Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
Still for the Friends
It’s a bit early this week, but it’s time for a lot of aviation photos. It’s Airplane Art time.
- Still for the friends
- But first. A trip to Liverpool, North West England. But why?
- To the… daytime Heathrow run?
- Lounging around with Cathay Pacific and American Airlines
- AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin Extra)
- Into the USA, A Scammer Taxi driver and the Crowne Plaza O’Hare
- The Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Exploring a craft at the Museum of Contemporary Photography
- The Gundam Base, Chicago
- Random Chicago Eats
- Off the Camera Roll – Views and Images of a Windy City
- An Early Return to O’Hare and the American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- AA882 to Chicago O’Hare to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (Exit Row)
- A Quick Atlanta Transit
- BA226 to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to London Heathrow Terminal 3 (World Traveller/Economy Class)
- Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory and The Journey Home
- It’s Still for Friends
It’s a Sunday again (at the time of publication), so it must be time for some more Airplane Art Extra.
If you’re a regular reader of Economy Class and Beyond, you’ll know that we have a weekly feature called “Airplane Art”, where I debut some of my photography of aircraft.
I tend to rotate photos in this section a lot through the blog, but it’s time for an “Extra” session from one of my favourite spotting locations – at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare.
Why here? It’s right on the Approach/Departure paths for Chicago O’Hare. This screenshot should say it all:
It’s important to ensure you get a room in the main hotel block, where there are balconies (these are typically double-queen rooms). Not in the turret rooms, and certainly not in the international block, where there are no balconies, and thus, an extra layer of glass between you and your desired photo
It does make a big difference in your ability to take photos or watch aircraft.
A lot of your traffic will be dependent on what Air Traffic Control decides to send via the approach paths, whilst the other dependency will be wind, which will convert a landing runway into a departure runway.
And remember, winds can change during the day.
One of the most important tools you can have is FlightRadar24 (and considering how much the Silver membership a year is at $14.99 upwards, I’d pay up – even if to avoid the adverts that are in the free version.
For this shoot, I’ve gone with a slightly updated setup, this time shooting with a Canon EOS R6 Mark II, with an RF to EF adaptor. Yes, I’m still in Canon land, I’ve just gone to an updated platform to shoot on.
And I have thoughts that I’m working through.
Meanwhile, in terms of lenses, I’m still shooting with a classic EF 100-400mm f5.6-f6.3 L Series Zoom lens. The kit is a little older, with the lens having seen better days (and I’m still eyeing the new RF lenses from afar). There are also some from the Canon EF70-300 DO IS Series f4.5-f5.6 lens.
So, I had three sessions of photos here this trip (better than usual). Just a lot of varying weather, which is never welcome when you just want blue skies.
But then life is never what you want. You get what you need.
So from session 1, I wasn’t paying too much attention, but caught a lovely blue sky. And was using a Canon 24-105mm. Cropping down, there are some reasonable results….
China Airlines Boeing 777F
Air Canada Airbus A220-300
With the bigger lenses on, it’s time to have some real fun
United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8
A little different – a Compass Cargo Boeing 747-400
Something that’s going to be rarer – Southwest Airlines at O’Hare.
It’s always good to see the Alaskan native climb out – Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX
Air Canada Airbus A320
China Airlines Boeing 777F… they seem to have a lot running out of O’Hare
United Airlines Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
A penciljet – United Airlines Boeing 757-300
KLM Boeing 787-9
These are going to be a lot rarer soon – Lufthansa Airbus A340-600
Star Alliance Logojet – United Boeing 767-300ER
In for the long haul – ANA Boeing 777-300ER.
Next:
Let’s try to enrich ourselves at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College.
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