Karim Nafatni has a view of the world that most other photography enthusiasts don’t have. When he’s not scouring the Dubai landscape for sweeping architectural photographs, Nafatni is often tens of thousands of feet in the air, working in the cockpit of large jetliners as a pilot for a major airline.
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“Aerialscapes” is a series of photographs by German photographer Jakob Wagner that was shot from the sky. The images in the project are sweeping landscapes of various locations around the world, showing formations that are both manmade and natural.
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There are a few reason why some of us fight over who gets the window seat on airplanes, and the view that Tim Sessler captured in his mesmerizing short film “Drift” tops that list. While on a flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia (with a layover in Salt Lake City) Sessler pulled out his 5D MarK III and shot some of the stunning vistas outside his airplane window.
The panning, of course, took care of itself (thankfully with no turbulence), but the black and white, selective focus and panoramic aspect ratio were all done in post. All in all it’s just three minutes long, but it’s three engrossing minutes that offers a chance to escape for a moment and experience one of the best parts of flying without suffering through all of the worst.
When people test cameras and lenses for resolution, they commonly use special resolution test charts that are filled with black bars of varying lengths and thicknesses. They’re kind of like eye charts, except for cameras instead of eyeballs, and with lines instead of letters.
Well, did you know that in dozens of locations around the United States, there are gigantic resolution test charts on the ground?
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Check out this curious 25-second time-lapse/composite video that shows every airplane that landed at San Diego International Airport on Black Friday a week ago between 10:30am and 3pm. The giant planes whiz by overhead as if they’re part of a fighter jet squadron heading off to battle — not something you’d expect to see with commercial planes at an airport. It was created by photography and film professor Cy Kuckenbaker.
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Martin of Cargospotter created this mesmerizing time-lapse video showing the constant stream of airplanes that land on a particular runway at London’s Heathrow airport, the third busiest airport in the world in terms of passengers (Atlanta Airport tops that list — did you know that?). The still photographs he captured are played back 17-times faster than real-time, causing the planes to look like RC airplanes floating around and bobbing in the breeze.
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You’ve probably heard people say that you should keep your camera gear with you at all times when flying, as there are multiple points in the travel process at which your valuable equipment could get stolen or damaged. In case you’re not convinced, check out the video above showing an investigative report that ABC News recently did.
To test airports that have a history of theft, Brian Ross of ABC’s The Blotter left 10 iPads inside the plastic bins at security checkpoints. At 9 out of 10 airports, the screeners followed protocol and immediately contacted the owner using the contact info prominently displayed on the iPad. In the 10th case, an agent was filmed taking the iPad out of the bin before it vanished.
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You’ve probably seen time-lapse videos shot looking out the side of an airplane through a passenger window, but have you ever seen one from the pilot’s point of view? If not, check out the beautiful video above. It was created by pilot Jakub Vlk, who brought his Canon 600D to work and captured photographs across seven days. The video shows Vlk taxiing to the runway, taking off, floating up into the clouds, flying around, and landing.
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The next time you fly, be sure not to forget your camera on the plane — your camera might make the national news. A United Airlines flight carrying 169 people from New Jersey to Switzerland was diverted to Boston last night after a camera was discovered in a seasickness bag behind one of the seats. In addition to inconveniencing the passengers, two F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to follow the plane. The camera was later discovered to be… an ordinary camera.
Apparently some of the post 9-11 terror plots uncovered by the government involved the idea of using camera bodies as bombs or bomb-triggering devices. This type of story certainly can’t be good for photographers’ rights.
(via ABC News)
When photographer Robert Johnson of Business Insider was denied so much as a tour of the Alberta Oil Sands, he could have given up. Instead he chose a more… aerial approach, renting a Cessna 172 to secretly photograph the secretive operation from just over 1,000 feet.
The Alberta Oil Sands are the second largest oil deposit in the world behind Saudi Arabia, and some of the pictures, all of which are now up on Flickr, go a long way in showing how huge an operation like this has to be. In fact, it’s a good thing they denied Business Insider access, photos from the ground probably wouldn’t have done the sands nearly as much justice.
The Canadian Oil Sand Mines Refused Us Access, So We Rented This Plane To See What They Were Up To (via Kottke)
