Perfect Conditions

Is there such a thing as perfect or perfection? Some people say that perfection is impossible and cannot be found. It is also said that it should never be desired. If this is true, then why, as humans do we strive for things like an end to world poverty and a cure for cancer? Do we all want it? What we all want is perfection but should this happen would we live in a perfect world. If we all sought perfection and we were not happy until it was found then anything we did, anything we produced would be classified as substandard and be discarded without question.

A perfect day for me would be to be pain-free and not to have this damn cancer inside my head. But, I am in the very unfortunate position of knowing that this will never happen. So, instead I take everyday as it comes, love my wife each and every day and do what I do best……….take photographs. If this means that some days things are too painful then so be it, otherwise I would prefer to be out doing what I can. The weather is usually an obstacle when it comes to photography but as I have said before on here, don’t let that stop you taking photographs. Images are captured everyday by the press whether the climatic conditions are in their favour or not, in the end they have a job to do and that means getting images. Fair enough, I can agree with anyone that says “photographs look better in the sun”… yes they do but how much of a challenge is it to capture something a little different. Go on, get out in the rain and capture a scene that you love….add a little flavour to it and maybe do a comparison shot. Get out at night and do the same thing.

My love of aviation is something that has followed me through life. There is an article that goes in to more detail here if you fancy a quick read. What I wanted to do was capture more than just a “plane”. I wanted to be artistic in my own particular way. I gave up sending images to the aviation related upload sites like Jetphotos and Airliners.net because their idea of a perfect image is so different from mine.

I have been to Heathrow Airport more times than you can imagine, I even worked there temporarily in the mid 90’s for a very short period before going back up north to Manchester Airport. As an aviation “nut” it has to be the best place for aircraft spotting in the country and I used to grab at any opportunity for a trip south. Everything from friends going to pick up relatives to grabbing a lift there and back from one of the firms lorry drivers on a nightly run. It was all worth it for just a couples of hours doing exactly what I loved.

These days, it’s the family that love doing these excursions. Every year we embark on a three or four-day jaunt to Heathrow. The Premier Inn on Bath Road offer some great views of the aircraft landing at Heathrow. With a great restaurant and a good food and drink its a perfect location. I usually get myself out of bed quite early. The summer sun rises to the east of the airport and some excellent landing shots can be obtained from the car-park at the rear of the hotel. It’s not often we manage to get a weekend where the weather is perfect from dawn to dusk but the 27th August 2012 was a classic example. Getting up early and sitting in the morning sun with a Costa Coffee is the icing on the cake for an aviation photographer and with a steady flow of aircraft, at least one every 2 minutes the opportunities are endless.

Below are some of my favourite images, taken in my style from Heathrow. I hope you enjoy looking at them, as always all comments are welcome. Thanks for reading.