Flying and Photography

Clouds above Pacific. The picture also shows a...
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(This was meant for posting on the 10th of July. Somehow I never got around to posting it till today)

Sitting at the windows seat of an aeroplane after years has been a fun experience since I normally choose the aisle seat or fly in the dark when not much is visible outside.

But flying in daytime, sitting at the window has been a gorgeous treat. A literal visual feast for the eyes.

White clouds all around me, patches of blue sky above and the sun making occasional appearances through the cloud had me constantly wishing for my camera. Not that it would make any difference since it is literally impossible to take half a decent pic from a commercial aeroplane.

Anyway, that got me thinking – perhaps go in an open aircraft/glider (do they even exist? Is it even possible?) and get some photography done. But it would probably be shit expensive. Ah well one can dream can he not.

Anyway, I digress. So watching the clouds fly by made me want to see how they behave when they get near the plane’s turbines and when the exit (probably the geek in me thinking) and I thought it would be so cool to have two aircrafts flying at slightly different altitudes and photograph the effect of the turbines of the lower craft (you know, you can’t really make out the effect from inside the aeroplane because there is no point of reference) and of course photograph the scenery as is, flying on a floor of clouds, walled by clouds under a cloudy roof.. BEAutiful.. :)

All these musings made my childhood dream of flying planes resurface making me feel so terribly underachieving in life. Ah, I digress again so I’ll stop here.

(written on my phone a few thousand feet above the ground while blasting through empty space (thank god for that. Wouldn’t want the space to be non-empty ;) ) in a pressurised metal tube)

2 Comments

  1. Chandrahasa July 17, 2010

    Gliding aint too expensive mate but it will take time for you to hone you skills of photography in the air and the multiple attempts might cost you :D

    On the topic of beautiful views from a plane, I once while flying in the dark saw the coast of India and Srilanka in lights; Easily one the most beautiful sights I have ever seen!

    Ps: Considering you fly so often you should really try taking photos from the plane, who knows you might stumble on something great.

  2. AJ July 17, 2010

    I agree. You nailed it on the head. Honing skills to photograph while flying is the difficult part.

    Perhaps. But I very rarely fly during daytime. It’s usually early mornings or late evenings when there ain’t enough light to shoot..

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