Heavy Metal

I’ve changed my mind. To hell the birds, I want to be a truck photographer.

No, just kidding. Wait, you were expecting me to talk about music? Oh, yeah, I can imagine the title is a bit misleading, but I’m actually going to talk about machines.
I’ve always been fascinated by vehicles: cars, planes, trucks, trains… I love them all. I don’t like to drive, I don’t feel completely at ease when I’m in a plane, but from the ground, I can’t help but admire them.

A long time ago, I went to Helsinki Airport to shoot planes, with my friend Márton. Well, I went again in the end of the summer. The first set of pictures was taken from the scenic terrace, which is accessible for free. The view to the tarmac is a bit hampered by the airport’s roof, but the first runway shows well, and the lighter planes often turn right in front of you after landing.

My main target was to see the “heavies”, the big long-haul planes, and particularly the new Airbus A350, which is nicknamed “Lady Raccoon” because of its masks around the cockpit windows. Finnair is the first operator of this plane in Europe.

Airbus A350

The second set of pictures was taken from the other side of the airport: a hill offers a good view on the departing planes, with some unusual perspectives if you step down and stand by the road. With the right light, it’s awesome!

Family planespotting

If you have some questions about planespotting at Helsinki Airport, send me a sign and I’ll try to answer.

Last time I was there, I tried my luck at some train photography, with the result you can see here. This is a commuter train, from the new ring rail that finally links the airport to city center.

Finally, while I was biking along the highway (don’t worry, there was a bike lane!), I noticed that the sun was nicely hitting the road, where lots of trucks were driving. I stopped, took the camera out of my bag, and sat down for some minutes, freezing all the lorries that came along.

That’s it, these were my debuts as a truck photographer.

> Helsinki Airport on Flickr

Our Lady Raccoon