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Applied Aerodynamics: Wake Turbulence and Contrails
Applied Aerodynamics: Wake Turbulence and Contrails
B74A


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2007-12 (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM
Location: South Eastern Europe
Date: Dec 30, 2007
Aperture: F/8
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/1000
Galleries: Sky, Transportation
Date Uploaded: Dec 30, 2007

This 747 passing overhead shows clearly how the contrails of four engines mix to show only two contrails when seen from a distance. The wake turbulence from the wings swirls the exhaust around in both sides, so engine 1+2 and 3+4 contrails become 2 instead of 4 contrails. In the middle there is a fifth trail - this is water from the drain mast - the outlet from kitchen and lavatory SINKS. No, it is neither chemical spraying nor toilet waste, just water.

Editing: I am not so good with PS yet (will I ever be?), mainly I use Google Picasa. Here I have used curves, as I tried to bring out detail in the contrail, but at the same time not make the entire picture too dark. Also some saturation and lightness, using master channel first to make it darker, then the blue channel to bring the sky back again to normal. At last, Noise Ninja to clear the picture up a little. And, of course it is both cropped and resized ...

Statistics
Place: 293 out of 429
Avg (all users): 5.2659
Avg (commenters): 6.3077
Avg (participants): 5.2946
Avg (non-participants): 5.2131
Views since voting: 1360
Views during voting: 289
Votes: 173
Comments: 16
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
01/09/2008 05:27:23 AM
Thank you for all the comments.

This entry did a lot worse than I thought. Some thought it was taken with a powerful zoom from the ground (?), but it is taken inflight, as traffic is passing above. When two jet aircraft are passing head on (at different levels, preferrably!), it takes about 3 seconds for each mile you are losing in. Add to that the difficulty of focussing through the thick and multilayered windscreen, and it is somewhat a challenge to get it sharp. The sky is very clean blue aloft, so although I tried to adjust color and contrast, it is not far from what it looks like for real. I used to fly Learjets, and have been up to 48000 feet on one occasion. Besides being very clear from here that the Earth is round, the blue in the sky gets darker and darker, as one is almost at the edge of space here (not much more than 10-15% left here of the mass of the Atmosphere).
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/07/2008 09:47:54 PM
This is an interesting angle you don't see often
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2008 11:04:18 PM
I like the composition with the plane tucked all the way up top. It's energetic and interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/05/2008 03:16:23 PM
cool pic, but unfortunately too dark
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/05/2008 01:16:16 PM
Nice catch. Could it be a b it lighter ?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2008 12:01:06 PM
That almost doesn't look real, althought I've never seen a plane from that angle that close... neat!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2008 01:37:52 AM
that is cool. I wish the trails were whiter though
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2008 10:21:49 PM
Except for some visible posterization this is pretty good. Cool view.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2008 12:27:26 PM
Superb, some lens you have there!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2008 09:30:20 AM
Photo seems a little dark overall.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/02/2008 04:00:57 PM
Wow! Really cool shot! How did you get this shot? I would have levelled the wings, but that's me. :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/02/2008 01:55:01 AM
sky is somewhat over saturated
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/01/2008 09:15:53 PM
wicked
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/01/2008 07:51:14 PM
I like it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/01/2008 07:14:58 PM
I guess that the plane was very high and you used an very long lens. But even then it would have been small in the frame so the crop here may not have been reduced in size which would explain the lack of quality. In which case you get marks for attempting something difficult and in the process showing the vapour trails in an original way.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/01/2008 06:41:02 PM
Wow! Cool shot - I like it. Good luck in the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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