Flying home from Toronto after my snowy owl workshop I saw one of the most amazing natural lighting conditions ever. As we were descending and getting close to the top of the cloud layer, the setting sun seemed to be illuminating the clouds from below. It was astonishing. I'd never seen anything like it. I always put my camera gear in the overhead compartment when I fly, but fortunately this time my backpack was under the seat in front of me. I feverishly grabbed my camera and took an incredible series of shots over the next 60 seconds. I only had one lens with me -- the new Canon 100-400mm -- because I had been shooting owls, but at 100mm I was able to capture the beauty. It's important when shooting from a commercial jet to keep the axis of the lens as perpendicular as possible to the plane of the window. When the lens is used obliquely, the double lucite window degrades picture quality significantly. My settings for this shot were 1/125, f/5.0, and 500 ISO. I did not enhance the colors in this image. It looked just like this.
3 Comments
Mar 12, 2016, 10:18:48 AM
Daniel Reynaud - Every time we go back to France, I spend the whole flight with my camera on my lap !!!! my wife says I'm nuts... but I've had a few nice shots opportunities that only lasted for a few seconds !!
Feb 21, 2016, 9:06:58 AM
Bob - Usually I put my backpack in the overhead compartment, but on a commuter jet those are so small that my backpack didn't fit -- fortunately. I didn't have leg room, but I got a beautiful set of pictures. When flying at sunrise or sunset, it's always good to keep a camera handy because sometimes the views are spectacular.
Feb 20, 2016, 10:42:18 PM
Bob Vestal - Definitely a beautiful image. Thank you also for the tip regarding lens axis. I have used a phone, but never compared perpendicular vs. angle. Makes sense. Guess we need to keep our cameras under the seat and sit by the window!