Hello everyone! Welcome to my 2020 spotting in review topic!
I think we can all agree that this was a crazy year. I mean, way too many things to count and if I listed all of them you’d click off this topic instantly. Anyway I haven’t necessarily been spotting for a year, in fact I’ve only been spotting for around half a year!
It’s funny how I really got into aviation right in the middle of everything. My first spotting trip ever was in the middle of June where it was a 105 degrees out. (40.5C for everyone else not in America.) It was interesting. Needless to say, I think I’ve made some progress.
I have chosen from hundred of pictures I’ve taken 10 photos that have either hit home with me or will show a timeline of how I am progressing as a spotter/photographer.
Alright my guys, here is number 10.
This one is from my first ever spotting session at Phoenix Sky Harbor (KPHX) This is one of the photos I am semi proud of from my first session being able to pull this one off.
In July, after only spotting for about a month. We took a trip over to LAX to planespot. Now that I look back I wish I would’ve waited a little bit to gain more experience. But I feel like a took some decent shots. Here is one of my favorites of that trip. (Don’t freak out I realize there’s part of a tree)
Well we all know sports were gone for a long time and we’re all super excited to watch golf when it came back as it was the only sport that was actually on TV. Well we finally got football back was more than ecstatic when I figured out the AZ Cardinals use a 747 to fly to their away games. This is also my favorite aircraft and seeing them being retired really hurts.
I’ve also experimented with different lighting conditions and with clouds spotting on the Terminal 4 parking garage where everything is usually backlit makes it nice to spot there when there are clouds as it lessens the effect. It also makes for killer backdrops in better conditions.
This one more hits home. I was spotting while my dad was piloting this aircraft so this one will always have a place in my heart.
I hope my looking at these next few ones, you’ll see how I’ve progressed as in shooting in better light conditions and trying out different spots and trying different angles. Thanks @MJP_27 for sending this one during golden hour and getting absolutely clapped by our Cardinals 😎
This one. Where do I start. This isn’t even my favorite photo yet somehow it is. Some of you may know I have an Instagram and this photo I posted. Well long story short Southwest Airlines asked to use my picture and it made it on their Instagram page. Link to that is here
This one isn’t all to special other than trying out new angles. Not much to say about this one other than I like how these turn out.
Moving on to more recent photos. This one is special because it’s the mark that THE MAX IS BACK. I was able to catch the first 2 delivery flights from storage down here at PHX!
Coming in at number 1. One of my personal favorites and my new favorite spotting location. I plan to spot here as they use the runways to arrive making for different angles and perspectives that I’m excited to try out soon. Anyway, here it is.
Well I guess that’s it. I know I’m still not the best spotter out there and this isn’t too fancy of a topic but I try. My next challenge is to move onto manual shooting instead of auto. Choosing these were hard but these were the bunch I felt deserved to be shared.
It’s hard to believe that in half a year, I went from using a $150 camera with a 130mm lens to a $600 camera with a 300mm lens. I’m beyond grateful for these experiences and memories to share.
HERE’S TO GETTING OUT OF THIS CRAPPY YEAR AND INTO 2021!!!
Thank you all for the continued support and have a great night and New Years.
-AviationFreak