Delta Airlines - Drifting through the clouds

About the Video

I was flying from New York to Atlanta after shooting a project with an actor in New York. When I booked the flight, I selected a 5:00 pm departure knowing at that time of year it would be close to sunset, so I might get some really pretty light to shoot photographs & video from the plane. Uncharacteristically I had selected an emergency exit row window seat so I could take photos and video out of the window. Typically I only book an exit row aisle seat on a short domestic flight. However I was bumped up to first class 5 days before the flight (thank you Delta) which is great because the emergency exit row window seat is beside the wing and causes issues for me in the photo or video. As soon as I got the upgrade I selected a window seat because my Delta profile says aisle only.

Unfortunately the weather was a solid gray overcast and drizzly afternoon, not real pretty. But I still got out my camera with a wide angle zoom lens (16mm to 35mm which is very wide to just wide) and sat down in my seat, buckled up and waited. I still took a few snapshots & a bit of video knowing full well they would be ugly, I just could not help myself (And I was right, they were ugly.) Within 3-4 minutes after rotation (liftoff) the plane was in the clouds so I put the camera on the floor and waited for the chance to put the camera back in the bag. Within 3 minutes we were out of the solid cloud cover to a wondrous and dreamy scene of color & puffy clouds, the timing was perfect and the finished results were stunning.

Please feel free to share: stpvd.com/24/15

What is Personal Work?

For me, Personal Work is something I created and did not get paid for it nor did I sell it. It is something I enjoyed shooting. Most photographers/directors do this to have fun with and it allows us to shoot what inspires us as image makers.

For Photographers

The Gear:
Canon camera using 160 ISO using a
Canon 16-35mm zoom lens set to 16mm at f8.

The Light:
Sunset

We are based in Los Angeles, California and Atlanta, Georgia, both in the USA & Milan, Italy, and serve the nation and travel worldwide for projects, both video and stills. On average we travel 175 days a year from all over the USA, to Singapore to Japan, Europe and the Middle East. We are normally in Europe 2 or 3 times a year, mostly Italy and Germany, shooting for clients there.

If you would like to use this image, or any of my images for mock or comp use, please just ask. There is never a charge for this service. Educational use is permitted without charge, unless published, but please ask first. All commercial use is available only with a limited copyright release prior to use from the copyright holder, Steve Thornton. Thanks for looking!