Stansted departures 30-7-2016

[andygolfer]

I ventured over to Stansted this morning hoping that the skies would clear but sadly it stayed cloudy most of the time so most of this morning's pics will end up in the recycle bin. Here are a few that were salvageable, firstly 2 banking shots taken near Hatfield forest about 1/2 mile from the location I used previously...

A6-MRS B.737 UAE Stansted 30-7-2016 2198 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

N850GT B.747-8F Panalpina Stansted 30-7-2016 2267 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

then I went and tried another location which I had worked out from the O.S. map and google earth, on a footpath close to Takeley and the Flitch Way, nothing exciting about the aircraft I'm afraid (apart from the BD.700 maybe) but a different angle to what I have previously managed in the mornings before the sun (ha! ha!) moves round....

G-NIKO A.321 Thomas Cook, Stansted 30-7-2016 2358 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-EZDM A.319 EasyJet Stansted 30-7-2016 2374 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

EI-DCL B.737 Ryanairt Stansted 30-7-2016 2384 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

ZS-OAK Bombadier BD-700 Stansted 30-7-2016 2409 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr
I didn't leave until nearly 2pm by which time the sun (when it appeared) was fairly overhead so all in all not ideal.

I found I had lots out of focus for some reason today - I was using single point focussing but didn't seem to be producing sharp images some of the time, I wondered if it was the cloud and haze upsetting the camera/lens. I was a long way from the subjects (almost 3 Km for the bankers and 1 km for the take offs) I would have expected better results than I got from the latter really.
C&C welcome

Andy

[retro11]

Andy, everyone that has seen your photos from various airports/airfields will know that they are faultless and razor sharp these on the other hand are a tad soft but suspect the distance plays a part and also the weather conditions, i find winter time the best for crystal clear images.I have also had a peek through your Kingfisher ones on Flikr it almost seems there are taken with two different cameras ? maybe settings changed or something but the 747 in the bank gets first prize from me thanks for sharing them with us cheers

[andygolfer]

Andy, everyone that has seen your photos from various airports/airfields will know that they are faultless and razor sharp these on the other hand are a tad soft but suspect the distance plays a part and also the weather conditions, i find winter time the best for crystal clear images.I have also had a peek through your Kingfisher ones on Flikr it almost seems there are taken with two different cameras ? maybe settings changed or something but the 747 in the bank gets first prize from me thanks for sharing them with us cheers

thanks for your comments Donald, I did some googling and weather does seem to play a big part in image sharpness as well as dust in the air - the weather was cloudy with mist in the air (the China Southern T7 which departed just after I arrived was in misty cloud at around 2000ft and I failed to get a usable pic of it) and because i was a long way off the banking aircraft (too far for the biz jets) I taking the pics at a very shallow angle and with harvesting season etc there was probably dust around as well although from what I read moisture is a bigger problem. I was surprised that the ones nearer the airport suffered as much as they did but they were taken from the edge of a corn field and over the top of a wood so might be a combination of dust and even a bit of heat haze coming off the foliage of the wood as the angle was very close to that. I used much the same settings as the ones i took last week so agree that weather is probably a big factor thanks.
The kingfishers were pretty close although it was dull much of the time so couldn't get up to the speeds I really wanted without risking ISO noise,

Thanks for the comment re the 747, that was a bit later as the sun was starting to get through but it wasn't half low - far lower than anything else and the top of the hedge on the far side of the road got in the way in some shots, I was actually lucky to get one in the clear as it banked.

Andy

[scarba]

Andy

I suspect that heat haze was the problem. Some of your shots were taken from almost 2 miles away.

What lens/ISO/shutter speed were you using?

Your photographs are some of the best on this forum so you obviously don't have camera techique issues.

Best wishes

[andygolfer]

thanks Scarba,

I think for the banking shots it might have been more moisture in the air but then heat haze for the take offs as it got warmer and brighter then. distance was certainly a factor on the banking shots.

My set up was my Canon 70D with Canon 100-400 EF Mk.1 lens, no filters. Working in Av between F6.3 and 8 to keep around the sweet spot and adjusting ISO anywhere up to 400 to maintain a shutter speed of between 600th and 1200th of a second. I only go above 400th when I really have to but didn't on this occasion. hope that give you an idea of how I was operating. I think it might have been over ambitious in those conditions to shoot at that distance, I'd be interested to know what others consider the maximum ideal distance for that lens.

Thanks for the general compliment re my pics.

Andy