JFK 11/16/2010 Korean Air 747 Starcraft

[gonzalu]

I noticed the Starcraft come up on the trackers and even if it was after sunset, I said maybe I can catch it on the taxiways with some light from the lamp posts on the gates. I also figured I use the time to learn about some of the other locations / spots where I could snag a tail or a nose or whatever is possible. Needless to say, outside the ramp areas, JFK is [DDAAAAARRRRKKK] !!! In like pitch black. Not even one little lonely light to give SOME shine on the airframes.

Mostly D3 ISO 6400 @ f/2.8 or D2Xs at ISO HI.2 (3200 equivalent) and f/4 .. 70-200mm f/2.8 or 200-400mm f/4

*** WARNING ** these are really poor images. Posting only because the addiction runs deep and it just became a fun session, kind of experimental to say the least.

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6861/1094510441_EPqkQ-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6885/1094510487_75Ufi-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6905/1094510511_xy4ZF-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6930/1094510515_5cNh6-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6974/1094510579_LbH5p-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6979/1094510597_5avMM-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6990/1094510610_ruF5K-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG7009/1094510657_63KwX-O.jpg

This was a former Jet Blue plane (N537JB) that went to Blue Wings (D-ANNI) and now back to Jet Blue as N537JT with a new tail job .. parked by the Jet Blue hangar.

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG7013/1094510694_KvoND-O.jpg

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG7016/1094510685_CPThT-O.jpg

Oh, what happened to the Starcraft you asked? It came in alright, but in TOTAL darkness... It was a reflex shot.

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG6957/1094516307_bdeY7-O.jpg

Then to add insult to injury, it taxied the wrong way and not the expected way around the back of the AA terminal so I missed it on the taxiways. It then parked in a really bad spot and was blocked by an Alitalia jet :-(

http://manny.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-11162010-Night-Shots/MAG7022/1094510701_fKzZi-O.jpg

[Zee71]

You dog......awesome!!! I drove out there last night too trying to get a few shots as well of the Starcraft, but as you've stated it was in a bad spot, so I didn't hang around and departed for home. Here is the only image I caught through a dirty windshielf waiting for the traffic light. Oh well........next time! I had my D700 but I only brought my 28-70mm f/2.8 lens, next time I'll bring the 70-200mm f/2.8 out.

http://mbsphotography.smugmug.com/Aviation/Odd-Stuff/Terminal401JFK16Nov2010/1095037000_Bo7gP-XL.jpg

[gonzalu]

I always bring my entire kit. I have never yet needed the 14-24mm or the 24-70mm but the day I leave em behind, I 'll get a special tour of the inside of the Emirates A380 and I will only have my 200-400 LOL.

Nice shot of the terminal. My windshield has a special coating on it and it just sucks taking pics through it. It always ruins them. So open side window for me only :-)

[heeshung]

I've always wanted the Starcraft 747. I didn't get a chance to get it during the summer; I just hope it's still here next summer.

Those are some great snaps nonetheless.

[Zee71]

I think we're all on a mission to catch that bird. Another one on my wish list is the Swiss A340 - San Francisco scheme (reg id: HB-JMJ). Maybe a good reason to do some spotting at SFO.

[jerslice]

I think we're all on a mission to catch that bird. Another one on my wish list is the Swiss A340 - San Francisco scheme (reg id: HB-JMJ). Maybe a good reason to do some spotting at SFO.
Both times I was there recently (SFO) and the Swiss A340 wasn't. Disappointing. I saw the Starcarft 744 at DFW on the way to my wedding...from my MD80 taxing to the gate...helpless to do a damn thing about it.

[gonzalu]

Had Alitalia not been there, I may have gotten a more decent shot... Had I picked the back of the house instead of the front, I'd at least have caught her taxiing along American corridor... there is enough light there to light the pixels on the D3 :-) I didn;t think that was such a sought after boid! OK next time I see her around I will be prepared. I know exactly where she parks and how she will likely get there given certain conditions. If she lans on 22L/R, we are hosed... I think she will taxi right Alpha around 31L/13R to her ramp on T1.

Anyway, here is hoping we all get her!

So, Swiss A340 San Fran Scheme? hmmm, looks yummy :cool: It has been spotted in Miami as far as Airliners.net is concerned. But only one picture. The rest are 99.9% from Zurich and the remainder from SFO.

[eric8669]

So, Swiss A340 San Fran Scheme? hmmm, looks yummy :cool: It has been spotted in Miami as far as Airliners.net is concerned. But only one picture. The rest are 99.9% from Zurich and the remainder from SFO.

Manny, You just have to be in the right place at the right time.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y95/southpaw8669/20100615-IMG_3234.jpg

[Cary]

Yup...it usually comes into JFK once every 2 weeks at the most, so you should get it eventually.

1728943

[seahawks7757]

Nice, you may think they suck but nice shots. I love night ones.

[gonzalu]

Thanks Brandon... I do too, if only we could use our tripods... I would create some nice HDRs and such. But here at JFK, you have to pop in and pop out for ramp shots... unless you're Nick :tongue:

Eric, you don't count! hahahahaha You and Mark have totally UNFAIR access to JFK, I mean, you both live like, IN JFK? lol. It takes me 40 minutes AT LEAST without traffic to get there. And if the Van Wyck has a cold, the Grand Central feels it back to the Triborough (oops, RFK) Bridge!

:tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::t ongue::tongue::tongue::tongue:

Thanks Cary, Eric, you give me hope. As for the Starcraft, boy, that sucker is obscure here... as in always at night LOL. I will keep trying... this is fun!

Maybe I can get one of my friends from Korea to fly it and then get really sick just as they are about to depart Incheon and delay it! Hmmm, maybe then we catch it at Bayswater with a 50mm lens in morning light. Yeah, that's it!

[megatop412]

I was at Bay Harbour Mall(Panera) last Tuesday and caught the Swiss San Fran scheme:

www.dropshots.com/lensjet (http://www.dropshots.com/lensjet)

I owe it all to luck, not my spotting skills! I don't monitor flightaware so I was just in the right place at the right time.

[Zee71]

Nice capture of the San Fran from Panera!.............Boy, do I wish I was there as well. The only luck I have and probably Manny is capturing birds refueling (lol) above JFK.

[gonzalu]

Yeah, indeed... I mean come on! LOL. If I can catch refueling KC-10's why not a simple Swiss Air Livery? lol

Nice catch megatop!

[ANITIX87]

Aren't unexpected surprises great???

Two years ago, I met a couple of Swiss spotters at JFK. Awful, rainy, miserable day. Nothing worth noting. I jokingly said, "You know, at the very least, someone could send a 727 to runway 28." (We were standing under the approach lights). Not 5 minutes later, here comes a private 727, passing barely 100 feet over our heads. Incredible. The next morning, before boarding my ZRH-LCY flight, I was up on the [now closed] observation deck at Terminal B. I heard very loud, old props, and saw an AN-12 coming at me. With its read cargo ramp door open and scraping against the ground.

I didn't get the 727 on camera, since the conditions were terrible, but I nailed the AN-12, and it's one of my prized catches.

Manny, you'll get your SFO scheme A340. Mark, you need to have a BBQ in your backyard when they're on the 13s.

Hope to see you guys out there again, soon!

TIS

[lijk604]

Manny, AWESOME work! I am truly envious. Which noise software did you use?

[gonzalu]

Ahh, thanks... well, lots of tricks here... PLASTIC LOOKING yes, but we get away with it with small pictures LOL.

So, in order to hide the mud as best as possible, here is my workflow.

--DO NOT GO above your camera's highest calibrated ISO. For Nikon, this means NO HI+1 or similar. On my D3, it is ISO 6400, on the D2Xs, ISO 800 :-(
--YOU MUST begin with a truly SHARP image to begin with. If not sharp, you will really be in trouble in the end and end up with plastic mud, worse than plain plastic or plain mud... your choice!
--If the above are met, then you should also have a slightly overexposed image. For night shots this is much more important. IF YOU HAVE to increase exposure in post, you're doomed, do not even try. it will suck even more.
--Open the file in Lightroom 3.3RC or Photoshop ACR 6.3 Beta (Only because they have lens correction profiles for my 200-400mm f/4)
--Go to the Camera Calibration tab and select a relative calibration profile. I chose either Vivid, Landscape, Standard or Neutral, depending on the shot. Landscape and Vivid really darken shadows so if I want to retain detail, I select Neutral.
--Go to Lens Corrections tab, select my lens or auto.
--Go to the Details tab and dial in (to taste, but mostly these numbers work for me) in order from the top down: 40,1.0,40,50 -- 50,50,0,25,50. The Masking of 50 is only for HIGH ISO images, otherwise 25 works for me usually. As for Noise Reduction, 50 for high ISO, otherwise 25
--Go to the Basic tab and dial in the white balance, I mostly do not rely on presets and usually use the eye dropper on WHITE, GRAY or BLACK areas. As long as it is neutral. IF I have a nice upside down bell shaped histogram, I will try to eyeball the WB to taste and line up the RGB.
--Open the image. Once open, I will use either Neat Image or Imagenomic Noiseware Pro to further denoise. Once I finally output the final sized file for web, I may denoise again very slightly.

With the above techniques, I get usually very clean super high ISO images, but very plastic un real looking. I just happen to accept them as is. Some people really hate plastic look. But you have to chose. Most cameras have noise even at base ISO.

I also find that if using Nikon Capture NX 2.0, I get much better noise profiles as the software really is designed for the files the cameras produce. But I HATE the workflow of Capture NX or View NX. I guess if my picture was to be published in a magazine, I would approach it differently.

The above workflow also applies to day to day normal low ISO images... I just tweak the numbers a bit on the sharpening, masking, denoise, etc.

[Delta777LR]

Manny those take off shots are splendid! what speed did you use for those images?

[gonzalu]

Sergio,

Thanks for the kind words.. trust me, these SUCK ... lol, but thanks... :-)

I usually leave the EXIF data intact on my images so feel free to look through that for all the dirty details. But if you don;t want to spend the time, the KLM was 1/25sec, the LOT was 1/15sec... all were at my max calibrated ISO of 6400 on the D3 and the D2Xs was at ISO 800 or Hi.1 which is like ISO 3200.

The ground shots weren;t so bad because movement is slow. However, what I really want to do is use a TRIPOD and ISO 100 long exposures :-) Some nice HDRs would be killer from here. Well, for JFK is the most we can get. Probably easiest at Amsterdam or Brasil where you can do pretty much anything at any distance.

[gonzalu]

BTW for those who don't have a EXIF tool, I like the IEXIF 2 Viewer from Opanda (http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/index.html).