Civilian Aviation

The monthly assembly at the Aerozone in nice sunshine but as the morning went on theheat haze became more and more of a problem. I also nipped off to Broxted to get a couple of departure shots (China southern and Cargolux) just to see what a spot I had identified was like - okay but not perfect but made worse by a bit of cloud obscuring both as they approached maximum bank
here are those 2 first plus a Ryanair which didn't go behind a cloud at the wrong moment....

B-2072 B.777F China Southern Cargo Stansted 02-09-2017 4068 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

LX-TCV B.747-400F Cargolux Stansted 02-09-2017 4037 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

EI-EKE B.737 Ryanair Stansted 02-09-2017 3864 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

and back to the Aerozone.....
D-AGWR A.319 Germanwings Stansted 02-09-2017 3976 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-EZBI A.319 EasyJetStansted 02-09-2017 4223 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-JZHM B.737 Jet2 Stansted 02-09-2017 4267 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-LCYP Emb.190 British Airways CityFlyer Stansted 02-09-2017 3984 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-OACJ A.319 Stansted 02-09-2017 4106 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-RJXM Emb.145 BMI Regional Stansted 02-09-2017 3990 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

we waited in vain for this to depart but were well past closing time and although there was activity around it and pax were on there had been no call for start up.
HZ-NSA A.310 Stansted 02-09-2017 3966 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

N850GT B.747-8F Panalpina Stansted 02-09-2017 4228 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

OE-IEU A.320 Eurowings Stansted 02-09-2017 4288 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

OY-VKG A.330 Thomas Cook Stansted 02-09-2017 4102 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

T7-JAT BD.700 Stansted 02-09-2017 3959 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

TC-AAO B.737 Pegasus Stansted 02-09-2017 4196 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

there we are, movement wise a fairly mundane morning. Lots of biz northside but hardly anything moved.

Bit of a shame that there's a Kuwait A.F. c.17 due this afternoon around 14.00, shame that wasn't yesterday. And a word of warning if you are going to see that or anything else. The police were telling me that they have been quite active of late with issuing warnings to spotters who are going where they shouldn't. At least 4 warned as to their behaviour in the last 2 weeks and one of them asked not to return. They are also following up on other photos posted on the internet from places where the photographer should not have been so you have been warned. Stick to the rules and follow the signs - thank you.

anyway thanks for looking at the pics, C&C welcome

andy

Those departure shots still look great Andy - really dynamic, climbing with the gear up. Shame HZ-NSA didn't depart, but it was definitely worth waiting just in case.

Top Notch Andy love those take off shots especially the Cargolux B747

Dougie

Very nice selection Andy!

I too love the Cargolux 747 but also like the TCX A330 and the BBJs

You asked for C&C, I have one MINOR suggestion which really is something I'd do but you of course are in your right to tell me to shut up, but in regards to the China Southern B777, I'd have probably played around with the highlights to tone the white down a tad. But apart from that its a great shot!


James.

P.S I'll shut up now

james143611 wrote:You asked for C&C, I have one MINOR suggestion which really is something I'd do but you of course are in your right to tell me to shut up, but in regards to the China Southern B777, I'd have probably played around with the highlights to tone the white down a tad. But apart from that its a great shot!

James.
P.S I'll shut up now

pleased to have feedback James (thanks) and I was aware that it looked a bit harsh but as I don't normally take in RAW I cant play with highlights to reduce it. However I've had a bit of a play and darkened it slightly and a slight reduction in the contrast so here's my second attempt:

B-2072 B.777F China Southern Cargo Stansted 02-09-2017 4068a by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

is that better? to help, here's the original for easy comparison:
B-2072 B.777F China Southern Cargo Stansted 02-09-2017 4068 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr


I tend to do very little editing, if it takes me more than about 30 seconds then I reckon it's not good enough to edit - I was amazed to read somewhere recently that someone posted a pic which he'd spent 30 minutes editing - that to me is far to long, I'd never get through all my pics!
all i do is crop then adjust the light and maybe the contrast and saturation a bit if I think it needs it. I might use RAW if it's a pic I know in advance I'm going to play with a lot (sometimes older types where I want to use monotones or sepia effects) but that's not the norm for me.

andy

Andy

That looks nice Andy! Sorry I wasn't trying to call you rubbish or anything just a suggestion that was all!

To be honest if I decided on no more than 30 seconds of editing then all my shots would be deleted

Actually I spend about 2 minutes at the most, it's not RAW files, it's JPEG but I use basics like crop, straighten, darken highlights if need be, lighten/brighten then some minor tweaks. That's why some of my Amsterdam shots are a bit late, I'm still working on the final set, should be up this week though!

thanks James and I really didn't mind the comment. I'd like to see far more comments on here and not just on mine. As long as they are constructive and polite then I think that will only help people get better results in the longer term.

I use Canon DPP for editing and i don't think I can adjust highlights or shadows unless I use RAW, what do you use please?

Andy


EDIT: I popped over quickly this morning as the sky looked nice and clear but the cloud rolled in just before this Cargolux 747-8F departed :
LX-VCG B.747-8F Cargolux, Stansted 06-09-2017 4324 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

if only it had swapped slots with this Ryanair 737 which departed 10 minutes later:
EI-FZO B.737 Ryanair, Stansted 06-09-2017 4395 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

or even this Global which went out between the two of them! - it just wasn't to be
HB-JGP BD-700, Stansted 06-09-2017 4388 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

andy

Nice ones Andy! I like the Ryanair one of EI-FZO

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. It's rather old, I think it's up to Elements 15 now, but I picked this up second hand for about a tenner or something, it was either at a computer fair or on Ebay.

It's easy to use, I taught myself really, just played around with the sliders to see what does what and went on from there. I certainly don't spend 30 minutes on a photo though, there has to be something seriously wrong with the picture for me to spend that time on a shot

I've always been taught never make something it is not. Any tweaks should be made to how you saw it in the flesh. So if an EasyJet shot looks a bit dull, I might add a tad more saturation to bring the orange up to how I remember seeing it. I do not do any of this replacing skies, taking out lampost's, cutting the grass and all that lark!

james143611 wrote:Nice ones Andy! I like the Ryanair one of EI-FZO

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. It's rather old, I think it's up to Elements 15 now, but I picked this up second hand for about a tenner or something, it was either at a computer fair or on Ebay.

It's easy to use, I taught myself really, just played around with the sliders to see what does what and went on from there. I certainly don't spend 30 minutes on a photo though, there has to be something seriously wrong with the picture for me to spend that time on a shot

I've always been taught never make something it is not. Any tweaks should be made to how you saw it in the flesh. So if an EasyJet shot looks a bit dull, I might add a tad more saturation to bring the orange up to how I remember seeing it. I do not do any of this replacing skies, taking out lampost's, cutting the grass and all that lark!

thanks James, the highlight function does seem a bit handy. I've got paint.net on my laptop- i'll have to see if I can do highlight adjustment on there for the occasions when it will make a difference but like you I don't like to spend ages on post processing.

i am vet interested in your last comment - can I take a pic of my lawn and cut the grass without getting my mower out?

Hi Andy,
Love the pics. Quality as usual.
Phil

Hi Andrew

The Cargolux Italia B747 is a stunner !

I agree, the South China B777 looks better in your second attempt, but there is little wrong with the first.

I shoot in JPEG only, with little or no editing, I only press the shutter button when I think I have what I want. Quite a difficult skill, therefore I can appreciate your photos, which are largely excellent - keep up the good work and keep posting.