Category Archives: aircraft

What Else Does LAX Offer?

Aside from chasing a few A380s, LAX has the advantage of a mix of aircraft from all over the place. It also has a good selection of spots from which to take pictures. While I was there (at various times over a few days) I managed to get a few different shots. It is a lot easier to do this today than it was in the past.

Websites that list flight movements combined with a smart phone allow you to be a lot more aware of what is coming and what is due out. No longer do you wonder whether you can move on only to see something amazing arrive just as you drive down the street. The data isn’t always accurate but it does make things a lot easier.

At this time of year, one of the favored spots by the In’n’Out burger joint is not ideal for the sun. However, walking a short distance down the street can overcome this. It also gives you a vantage point from almost directly underneath the aircraft (or right under them if you prefer) from which you can get something a little different. I tried a bunch of these out while I was there.

Nothing much else to say about the location so here are some of the shots to enjoy.

Hunting the A380

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I was recently in LAX and had some time to shoot around LAX. While Chicago is a major international airport, LAX has a more diverse selection of aircraft from different countries showing up and it is certainly easier to shoot at. Whether you are at Imperial Hill, near the In’n’Out Burger on Sepulveda or near the Proud Bird, there are a lot of options.

One of the things I was keen to do was get some shots of the A380s. LAX is one of the airports that attracts A380s from a number of operators with more to come in the not too distant future. Qantas and Singapore were early operators of the aircraft and soon brought them to LAX. Korean has recently introduced the plans and they are now a daily arrival.

I have occasionally seen A380s on the ground at Heathrow and LAX when passing through but the only one I had seen flying was at Oshkosh a couple of years ago. As I wrote in a recent post, we tend to crave what we haven’t seen and my interest in getting A380s on this trip was pretty much in that vein.

The timing of arrivals can easily be tracked online. Unfortunately, the majority of A380 operations are on the northern runways which are a little less convenient for shooting. However, I did get lucky with a Qantas A380 showing up on the southerly runways when easterly approaches were in operation. I got a few, even if the light wasn’t always the best. Soon they will be very common and I will wonder what the fuss was – oh, rubbish. I still like to catch 747s!

Bye Bye El Centro

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You might have thought that we had covered El Centro enough. Nah! The day after the photocall, I was planning to head across to San Diego. However, I didn’t have to be there until lunchtime and it is only a couple of hours drive to get there. Since I was going to be up early, why not finish of the time at El Centro with one more visit to the base to shoot from outside.

I wasn’t going to be there too long but there was the probability of an early launch wave and they would recover before I was going to depart. I got there early enough for some of the first launches and was the first visitor. I was going to be joined by some of the friends from the photocall and there was a second visit scheduled by another group for that day so the attendees for that were likely to show up before too long.

We did get a similar bunch of traffic to the previous day with waves of T-45s heading out as well as some F/A-18s doing their thing. I got to cover the first wave without any trouble and then quietened down around the time I was planning on leaving. However, leaving proved to be a bit more troublesome than I would have expected.

Some of the people that arrived for that day either hadn’t been before to the location and/or were not very thoughtful when it comes to accommodating those around them. The location is alongside a drainage ditch with a drop off to a lower level which then has another ditch beside it. There is space to park along the ridge and leave space for other vehicles to get past.

Sadly, some of the new arrivals hadn’t bothered with that concept. When it came time for me to leave, the easier was out – since there were poorly parked vehicles both ahead and behind – was actually backwards. Reversing around the parked cars on the top of the ridge was hardly fun and then reversing the remaining length of the ridge was also less than enjoyable. It wasn’t difficult but the presence of water on one side and a drop on the other tends to increase the level of concentration.

Anyway, despite the thoughtlessness of a few, I did make it out and got a good start to the day. Sadly, I should probably have hung around a bit longer since my next stop didn’t go quite according to plan – but that can wait for another post.

More El Centro Stills

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The main purpose of the visit to El Centro was to shoot still images. I have previously posted some of the shots from outside here and some video from inside here but the real purpose was the stills on base.

Michelle Dee and her team at El Centro are very progressive in their approach to allowing photography on base. They organize regular visits for photographers where it is possible to shoot from right alongside the runway at the LSO shack. This means the aircraft are touching down right beside you and launching past you in close proximity. This provides a chance for some shots that are not the norm.

Such access is quite unusual but the success of these events is hopefully persuading other facilities that it can be done safely. A big part of this is having people on the shoot who understand what is possible and what is not and following those rules. Everyone is ready to self-police as well. Besides, the location is so good, where could you possibly be that would be any better?

Anyway, enough of the description. Thank you again Michelle and team and thanks to Kevin for setting things up from our side. Great to see you again buddy. Here are the pictures.

El Centro Video

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We were kindly hosted by the team at NAF El Centro for a photocall. I will post later with some of the shots from the visit to the base itself. However, one of the things I wanted to do this time that I learned following my previous visit to El Centro was to shoot more video.

I was still going be predominantly shooting stills but the motion and proximity of the aircraft is hard to appreciate sometimes from a still image (a failing of mine as a photographer of course). Video gives you more of a sense of the activity. Therefore, I took a GoPro with me to the day and mounted it on top of my camera on the hot shoe.

This had the advantage of allowing me to shoot video at the same time as stills. It did have a couple of disadvantages. One is that the sound of the shutter clicking is picked up by the camera on the soundtrack. When the jets are close it isn’t too bad but when they are further away, it becomes more intrusive. Second, the GoPro is fixed at quite a wide angle so it makes everything look a little further away than it is. However, this is an add-on to my normal shooting so both compromises are worthwhile.

I did shoot a small bit of video with one of the SLRs and it probably won’t be hard to spot which bit of film that is when you watch. I didn’t bother with any music since I think the sound of the jets does a pretty good job. Here is the result.

El Centro Preamble

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In a previous post, I mentioned that I was heading to NAF El Centro in California for a photo shoot. The main part of the shoot was going to be on the base. It was due to commence at noon. That left a free morning. El Centro has a couple of good locations off base where you can photograph the aircraft and one is better suited to morning shooting since the light is good for departing aircraft and those breaking into the pattern.

I was ready for an early start and got out as the early departures were underway. Not only was this a good spot to shoot from, it was also a good gathering spot for some of us going on base later so it served multiple purposes.

There was a fair amount of morning activity. The majority of traffic was from T-45 Goshawk from NAS Meridian who were deployed to El Centro for training. The local ranges provide opportunities for basic weapons training but other missions as also flown including some field carrier landing practice (FCLP).

Hornets and Super Hornets from the west coast training squadron were also operating and provided a regular stream of departing and arriving traffic. The Canadian forces were also operating Hornets from the base. They tend to depart reasonably straight out and break into the pattern a little early but sometimes come into a good location for shooting. When they are weapons training, though, they always come to the end of the runway to make all weapons safe so we get a good view. They had also brought a C-130 tanker with them which was a nice addition.

A couple of C-2 Greyhounds were practicing their pattern work to mix it up. Helicopter traffic included some AH-1 Cobras from the Marines transiting and a British Army Apache although they stayed well to the south so were not something I could get any shots of.

All of this gave us an idea of what was on base and provided some good shooting opportunities from a different position to that we would get later in the day.

Looking forward to El Centro

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One of the benefits of the blog being relatively new is that I have the opportunity to dig up stuff from the past and turn it into a post. I will shortly be heading to El Centro in California for a shoot at the Navy base there. Last year I made a similar trip and I thought I would remind myself and prime you for some of what might be there.

What will show up on a given day is hard to predict. Last time we had some T-45s that had made the trip across from Meridian TX. Whether there will be any this time, we shall see. Hornets may drop in from other bases to use the facilities and last time some Canadian Hornets were in to use the ranges.

It is the luck of the draw what you get but one thing you can, hopefully, rely on is the weather. El Centro has sun most days of the year. I have had bad luck at some locations with weather but I am hoping this one will behave.

What might I try differently this time? Last time I used a variety of lenses and positions. The heat haze is a big issue so looking to far back up the approach is problematic. Getting ahead of, beside and behind the touchdown location mixes things up a bit. Getting the aircraft and the hold is also worthwhile and I may spend more time there. I am also going to try and mix in more video this time too.

We shall see how it goes and what I can get off base before and after as well. Wait to see what we get!

You Want What You Haven’t Got

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This post is a little bit of an odd one compared to the usual reports of things I have been out and about shooting. I was recently putting together an article for a magazine on the 20th anniversary of the first flight of an airliner. (A quick Google search might tell you which one but if you are interested in the article, click here to see the full digital magazine.)

I knew I had some images of the prototype aircraft when it first flew at Farnborough in 1992. This is pre-digital days of course so it was time to head to my binders of negatives. I will save the discussion of how shooting in the digital era differs from shooting with film for another post. I will also keep my head down for those of you who will wonder why I wasn’t shooting transparencies. We learn as we get older I guess.

What did catch my eye as I foudn the appropriate shots was that I had seen a bunch of different aircraft at that event and I should really get them scanned. It was while I was going through this process (that took far longer than it really should have courtesy of a film scanner that, I suspect, is getting towards the end of its useful life) that I noticed something about the way I look at new aircraft.

I think there is a bit of always wanting something that is different to what you have. When an aircraft first flies, it is obviously the prototype (or prototypes) that fly first. These appear in lots of press release images and they will be the first ones to show up at trade shows. Given the length of development programs, you can get a bit bored with seeing the same aircraft all the time. You long for more of them to be built so you can see the finished product. You also want to know what they will look like in service since prototypes rarely are finished the way the majority of the aircraft will be.

Eventually production gets underway and you see the real deal. This is briefly exciting. New color schemes and users appear and there is something different to learn about. Over time, many more are produced and then they become a bit boring. At this point, the idea of seeing a development aircraft – possibly incorporating modifications for some test program – is incredibly interesting and a nice change from the many “normal airframes around.

Are these the same airframes you originally were bored with? Yep! Am I being contrary? Yep! Such is the way it goes. I will probably find that someone who is near to the airfield where testing is undertaken probably is bored of the same development airframes and longs for some variety. I guess we can’t ever be happy!

Global Aviation Magazine

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The team that has been bringing you Global Aviation Resource for over two years has been working on an additional product to bring aviation themed material to a wide audience. The launch of Global Aviation Magazine is the result of their hard work.

The first issue is now available here and I recommend you take a look if aviation is an interest of yours. I might also suggest you take a peek at a piece on helicopter lifting operations written by someone with a familiar name.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Global Aviation Resource Piece

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Realized that I haven’t been totally comprehensive in plugging one of my pieces. If you don’t follow Facebook or Twitter (and in that case how do you even know that this is here?) then you won’t have seen a piece show up on Global Aviation Resource’s site that I wrote about Mauna Loa Helicopters.

Click on this link and you can see the article.