SEA North End

[1971_M5]

A follow-up of sorts to the earlier "South End" picture... figured I'd post these before they got too old and dry. It was a nice afternoon, so I grabbed the camera and drove to the airport. Luckily, there was some decent action. I used the 200-500. Being some distance away, you need to be in the 350mm to 500mm range to (kind-of) fill-up the frame... but trying to fil the frame, as you're tracking, sometimes the tail fin or elevator might get cut-off. So, there's some throw-aways. Plus, you always need to crop a little bit to get things balanced. I use the Flightradar24 app to get a sense of what's coming down the runway (to be ready) - so that's a big plus compared to the old days. It's fun to watch (and stand in the sunshine with the camera). Still, this is predictable and much easier than "real" birds - my hat is off to the true BIF shooters who have way more patience and skill.

SEA - PDX

SEA - NRT

SEA - HNL

SEA - DOH

SEA - LHR

 

[1971_M5]

Here's a link to a higher-res pic... good IQ with the 200-500. Higher shutter speeds are preferable. There is a noticeable difference in output (fuzziness) if you drop below 1/1000. And if you try to compensate by sharpening (too much) in post, you get a halo around the perimeter of the airplane.

virgin-787-small by John Frantzen, on Flickr