It’s the first day of 2013 and I experience something new, thanks to Dermot who is very interested in aviation. It becomes a photography expedition, so I’m happy to visit a small street called Myrtle Avenue. It’s close to the runway of London’s Heathrow Airport, a popular spot for plane spotters to gather for amazing, close-up views of aircraft in flight.
You would imagine that taking shots of aeroplanes as they land is an easy task. They’re at close quarters and are pretty big. But I soon realised this was far from the truth. Planes travel very fast, even when they’re about to land. I’m used to largely still subjects and can spend a considerably long time framing and focusing before releasing the shutter – better known as slow photography.
This was hard, frustrating work. I completely missed a bunch of arrivals, had a host of blurred shots and didn’t quite hit the mark – see the shot of a British Airways airliner perched in a tree. But in the end I managed to pull off a few exposures and would quite like to return for more – perhaps when it’s a little warmer.
Click on first image to launch gallery
I couldn’t help turning my camera to this sumptuously backlit winter sky while waiting for the aircraft. It could be a countryside scene, only to the right of the shot is one of the busiest airports in the world…
