at Haneda during Golden Week
Typically, there is a holiday of about one week spanning from the end of April to early May. If there are no special travel plans, I usually spend about 2 or 3 days spotting planes nearby.
Below are a few photos of aircraft with special liveries that I recently captured.
This is a JAL (Japan Airlines) special livery commemorating the FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia next month. Themed “SAMURAI BLUE 2018,” it features designs of Japanese national football team members. The aircraft type is Boeing 777-200, registration JA8979.
SAMURAI BLUE 応援ジェット 1号機 -
Instantbook: A Service for Printing Instagram Photos into Mini Photo Books
There is an online service in Japan called instantbook that can turn photos from Instagram into a small photo book. I make one every once in a while, looking like this:
Photos of Recently Taken Painted Aircraft, etc.
I haven’t been out much on weekends lately, so I don’t have many photos, but I’ll share a few here.
Boeing 777-346/ER - Japan Airlines - JAL JA733J “JET-KEI” <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/5/0/0/4880005.jpg?v=v409b469e077> A JAL 777 themed after tennis player Kei Nishikori. Kei Nishikori, from Shimane Prefecture, Japan, is a male tennis player and the second Asian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final (2014 US Open Runner-up; the previous one was Zenzo Shimizu in 1920 at Wimbledon). He is one of only eight Asian players to reach the Grand Slam quarterfinals, with a highest ranking of No. 4.
Osaka Itami Airport Photo Spot Introduction #6: Shimogawara Park
Shimogawara is also a well-known spot for plane spotting.
It is located at the northwest corner of Itami Airport; this is the area marked as “No. 5” in the picture.
For transportation, you can get off at JR Itami Station,
take a bus to “Shimogawara” from Platform 6,
and after getting off at the terminal, it is a 10-minute walk to get there.When taking photos here, actually, most of the time the lighting is against the sun (backlit), so I chose to go in the late afternoon during dusk when the light is softer.
Osaka Itami Airport Photography Spot Introduction #5: Inagawa River Embankment
After leaving Sky Land Harada, I headed to another Osaka plane spotting location, “Inagawa River Levee”. Inagawa is the name of a river, and “dobete” means riverbank, so “Inagawa Dobete” is not a park, but a river levee at the approach end of the Itami Airport Runway. From here, you can capture head-on shots of aircraft taking off and landing on Runway 32L.
Osaka Itami Airport Photography Spot Introduction Part 4: Sky Land Harada
Sky Land Harada is also a famous spotting location at Osaka Itami Airport. It is located outside the southeast corner of the airport, and the closest point is only about 100-200 meters from the Runway, allowing you to take many very distinctive photos. I made a special trip to run over and take a look this time.
Since it was my first time and I was unfamiliar with the place, I chose the bus for transportation. Get off at JR Itami Station, go to bus stop No. 6, take the Route 22 bus, get off at Higashiguchi Sakai,
and then walk northeast for 3 minutes to arrive.Depth of Field Comparison Between Full-Frame and APS-C Cameras
Most people know that full-frame cameras have larger sensors and better image quality. However, when photographing aircraft, the APS-C focal length offers more advantages. Deciding which model to use is indeed a headache. Let’s take the Canon 5D4 and 7D2 as examples to see the differences in Depth of Field (DoF) between full-frame and APS-C bodies.
For example, photographing an object 100 meters away: When using the 7D2 with a 200mm focal length and aperture f/7.1,
You can see the Depth of Field is 75 meters.A Relaxing Trip to Haneda: Photographing the Lufthansa Five-Star Livery, Part 2
Following the previous post, here are the photos mainly uploaded to Airliners.net (anet).
At noon at the International Terminal, I spotted a Gulfstream G550, VP-CFG Gulfstream Aerospace G-V-SP Gulfstream G550 (C-37B) <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/9/5/4758599.jpg?v=v47bcf4e7de8>
Last summer, an old classmate came to Tokyo with his family, and I went to Haneda Airport to pick them up. At that time, they were on this China Southern A330-200. <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/3/4/6/4758643.jpg?v=v417afa3312f>
I also have a connection with the Shanghai Airlines A330-300, after all, I took it when I went to see the Shanghai Rolex Masters 2017. <img src=https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/9/1/0/4759019.jpg?v=v40884e844a1>