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Posts Tagged ‘DCA’

Personal, Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Leavin’ On A Jetplane!

Flying West

It has been a while since I have taken a trip that needed a jetplane to get to the destination. This was a good occasion – an out of town wedding! The best part, is that I did not have any work to do for the wedding! It was another trip that did not have a work-related component attached. So, I went into the trip with a more relaxed approach. However, I still wanted to make some good photos. Especially since it is not every day that I get the chance to travel.

KC-135 on tarmac - ©TimeLine Media
KC-135 on tarmac – ©TimeLine Media

For the trip, I planned what gear to take that would let me take a range of photos without weighing me down too much. Paring down the gear list will also let me carry it onto planes without too much fuss. I brought my Fuji X100s which has a 35mm lens, and my iPhone. For the “big” camera, I brought my Nikon D800 with 3 lenses – a 14mm for a wide angle, a 50mm which is a small, normal, lens, and a 105mm macro lens that I could use as a telephoto or portrait lens.

Fog Over Chicago

747 and Willis Tower on approach to Chicago O'Hare airport - ©TimeLine Media
747 and Willis Tower on approach to Chicago O’Hare airport – ©TimeLine Media

The first plane we boarded was an almost factory-new Embraer 175. From the inside, the modern design was really evident with what seemed like a lot of headroom and legroom for a small regional jet. The first leg of the trip was supposed to be from Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) to Chicago’s O’Hare airport (ORD). The E-175 and the crew provided a smooth flight to Chicago, but Mother Nature had a wrench into the landing plans. Due to the Polar Vortex that brought a lot of cold down from the Arctic, the Great Lakes stayed frozen for much longer than usual. With the warm air starting to arrive it created a lot of fog off the lakes. You can see from this photo, that there is a thick layer of fog closer to the ground. Chicago is usually one of the most beautiful cities to see from the air. With Lake Michigan taking up most of the view, and the tall towers, it is a great view from the plane. Not on this trip! Zooming in, you can just see the top of Willis Tower, the 2nd tallest building in the US.

747 and Willis Tower on approach to Chicago O'Hare airport - ©TimeLine Media
747 and Willis Tower on approach to Chicago O’Hare airport – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Photography, Technology, Travel | 3 Comments

iPhone – Airplane Window Photography

©TimeLine Media - sky over the Atlantic Ocean from 34,000 ft.

This last week, I flew on an airplane for the first time in a long time. My travels of late have all been by car, especially for business where I have to bring so much equipment. This is the first airplane trip I have taken with my iPhone, and I took advantage of having a decent camera on a bright daytime flight. The plane was an Airbus A321, and we were lucky to have seats in the last row! Actually that’s lucky only if you are interested in make photos from out of the window. Being this far back, there was no obstruction to the views below from the wings or engines.

The first thing you notice even without looking through the camera lens is that you do not have that large a field of view out of the window. Use the technology built into phone apps to help. This first image was taken with the panorama feature with the default camera app of the iPhone. It was not a very wide panorama, but you can get a much larger view than in one shot with the normal focal length lens, and small window. The only editing needed was to crop the ends to remove the edges of the windows.

©TimeLine Media - US Airways terminal at Reagan National Airport
©TimeLine Media – US Airways terminal at Reagan National Airport

You will have opportunities near the takeoffs and landings to see so much of the surrounding landscapes. During the middle of the flights, the deep blues, and billowy clouds will fill the frame easily. You cannot get the same deep deep blue in the sky taking photos from the ground. Being above the clouds, and in the thinning air makes for a nice minimal background in case other objects come into view like the moon, or other nearby planes.

©TimeLine Media - sky over the Atlantic Ocean from 34,000 ft.
©TimeLine Media – sky over the Atlantic Ocean from 34,000 ft.

Another challenge in getting clean photos out of the plane is the reflections from the multiple panes in the window. Two things that help – cup your hands around the lens to block extra light coming from inside the plane from getting to the lens. The second, is to wait until the sun is closer to overhead than at an angle to you. If it is lower, the light can more easily bounce around the window and create flares in the photo. But sometimes, the subject trumps a perfect photo. I tried my best, but with the lowering sun, these have too much flare, but it was a beautiful view of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center complete with launch pads and the huge Vehicle Assembly Building.

©TimeLine Media - Kennedy Space Center from an airplane window
©TimeLine Media – Kennedy Space Center from an airplane window

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208