Aviogenex 732 @ LHR in horrible conditions

Apologies in advance for the appalling quality here, all complaints can be sent to the Met Office.
And can anyone here can explain to me how “sunny” translates into English as wall-to-wall low cloud cover and thick fog? I’d like to know!

Anyway rant over, I had extreme trouble coping with these conditions because an unexplained bluriness problem (belived to be the lens) means I need to keep my shutter speeds above 1/250, and ideally (though not possible today) above 1/600.

The day started badly, as my alarm didn’t wake me up I missed the EK 380 arriving in what proved to be the best light of the day. A rushed trip on the trains got me to the 27R threshold about 5 minutes before the JAT airways (rumoured to be operated by Aviogenex 737-200) flight was due in. After hanging around for 1 and a half hours there were some interesting movements but no sign of the classic jet.



I decided to pack my bags and head for 27L deps, guessing the JAT was early and I’d missed it. But just as I was leaving I thought I’d call my dad and ask him to check the Heathrow arrivals for me (he takes his blackberry everywhere! very reliable at times like these!). The reply back was of an unkown delayed flight from Belgrade due in 10 minutes. A sprint back to the spot just in time to catch the pair of smoking cigars on approach and thankfully some shots i could so easily have missed.



Sadly the rest of the day was a bit dire. Walked all the way from T4 to the Esso garage (Stupid moment, forgot about getting the train to T5!), saw the EK 380 taxing while i was still at the threshold of 27L. Somehow the LHR traffic held it up until I was roughly 200m from the Esso garage. Thankfully just clear of the huge airport buildings, and just in time to catch it….. unfortuantely light all but gone. The second shot is ISO 1600…… speaks for itself really.

I haven’t given these a full effort at editing, they’re not going anywhere further on the internet than these forums anyway.

Comments and criticism (however harsh) are welcome.

Cheers,

Dan.