Tag: Travel photography

Seattle Adventures

For my next adventure, I headed to Seattle, Washington for a long weekend. And due to my wide variety of activities, I’m going to split it up into three posts.

Part One: Photo Mission: Seattle

After the electric-charged photo flights above LAX, there was no question whether I was going to schedule one for my upcoming Seattle adventure. Classic Helicopter Corp is based out of Auburn municipal airport which is south of Seattle and offers a range of services to suit your needs. I chose an hour-long Instagram photo flight that covers both the views of downtown Seattle and the beauty of the natural landscape of the surrounding area.

I’m not going to share a play-by-play commentary of my photo flight. I hope my images will speak for themselves. I do want to share a fun moment of a series of images of the Space Needle. At the time of my flight, a TFR (temporary Flight Restriction) was about to go into effect over the downtown area due to a Mariners game. Meaning, we were not able to spend as much time above the downtown area as I wanted. One image I had envisioned before the start of this adventure, was of the Space Needle with the Seattle skyline in the background. And with minutes to spare, we did two quick orbits around the Needle. To put into perspective how close we orbited, I was using my 18-135mm lens and as we got closer and closer, 18mm was just barely wide enough to show the needle and whatever was behind it. While caught up with the breathtaking point of view and the pace of the circling, I felt I had missed my shot. It wasn’t until after the flight and back in my hotel looking at my results that I realized I did indeed have captured the shot I was after. I was so intensely focused on the Space Needle itself and composing the shot, that I never saw the Seattle skyline pass by in the background.

Here’s a list of things I saw during my Photo flight. 

Boeing Field, Blue Origin Headquarters, Starbucks Center (Starbucks headquarters), T-Mobile Park, Space Needle, Lake Union, Gas Work Park, Husky Stadium, Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, The house of Bill Gates along with Jeff Bezos, Bellevue skyline, Snoqualmie Falls, and Mount Si from Twin Peaks.

Click on thumbnail to view large image.

Big shoutout to Craig Simon and Catroins “Cat” Adam for their friendly service and amazing hospitality. If you’re on Instagram, check out and follow @seattlehelitours.

Until next post,

Steven


Gear used:

Canon EOS 90D DSLR

Canon EOS 5DSR DSLR

Canon EF 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

If you like what you see, consider hitting the “Like” button or maybe start to follow my little blog!

Continue the Adventure with Part Two, Street Photography Around Seattle

And don’t forget about Part Three: Seattle Seaplanes

A Beginners Guide to Aviation Photography

This has been something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time now. Years in the making and I’m finally wrapping my head around how to present it into easily digestible and snack-size portions. It’s something I wish I had when I started my journey into Aviation Photography myself. A guide driven by years of experience to steer my boiling-over energy in an enlightening and fruitful direction. If you shoot Canon, Nikon, Sony, or whatever, I want this guide to offer the same advice for any aviation enthusiast that wants to begin photographing aircraft.

Disclaimer

This is not the only way to photograph aircraft and aviation events. This is information that I have learned over the years that helped me better my skills while photographing aircraft and it may or may not work well for you. If you’re just getting into photography, this is not for you. This is not a guide on teaching the fundamentals of photography. But it is intended to guide someone who has an understanding of the principles of photography and wants to start photographing aircraft and aviation events.

Part One: Starting Your Journey

I’m sure you have a great many questions, and I will try my best to answer them all. But I want to begin by asking you some of my own. And hopefully, with your answers, you can use them as a compass as you begin this adventure. Questions such as, how do you define Aviation Photography? What are you trying to accomplish? And finally, what type of Aviation events are you interested in photographing?

When I ruminate about Aviation Photography, I don’t think about the countless airshows and aviation events I want to attend. But I do continually ponder how am I going to capture unique photos of vintage aircraft from my ever-growing list. From new restorations to specific heritage flight combinations. For me, it is a passion that is an inseparable part of my being. So much so, that somehow if it became illegal to photograph aircraft, I would be an enthusiastic hardened criminal. I would fight to the bitter end to continue to do what I love. It is something that I’m never going to stop trying to master. But that’s how I define Aviation Photography. So, “How do You define it?” There’re no wrong answers. Make it whatever you want it to be. If it’s seaplanes, gliders, helicopters, warbirds, commercial airliners, business jets, or whatever…. Shoot what you love. It will show in your images.

On to the next important question, What are you trying to accomplish with your Aviation Photography? Are you trying to capture every major airliner that flies in and out of your local airport? Or do you want to capture your experiences at air shows and aviation events? Maybe you’re combining your love of aviation with photography. It could be as simple as wanting to try something outside of your comfort zone. Again, only you can determine what it is you’re trying to achieve. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish but you still have the urge to go photograph aircraft, don’t give up. Keep experimenting with different events and venues until you discover Your Path on this new photographic journey. I’ve always felt having a sense of purpose while behind your camera is important when creating images and produces far better results than aimlessly wandering around hoping for something interesting to happen.

And the last question I want you to consider is “What type of Aviation events are you interested in photographing?” Aviation Photography offers many different perspectives and opportunities to photograph aircraft and they each have their own unique challenges. Some are fast-paced, and others are laid back and slow. If you’re unsure about what type of events you want to attend, I would say go to as many different types as possible. Just don’t restrict yourself to just one type. In Part Two of this series, I will at length discuss the many types of events within Aviation Photography.

With your answers, hopefully, you have discovered Your definition of Aviation Photography, have some sense of purpose, and have an idea of the type of subjects you’re interested in photographing. If you’re asking yourself, why did I start with a series of questions and not jump into what’s the appropriate settings to shoot jets along with a list of must-see shows or events? Because you wouldn’t learn anything, nor would it help you grow as a photographer. To creatively envision a shot, then relentlessly chase after it and successfully capture it is far more rewarding than hoping on getting lucky. Like other art forms, this is a learning process and it’s going to take time. Some learn faster than others but remember it is not a race. This is YOUR journey into Aviation Photography. Travel it well at your own convenient pace. But understand along the way you’re going to screw up a bunch of shots, use the wrong settings, pick terrible shooting locations, and totally forget about the sneak pass. And that’s absolutely fine as long as you learn from your mistakes. Remember, anyone who calls themselves an “Aviation Photographer” has made the same mistakes you’re going to make. And if they say they haven’t, they’re a fucking liar.

Until next post,

Steven

All images in this post were shot on iPhone 11 Pro Max.

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Weekend in Miami

Over the long Memorial Day weekend, I headed down to Miami for the Air & Sea show. Here’s a few phots of Downtown Miami, my hotel views, and South Beach. The sites & sounds, the vibe of the city and the Cuban cuisine, Oh man! I was blown away. And if I’m honest, was a bit overwhelmed at first but I was there to have fun and I didn’t let it stop me from truly enjoying myself.

If you like what you see, consider hitting the “Like” button or maybe start to follow my little blog.

Until next post,

Steven

Chasing down a couple of European hotties around Detroit Metro

Since I returned to spotting around DTW, I’ve been shooting from the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel off Wick Road. It’s a well-known and pleasant location for catching arrivals on runway 22 right. But there are two airliners I want to capture that always land on 22 left. The first is Lufthansa 442 from Frankfurt, which is a Boeing 787-9. And the other is Air France 378 out of Paris, she’s an Airbus A350-900. Unfortunately, from the Marriott parking lot, both of these arrivals are just too far away to get a decent shot of. So, I turned to my know-it-all friend, Google. I searched “spotting around DTW” and came across “Spotter guide.net”. To my surprise, I found a location where I could capture arrivals on approach to runway 21 left. From all places, an abandoned gas station at the corner of Middlebelt and Goddard Road.

My Spotting map of DTW

During the extended Easter weekend, I challenged myself to chase these two European girls and get some images of them both. The Lufthansa Dreamliner is going to be first. She’s scheduled to arrive around 1:25pm. During the drive down, was a bit worried about the location. How close is the flight path? Will I get hassled by airport security, local police or some overly nervous passersby? Yes, it happens. I exited I-94 at Middlebelt, headed south and easily found the abandoned station. Was greeted with a good omen, another spotter was already there. I pulled into the derelict station and parked a respectable distance from the spotter so I’m not blocking their view of the flight path. I geared up, camera on, check setting, started up Flightradar24 and start tracking that Lufthansa Dreamliner. I got there about an hour before she was scheduled to arrive. There were a few arrivals before she graced us with her presents. A CRJ, a couple of A320s and a A330 from Amsterdam, all Delta airlines.

It was like a spring southern Californian day in Southeast Michigan, not a cloud in the sky, temperature was in the low 60s and winds were out of the south. As for shooting location, the sun is at your back from sunrise to about 4 or 5ish. By then the sun is parallel to the runway and starts to backlight the arriving flights until sunset. Which I was a bit worried about the lighting conditions for the Air France Airbus. She arrives much later, 6-6:30pm. But soon enough that attractive young lady from Germany was here and I was ready for her. The Canon 90D shutter blasted away like a machine gun as she effortlessly floated through the crystal-clear blue sky.

“The young lady from Germany”

It wasn’t until the following Wednesday that conditions were right for capturing the Air France A350. For her, I busted out my full-frame 50-megapixel Canon 5DSR. Which doesn’t have the advantage of the 1.6 crop factor of the 90D. Which makes my 100-400mm Mk2 when on the 90D into a 160-640mm. As I said earlier, from the abandoned gas station at the time she’s scheduled to arrive, the sun will be on the opposite side of the runway that I’m shooting from and backlighting her as she lands. My plan is to go to the abandoned station about 40 minutes before she arrives and see how the lighting conditions are. If it is manageable, I’ll stay and shoot. But if it sucks, I’ll jump on Google Maps and try to find a place to shoot from with the sun at my back.

I got there early, and the lighting conditions were as I feared, backlit. I shot a few arrivals before jumping into Google Maps. Thankfully, I found a visitor parking lot north of the airport which I would be facing East with the sun behind me but wasn’t sure how close the flight path to 21 left was. With about 20 minutes to spare at the visitor’s lot waiting for the next arriving aircraft. The first thing that passes by is a tiny Embraer Phenom that looks about all of 20 pixels in length through the viewfinder. And my thoughts instantly jumped to do I need to get closer? If so, where can I go? And can I find a new spot before the French A350 gets here? Or do I bite the bullet and go back to the backlit abandoned gas station? FUCK! Thankfully the next three arrivals calmed my racing negative thoughts. A Delta 737, a Frontier A320 Neo and a UPS 757. All filled up the frame more to my liking. Then right on time, that elegant French girl showed up. The 5DSR shoots noticeably slower but I managed to get the shot I was after. I’m going to return with the cropped sensor 90D and see if the extra focal length helps.

“That elegant French girl”

For more of my spotting adventures check out this post, “A Rekindled Passion: Three Spotting Adventures at Detroit Metro”

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven