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Alan K | all galleries >> Galleries >> Hanging out in my PAD 2010 > 100822_062725_10050 The Moment Before The Decisive Moment (Sun 22 Aug 10)
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22-AUG-2010 AKMC

100822_062725_10050 The Moment Before The Decisive Moment (Sun 22 Aug 10)

Kyeemagh, NSW / Kingsford Smith Airport

They call it "the beach".

Aircraft photo shooters have a number of favourite locations to shoot from, one of which is Kyeemagh Beach. The beach is close to the main north / south runway (34L / 16R). As I understand it, though,you need a ladder to be able to shoot over the perimeter fence. (I hadn't been there before.) So when I saw from this morning's ATIS report that arrivals were coming in on 34L I decided to try shooting from the breakwater on the other side of the mouth of the Cook's River.

Then when I loaded the images into Bridge, I realised why regular aviation photographers buy a car large enough to carry a ladder and go to The Beach proper. The distance, combined with the water vapour from the river mouth, doesn't exactly give you the sharpest, most close-in shots you can get. I suppose I could buy a 400 mm lens... oh, $10.5K. I suppose I could always head across to The Beach and see if there's something to stand on....

Here we see Qantas 767 VH-OGB, one of the morning's first arrivals, in the moment before its wheels touch. Man I hate landings. Love takeoffs. Especially love takeoffs when I have my hands on the controls. Landings, not so much.

Canon EOS 40D ,Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
1/250s f/4.0 at 200.0mm iso400 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
Mairéad23-Aug-2010 17:10
Nice early morning light in this.
Máire Uí Mhaicín22-Aug-2010 15:00
A majestic looking takeoff.
Paul Bullock22-Aug-2010 05:04
I like this shot. Great capture.
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