My best day of SFO spotting (Spotting Lufthansa Retro for the first time!)

This day (10/22/2023) was by far my best day of plane spotting ever. Fog and tons of vapor!

Gear: Nikon D3400 w/ 150-600mm and 75-300mm zoom lens’s.


First up, Air Canada 737 MAX 8 heading off to Toronto!


I have tried again and again to find the right settings for panning. I finally did this day with an Emirates A380!


A collection of United 777’s!


Beautiful lighting on this Aer Lingus A330-300!


ITA Airways in the “Born to be Sustainable” livery on the A350-900!


Lil United 737 MAX 9 in the Continental Livery!


British Airways A380 coming from Heathrow!


Rainbow! It was raining before, and a rainbow appeared! I managed to snap a photo with this Korean Cargo 747-8F.


Gotta love the 787-9 in the Evo blue livery.


Incredible vapor on this Korean 777-300ER off to Seoul!


Yet to spot the -400 variant of this aircraft, but for now the 767-300!


More vapor! ANA 777-300ER off to Tokyo Narita!


Delta A321neo off to Boston!


JetBlue A321-200 in the new First Mint livery!


JetBlue A321neo! Was a pleasant surprise to see at SFO, usually we only get the -200 variant.


And finally, the highlight of the day. Lufthansa 747-8 in the gorgeous Retro livery heading off to Frankfurt. I was so happy to see that this was coming the day before I went spotting. First time spotting this plane, and with a ton of vapor!

Hope you guys enjoyed this incredible day of spotting!

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There’s like 15 pictures here and each one is a work of art 🫡

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thank you man!

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KSFO the best there is! Awesome photos!

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yeahhh!! the best!

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Cool last pic!

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Absolutely amazing

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thank you!!!

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You killed it on all of them! Beautiful contrast and exposure with the fog/clouds and lightning. What’s the location your taking these from?

Have you ever tried on top of the parking garage at Target at Tranforan?

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hey! thank you for the compliments. i took these from westfield garage, or the employee garage at the end of westfield road. i have never tried the target spot, what kind of angles do you get?

I’ve never spotted at Tanforan with a camera before but at the Target parking garage upper level they almost fly directly overhead depending on what runway is being used. You also may scout along San Bruno Ave before the 101 for a potential location as well.

Cool photos! I like the Retro Lufthansa B747-8 and the rainbow Korean cargo B747-8F the most, but I like all photos in here good job!

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cool! thanks!

Awesome shots! Did you any security approach you at your vantage spot?

Regarding the Target Tanforan parking, I go there specifically to see the Emirates A380 as it usually takes off 28R, and you can get a good view of left side & also while gear is going up.

But the times I’ve been there most departures use 28L so you mostly just see the bottom of the planes.

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cool! yeah some security did approach me, but as long as you fill out a spotting permit, then youre all good.

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Nice pictures!

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Nice pics, My favorite was the JetBlues

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thanks man!

Wow… these are beautiful

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thank you!!