Although the pictures of planes taking off a runway are still pretty impressive, but they are nowhere even close to what we you are about to witness. Behold, the sight of hundreds of planes leaving the runway simultaneously!
No this was not part of a air show, but it is the result of hard work and creativity of Mike Kelley, an LA-based architectural photographer who took these astounding pictures of planes departing the tarmac over the course of two years. Afterwards, he compiled and superposed the images to create these breathtaking Airpotraits.
He writes on his blog, “From some locations I had thousands of pictures that needed to be culled, color corrected, extracted, and composited. It was absolutely one of the most challenging projects I’ve worked on.”
#1 Lax 24l – No Turn Before Shoreline
This is a shot from Dockweiler beach in Los Angeles, USA showing departing flights between the hours of 5-7pm.
#2 Dubai International 12r (morning Heavy Departures)
Shot between 6-8am, which is considered to be the rush hour of departures. You can see the “meek” looking Burj Khalifa in the background.
#3 London Heathrow 09l (100, 50, 40)
This photo captures the early morning arrivals rush at London Heathrow coming from Asia and North America.
#4 Wake Turbulence: Lax
This image is of the takeoffs from LAX’s south runways
#5 Zurich Airport Runways 28 And 16
Zurich Airport is one of those unique airports where the planes have to change runway orientation depending on how light or heavy the winds are. Combine this with the blissful Swiss countryside, and you have a masterpiece in your hands.
#6 London Heathrow 27l (terminal 5 And Tower)
The photographer claims that this picture took him THREE trips to London due to poor weather and scarcity of a full day of clear skies.
#7 Amsterdam Schiphol, Polderbaan 18r
This is a picture from Amsterdam’s Schiphol surrounded by the typical Dutch canals and greenery.
#8 Munich Airport 08r
Shot in Munich, Germany from the end of the runway while the planes landed during the morning rush hour.
#9 Dubai 30r
Planes departing from DXB’s runway 30R are captured with a blanket of dark clouds approaching fast.
#10 Frankfurt Am Main 25l (missed Approach By Lufthansa A380)
Shot in July of 2015 at mainland Europe.
Why are these photos “unbelievable”? Or is that simply unimaginative writing. Anyone with a photo editing program and a few hours can duplicate these. There is nothing “unbelievable ” about them.
I am not saying these are edited. Probably he did the travel and photography. That still doesn’t make them unbelievable.
Jim, they may not be ‘unbelievable’ to you, but to say anyone with a “photo editing program and a few hours” could do this is completely ignorant to the amount of effort that a photo like this takes to create.
Wrong, anyone with a little skill with a photo editor like Photoshop could do it easily. As I said, if the photographer did not do that, then the skill and dedication are awesome. Even so, there is nothing “unbelievable about them. Much to be admired, but they are there so how can they be unbelievable no matter how it was done?
great work. very clever Idea. your patience is a virtue. Thanks.