Heathrow night time landings, 27L 16-01-2020

[andygolfer]

I was at Heathrow all day yesterday until around 7pm as I had offered (who's surprised?) to collect my neighbour off SQ318 after her flight back from Oz.

When it got dark I played around experimenting with night shots under the 277L approach on Hatton Road, hadn't tried it before so the results were a bit inconsistent to say the least. Any feedback or tips would be most welcome.

I took them using my 50mm F 1.8 lens at 1/100th sec and ISO 4000!

9V-SWP (SIA318) the reason for my journey:
9V-SWP B.777 Singapore Airlines Heathrow 16-01-2020 3650 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

A6-EEA A.380 Emirates Heathrow 16-01-2020 3684 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

A4O-SG B.787 Oman Air Heathrow 16-01-2020 3579 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

EI-SIH A.320 SAS Heathrow 16-01-2020 3452 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

the rain was quite heavy when these next two landed - you can see the rain in the lights...
HL8361 A.350 Asiana Heathrow 16-01-2020 3545 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

B-2090 B.777 Air China Heathrow 16-01-2020 3502 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

B-2090 B.777 Air China Heathrow 16-01-2020 3506 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

HB-IOO A.321 Swiss Airlines Heathrow 16-01-2020 3387 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

and I didn't expect this much prop blur from the FlyBe
G-PRPP DHC.8 FlyBe Heathrow 16-01-2020 3358 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

comments especially welcome on this occasion please, even if you think I was wasting my time getting wet!
thanks for looking
Andy

[PorkScratching]

Well done for experimenting, especially given the inclement wx! The Swiss A321 is rather atmospheric with the rain; I would be very happy with that shot. You say the lens is f/1.8, did you shoot with it set at f/1.8? That would be the obvious thing to do, to enable you set a lower ISO. I would suggest experimenting with noise reduction too, although definitely be prepared to experiment - it can take a while at first to establish settings that reduce the noise without causing a significant loss of detail, and don't expect to get rid of all the noise when the shots are as noisy as yours! Start off by experimenting with the noise reduction in your image editing software, and then see what plugins are available or try standalone noise reduction software such as Neat Image.

[andygolfer]

thanks Nick, I've hardly ever dabbled in NR techniques so that's another steep learning curve for me to investigate.

This was all a bit of an experiment and I really didn't know what to expect from the results. I actually used a set speed of 1/100th to try to eliminate as much movement as I could as I feared that I would still get some showing even with IS in use.I then wound up the ISO (and used aperturre compensation to gain more light) until the subjects were showing as lit. Looking at the exif data it stayed at F 1.8 throughout I did achieve that - I realise that creeping up from 1.8 would have helped depth of field a bit but at the cost of more noise so tried to avoid that.

Thanks again for the response that was the sort of feedback I wanted as I was both literally and metaphorically working in the dark!

Andy

[Rugbyref]

I found the Dash 8 shot interesting. The prop blur and lighting look good, just a pity any zooming in doesn’t really work. Pity also that there are not more opportunities to experiment with turboprops in the dark.

[andygolfer]

I found the Dash 8 shot interesting. The prop blur and lighting look good, just a pity any zooming in doesn’t really work. Pity also that there are not more opportunities to experiment with turboprops in the dark.

I think London City still have a few and there probably plenty of background light to light up the aircraft there as well and you can get close to the approach paths.

At Heathrow I 'm told that the 27R approach over the eastern perimeter road is well lit from the car parks and airport lights so the results there can be very good. Next time I stay at the Bath Rd Premier Inn I shall try it if they are on 27R, just need to practice more first

[Wallie]

I think the keyword here is practice, practice.... Never did such a thing myself, but if this was my first try, I'll be happy with these results.

[PorkScratching]

This was all a bit of an experiment and I really didn't know what to expect from the results. I actually used a set speed of 1/100th to try to eliminate as much movement as I could as I feared that I would still get some showing even with IS in use.

That's probably too low to prevent blur in most of the shots. Something like 1/250th or higher would be better. But of course you will then need a higher ISO to compensate for the shorter exposure, which means more noise! Worth experimenting with to find the best compromise though.

I then wound up the ISO (and used aperturre compensation to gain more light) until the subjects were showing as lit. Looking at the exif data it stayed at F 1.8 throughout I did achieve that - I realise that creeping up from 1.8 would have helped depth of field a bit but at the cost of more noise so tried to avoid that.

Because you were in shutter priority mode the camera would have immediately selected the widest aperture (f/1.8 in your case), to try and get what it thinks is the correct exposure, so setting exposure compensation would have made no difference. Winding up the ISO and checking the results is a good technique. You could even use manual mode and do it, that way you have chosen both the shutter speed and aperture values and you know they will remain as selected. You then just keep increasing the ISO until you get exposures you are happy with.

Thanks again for the response that was the sort of feedback I wanted as I was both literally and metaphorically working in the dark!

Glad it was of use! As I said in my original reply, well done for experimenting, especially in the rain. I still love the Swiss A321.