Early morning Red-Eyes Photo

Photographer’s Note

Around 5 o'clock in the morning the first of the Far East airliners appear above the eastern horizon. In the clear Spring atmosphere they are visible from a far and they are lit from behind by the rising sun.

I remember watching them from my uplifted working position in the Malmö-Sturup airport control tower (ESMS TWR), with the possibility of checking their exact location and altitude. At flightlevel 370 (equals 37'000ft/11.278m) they could be spotted - raising above Romeleåsen [the Romele ridge] like a space shuttle taking off - from a position over the middle of the Baltic Sea.

That's roughly a distance of 140 nautical miles (161mi/260km) and they approach at a speed of 485kts (890km/h), so when they reach this angle I guess their position is above the east coastline of Scania. And only five minutes later the first one is passing over my head (see WS).

They come from Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong or Singapore with destinations to London, Amsterdam, Brussels or Frankfurt. Most of them pass from the Baltic states via southern Sweden - handled by the air traffic control centers in Malmö (ATCC ESMM), and later Copenhagen (ATCC EKDK) - where they eventually will commence descend.

Red-eye is a nickname for a night-time flight!

---
Post pro: Adjusted brightness -10, contrast +15, saturation +30 and red +20, NeatImage 60%, resized for TE, USM in 5 steps, framed and saved for Web.

digi-mom, orme, ktanska, jiherka, plimrn, Lolydodia has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

digi-mom (1064) 2006-05-10 22:50

Like the space shuttle - that was my first thought as well. The photo really relies on your note, I think, because the "thumbnail" view really didn't get my attention. I like how you decided to include the workshop photo from a few minutes later - interesting the difference in the sky in so short a time.

I think someone hasn't really "retired" from watching the air traffic yet... ;)

orme (6746) 2006-05-12 12:08

A nice artistic shot, Kaj, with a very informative note. The more I look at it, the more I wonder what it would be like without the tree tops - maybe more abstract - like the workshop version. I like how they seem to be racing. Should they be this close? Well seen at 5am!

ktanska (16611) 2006-05-16 2:36

Hej Kaj,
There's a whole lot of information behind this simple image, thanks! I like these fireworks, although grey sky eats visual impact. Flat sky reveals vignetting of your camera. That's fine in this one, but might be a nuisance on some other kind of image.
Kari

jiherka (4465) 2006-07-10 8:57

Hello Kaj,
It is a nice view. I was a bit disapointed when I saw the minitaure. I do not understood exactly what it was really. Thanks for the explainaition, now I undestand also fo rthe nickname. The colours was disturbing me, but as it is in the morning, now it's ok.
It is a nice view.
Well done.
Salutations
Jacques

plimrn (19682) 2006-09-08 10:35

Hi Kaj,
I was looking for moon shots and this stunning photo drew me from the thumbnail. You've framed this perfectly with the two jet contrails turned to gold by the sun streaking behind the tree silhouette fat with promise of new leaves.
Regards, Pat

Lolydodia (578) 2006-10-18 1:40

I really like this grey sky and then the red sparkling aircrafts upon it. The trees adds some more excitement into the picture. Well framed and composed!