Hello everyone, let me introduce myself. My name is Eric, and I've recently taken up plane spotting. I'm not new to taking photos of moving high horsepower craft as I am also a railfan (railroad enthusiast). I've always liked planes and I found a fellow railfan who is also a trainspotter. I attend the University of Massachusetts Boston, which is directly in the flight path of landing landing and departing flights from Boston Logan Airport (KBOS). Since there are no trains at the UMass Boston campus, and plenty of large interesting international aircraft that fly overhead, I've decided to take on this hobby seriously. I like how I can take photos between classes. The location of UMass Boston is southwest of location C on the spotter's guide on this site.
I have a few questions about plane spotting though. I will be flying to KDTW on Nov 14th and returning on the 19th. (routing is KBOS-KPHL-KDTW-KDCA-KBOS, all on US Airways). What are the rules at KPHL, KDTW, and KDCA regarding taking photos at the airport (beyond security)? If possible, I might walk from terminal to terminal and take photos of aircraft at their gates or taxiing.
It seems that people here like to use the ICAO codes for everything. I'm more comfortable using IATA codes (since they were the first ones that I've learned), so please excuse me if I accidentally mix them! (I figured that generally most domestic US ICAO codes are IATA codes with a K in front of them)
As far as taking photos, which angles are preferable? I prefer broadside shots (so that I can see the tail numbers) and the 3/4th shot (a very popular angle in railfanning) where the angle is 22.5 to almost 45 degrees (from head on). I've seen some photos where some people have the wings cut out of the photo. Are those preferable as well? (I personally don't like that angle). As far as equipment goes, I use a Canon 1000D (Rebel XS) with a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 telephoto lens (soon to be upgraded to a 70-300mm f/4-5.6L) for plane spotting.
I'd also like to go plane spotting at one of the locations in the guide. I'd like to meet up with some fellow plane spotters that like to spot at KBOS, so if someone could direct me to a popular spot or a group that I can join, that would be great. I'm familiar with different manufacturers and types of aircraft and can tell the difference sometimes. For example, I can tell the difference between the different aircraft manufacturers, and if the aircraft have prominent spotting features (like the 747, A380, ERJ family, CRJ family, A320) then I can figure it out at a first glance. Others like the Dassult Falcon (which are rather common at KBOS) or a 757 vs a 737 would require me to look up the tail number to figure out which type it is.
Thanks for answering my questions, and in return, here are a few photos that I took for your enjoyment. The first two were taken at KBOS last year in August. The rest were all taken at UMass Boston October 23rd this year.
(Click photos to view full size)
A319 at KBOS
737-400 at KBOS
757-200 at UMass Boston
CRJ-200 at UMass Boston
ERJ-170 at UMass Boston
ERJ-175 at UMass Boston
MD-90 at UMass Boston
717-200 at UMass Boston
737-800 at UMass Boston
Cessna 402C at UMass Boston
Cessna 402C at UMass Boston
A320 at UMass Boston
A320 at UMass Boston
A320 at UMass Boston
ERJ-190 at UMass Boston
Dassault Falcon 2000 at UMass Boston
737-800 at UMass Boston
??? (US Airways) at UMass Boston
??? (US Airways) at UMass Boston
ERJ-170 at UMass Boston
ERJ-170 at UMass Boston - US Airways' 400th Embraer
ERJ-190 at UMass Boston
Saab 340B at UMass Boston - Can someone explain why the tail logo is missing for US Airways? I saw a few like that on that day.
Thanks
Eric
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