Los Angeles International (LAX, KLAX)

[Scott Youmans]

I never thought an MD-11 would look "gorgeous" to me. This one proved me wrong 

Beautiful light, not to mention the very cool vortices!

[azspyder]

Great series of shots guys! Keep them coming!

[Jeff D. Welker]

Right you are Messrs. Youmans, the early morning light mixes very well with the early arrivals  

[Dave S.]

One of the few shots that turned out well from near the overpass

[Jeff D. Welker]

One of the few shots that turned out well from near the overpass

Like Dave, I had problems with heat haze and light poles at the "overpass" location. The light poles are something I can resolve most of the time with PS cloning tools, but the heat haze is an image killer I'm not smart enough to fix. Here are two of the few images I got at this location that were acceptable. BTW, there were four light poles in the JAL image 

[Jeff D. Welker]

One of the few shots that turned out well from near the overpass

That is because you were there wrong time of day!!

Are you saying there aren't light poles there during certain times of the day     

Pray tell, please educate the unwashed of your AzAP brethren and explain when is the right time of day to shoot from the overpass. Also, is time of year a factor?

[Dave S.]

Caught this vortex shedding beauty between the approach lighting poles.  Really digging the linear sun streaks caused by the sun's relative shallow angle to the lens.




Starry eyed virgin? - a Virgin America A320

[Jeff D. Welker]

We definitely had fun playing with the wide angle glass. This was taken with the Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra-Wide Angle Lens. A Malaysian Airlines 777ER on final into 24R.

SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE

[Tower Guy]

That lens really gives a kick ass perspective, great shot Jeff.

[Tower Guy]

Welcome Comrade.

YC5A0172 by Tower Guy, on Flickr

[Joe Copalman]

What nobody mentioned is that everybody cut the trip short when the clouds (marine layer?) rolled in and the weather radar showed no let-up into the hours when the light from Westchester would have otherwise been phenomenal.  And in talking with Jeff today, he mentioned that they were driving around checking out spots and found themselves at the overpass when a series of interesting arrivals showed up.  I would have advised against hitting the bridge that early in the day as well, but I wasn't there, and I've only ever shot from there when the light was awesome (when I wasn't dodging shadows from the growing marine layer), but sadly 24R was closed and all I got was a ton of heat-hazy shots of 24L approaches, of which I only wound up editing and posting a single, obligatory "Hey, I went to LAX" shot.  I'd love to get back out there around this time of year to shoot from the bridge when this light was good.  Would have loved to make this trip, but I had other plans that apparently didn't have me back.  

I agree that snippiness, snideness, and sarcasm aren't needed, but neither is a comment that could easily be read as condescending (the second exclamation mark really puts some stank on it).        

[Jeff D. Welker]

Well, I continue to live an learn. Thanks Eric and Joe for the info on times to shoot from the overpass. Joe is right, the marine layer came in around 4:00 PM and killed all the light on the entire airport - we bugged-out shortly thereafter. I'm sure that goes with the territory and is part of the accepted reality when you make a 24-hour bonsai run like we did last Saturday. If I take a moment to evaluate the entire trip, while we may have gotten screwed with the afternoon marine layer, we were paid-off in spades with the early morning opportunities from the In-n-Out location. All things considered, it was a great trip.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I'm a vapor addict. Since it rarely if ever occurs in AZ, I'm like a kid in a candy store when I get a chance to shoot early morning at LAX. If you think the A380 creates vapor, the MD-11 can ring-out the air with the best 

[Matt Ottosen]

Boeing 747-438
Qantas Airways
Lord Howe Island

"Boxing Kangaroo"
"Spirit of the Australian Team" 2012 Olympics

[Jeff D. Welker]

Steak & Kidney Breakfast v.1

[Tower Guy]

 Jeff, your processing of this shot is just outstanding!