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  • Fuselage Glinting

    Hi everyone,

    Well, not the evening are pretty long it allows me to get out some more and do photography.
    I now live sort of closer to Heathrow and have really enjoyed spotting there over the past year.

    My issue is when taking morning approaches on 27L. I take photos from Myrtle ave.

    Here is the issue. When because of the relative position of the sun there are large glints coming off the aircraft fuselages. Is there a way to avoid these?
    The attachments of the ANZ 777 show this. The first one has a huge glint along the fuselage, whilst the second was taken a few seconds later and the glint is gone.
    Now, I know what you're thinking - just wait a few more seconds and the glint disappears! But sometimes this isn't possible such as when shooting with a longer focal length (for example, I find 27L approached very difficult to shoot with my 100-400L IS if there is haze and sunshine causing glints). This also means that I have to wait until the aircraft is basically sideways-on to me instead of a 3/4 view.

    This effect is also seen on cockpit windows such as the 787 photo below.

    p.s. only the middle image is edited in any way, the others are to illustrate the point

    Thanks for your help!
    Eagles may soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet intakes


  • #2
    If changing the angle of view is not an option, your problem could be minimized by using a polarizing filter. Small disadvantage: It will cost you 2-3 stops of light...
    Greets,
    Wolfgang

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    • #3
      Do what I do. Watch the viewfinder for when the glint isn't there. Get used to where the aircraft is when the glint happens and just don't shoot then.
      If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for the input.
        I was considering a polarising filter - losing the light isn't a problem since it's mostly f8 and 1/1000 at iso200 when the sun is out
        For yesterday's photo trip I waited until the aircraft was side-on and for most of those shots the glint is gone. Anyone got hints for spotting at Myrtle Ave in particular, for avoiding glint?
        Eagles may soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet intakes

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        • #5
          What is bad about the glint? You are shooting a metallic tube in the sun. I would try to reduce it as much as possible but in the end that is how the situation looked.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by seahawk View Post
            What is bad about the glint? You are shooting a metallic tube in the sun. I would try to reduce it as much as possible but in the end that is how the situation looked.
            In the case of the ANZ it puts a long flare of light along the interesting part, in this case the special colour scheme. It's all about thinking about your photography and not just machine gunning with a motor drive.
            If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

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            • #7
              Originally posted by flyer408 View Post
              If changing the angle of view is not an option, your problem could be minimized by using a polarizing filter. Small disadvantage: It will cost you 2-3 stops of light...
              won't help much. A polarizing filter does not filter reflections from metal surfaces. Never tried one on aircraft made of cheap composites though
              My photos on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/geridominguez

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              • #8
                Originally posted by brianw999 View Post
                In the case of the ANZ it puts a long flare of light along the interesting part, in this case the special colour scheme. It's all about thinking about your photography and not just machine gunning with a motor drive.
                Only on the first one, so a slightly different angle reduces the effect. Imho the target should be to control the glinting not to fully avoid it by technical means like filters.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by LX-A343 View Post
                  won't help much. A polarizing filter does not filter reflections from metal surfaces. Never tried one on aircraft made of cheap composites though
                  In case of bare metal surfaces like e.g. the old American livery you are right. But these bare metal surfaces become more and more rare, as nowadays most aircraft fuselages are covered with a coat of paint. On this the polarizing filter can always reduce glint effects, although in certain cases it won't fully eliminate it. BTW, I hope that fundamentalists will not see this filter as a forbidden helping tool...
                  Greets,
                  Wolfgang

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I don't understand some of this. It's very easy to avoid glare like this so why not avoid it ? It is after all one of the reasons why we have a "Glare/Dirt" rejection reason ? Let's not lose sight of the fact that "Glint" is just another word for "Glare".
                    3 days ago I was at Heathrow shooting approaches to 09L. Several times on aircraft that I REALLY wanted a shot of I "machine gunned" 8 to 10 frames instead of the usual 3 or 4. All of those long bursts had a degree of "glint" to them in 2 or 3 frames. Now....why would I upload a frame with a flare of light along it when I've got at least 6 frames with no flare of light on them. One of the aircraft in question was the Air New Zealand "Smaug" special scheme. The very last thing I want on that scheme is a long smear of light spoiling the colours.
                    If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

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                    • #11
                      I totally agree to you, Brian. On aircraft in motion, mostly there is a way to avoid these glares if you are not too limited in angle of view.

                      I just wanted to show a way to reduce/minimize glares by a polarizing filter if you don't have another choice. Imagine a static aircraft with glares and an unchangeable position would force you to wait a long time for the glare to disappear with the wandering sun...
                      Greets,
                      Wolfgang

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                      • #12
                        Thanks everyone for pitching in on this topic.

                        One of the side reasons why I asked this question is because I feel my L lens is too long to use for myrtle Avenue arrivals.
                        Looks like I'm in the market for a wide-normal lens of decent quality!
                        Eagles may soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet intakes

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Burrd255314 View Post

                          One of the side reasons why I asked this question is because I feel my L lens is too long to use for myrtle Avenue arrivals.
                          Looks like I'm in the market for a wide-normal lens of decent quality!
                          I use a 24-105 F4L for Myrtle mostly if I find my 70-200 getting too much.

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