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Mike
2005-08-14, 05:32 PM
Last Saturday I went spotting for the first time. After some drama with finding the correct place, I met up with Brian, Josh, and some others at Planeview Park near LGA. I had a wonderful time meeting up with them and experiencing the whole spotting thing. I'd always loved looking at planes (I know like nothing about them though =P), but I never knew there was a hobby surrounding it until I met Phil. So, much thanks to him. ;) Brian and Josh were trying to teach me what kinds of planes I was seeing, but I'm still far from being able to recognize the difference between a 747 and a 737. :-P But, it was a lot of fun and pretty amazing to see the planes fly so close.

I posted a bunch of the pictures I took at http://spotting.sector001.org/. I'd love some suggestions for improvement and all since I'm kind of new to all this. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. :)

UrbanExplorer222
2005-08-16, 01:00 AM
first time is always the best time. Most of your pictures looked pretty good, what kind of camera are you using? The only suggestion i would havve for you is....watch out for those trees!!! ;) Otherwise welcome to the crazy world of spotting!!!

Mike
2005-08-16, 01:42 AM
Thanks. :) It's a Kodak DX6490. I don't have any special lenses or anything for it, though.
Yeah, in some of the shots I kind of liked the trees but mostly they were in the way. The planes went by so fast, it was crazy (though I'm sure you're used to that by now =P). ;)

PhilDernerJr
2005-08-16, 01:45 AM
Mike, I liked your shots. It really looks like you were planning out your shots going for certain angles and not jsut pressing the button.

Next time you come up, I want you to play with my camera a bit, see how much fun you have with it.

Mike
2005-08-16, 02:45 AM
Thanks! Yeah, I tried to do a bit of different angles and stuff.

I'd love that! I can't imagine how awesome it'd be to zoom in that close and all! :-D

jakbar
2005-08-16, 10:33 AM
Mike, it was great having you out there with us. As you no doubt gathered, spotting is as much about being out with friends and having a good time as it is snapping pictures of the planes. Next time you come up, you should also give my camera a try so you can give us all an objective report on Canon (Phil) vs. Nikon (me) cameras. :) Next time hopefully you can stay a bit longer, too, so you can do one of the (in)famous "Futterman-esque" 5am to 10pm spotting days.

I have that picture that I took of you (taking a picture of a plane) that morning. Which e-mail address shall I send it to?

Josh

Mike
2005-08-16, 03:37 PM
Thanks, I had a wonderful time with everyone. Definitely a lot of fun to just hang out. :) That'd be great! I'm sure I'll be so amazed by both of them though that I won't see any difference. :-P
Haha, yeah, those 5am to 10pm spotting days sound awesome. I really hope to be able to come up again soon. :)

Oh, right! You can e-mail it to [email protected], thanks! I want to see how much of a dork I look. :-P

Steven Holzinger
2005-08-16, 11:34 PM
Don't worry guys.. the days of me going back to school are upon us, and that equals spotting days on the weekends I'm up at school and not at home!

jakbar
2005-08-18, 12:15 AM
Mike, I sent you that picture. That was a fun day:

http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/080605-lga-n811hk-mike01.jpg

http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/080605-lga-josh01.jpg

And here's a good one of Brian from several weeks before that weekend:

http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/072305-lga-n6703d-brian01.jpg

Josh

PhilDernerJr
2005-08-18, 03:43 AM
Wow, some great shots there, Josh! I want one like me of that there.

jakbar
2005-08-18, 12:05 PM
Incidentally, that last photo of Brian....I mean, the Song 757...is on Jetphotos.

Phil, next time we're out at Planeview, I'll take one for you.

Mike
2005-08-18, 08:34 PM
Photo looks great, thanks Josh! :-D