Hi all,

I have a short stopover in ATL on 19th November (arrive 1435, depart 1922) and am desperate to shoot a few DL DC-9s before they go. My question is, are they frequent at ATL, being ex-NW machines? And where would be the best place to shoot them airside? I arrive from Manchester, UK, so am assuming that I'll need to move concourses in order to shoot them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Karl

I'm not sure how much this helps, but I had an ~1.5 hour layover there in August of last year and managed two from the terminal window in Concourse B, although they were quite backlit. Checking flightaware for DC95 shows a fair few still flying in and out of Atlanta though it's hard to tell what the preferred concourse is- my guess would be D.

Thanks Newark727. Does anyone know if I'll be able to exit the airport during my layover? And if so, where the best place to shoot them would be and the best way to get there. I doubt I'd have sufficient time to hire a car but I'm willing to use taxis, providing they aren't extortionate.

Cheers,

Karl

I think you'd have more than enough time to exit the airport; some of the best spots at the airport are the car parks, though this time of year only the one on the north side would be of any good for lighting reasons. I've shot at ATL extensively and I think you'd be best served to stay inside the facility if you don't mind shooting through glass -and the glass is usually relatively clean. The challenge is finding an unoccupied gate, but there are other locations such as the food courts that have good views.

For DC-9 schedules, check this out:

http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/pdfs/flight_schedules.pdf

You can do a search within the PDF on the term "D95" and see all such flights operated by Delta. You can make note of the ones operating to/from ATL and on the day of your arrival do a check either on a smart phone on Delta.com or the terminal monitors to see where those planes will park. I'd say your best bets will be Terminals A and B, as that's where the majority of Delta's domestic mainline fleet operates. You can work the lighting to your advantage; for instance, a plane departing from the west side of Terminal B in the afternoon is best shot from a window on the east side of Terminal A... and so on. I find ATL an easy airport to photograph.

There are plenty of windows to shoot them through. And plenty of DC9s around the place. There'll be a lot taxiing around the place too so look out for those. The windows are rather generous compared to some airports and there are chances for unobstructed views. I think I only went as far as Concourse B but within the 3 concourses I used, there were tonnes to be seen.

Here's an example of what you can get from the terminals:


Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 by ANZ787900, on Flickr


And also pulling into the gate shots are possible:


Delta Airlines Douglas DC9-50 by ANZ787900, on Flickr

Thanks NZ107. Thos shots would do me nicely - although I must admit I'm hoping for better light!

Cheers,

Karl

Rotation shots are also possible - I've had the best luck at the north end of Terminal D, though the last time I was there Delta employees had commandeered the window area off as something of a break area. I was able to talk myself in once, though. Here's an example:

View Large View Medium

Photo © John E. Jauchler - New England Airports

Quoting JakTrax (Reply 6): Thanks NZ107. Thos shots would do me nicely - although I must admit I'm hoping for better light!

Well the light was better than when I departed.. You couldn't even see the other end of the runway as we lined up for departure!

View Large View Medium Photo © John Padgett

View Large View Medium Photo © John Padgett

Great photography can be had at the north end of Concourse D. Checking google maps, it looks like they have added a jetbridge to the end of that concourse, but it is definitely worth a look.

View Large View Medium Photo © John Padgett

View Large View Medium Photo © John Padgett

Also, check out the north end of Concourse E. (photos taken in November)

Hey Karl,

If you can get a slightly longer layover, I cannot even begin to recommend the Renaissance Hotel enough. I had a week there last year and the balcony in your own room makes a FANTASTIC photo location! Really really good. There is room for a tripod and chairs etc if you fancy night panning. I had a great time there and you may even get lucky like I did with my Delta pic  

View Large View Medium

Photo © C J Goodwin - AirTeamImages

View Large View Medium

Photo © C J Goodwin - AirTeamImages

View Large View Medium

Photo © C J Goodwin - AirTeamImages


Thanks

Chris Goodwin

The Renaissance is fantastic year-round for watching the action at ATL, but sadly for photography it's really only workable in the late spring/summer months as you're shooting due south from the hotel. About the best you can hope for is an angle like the middle shot LGW340 posted above, as the aircraft pull off the runway onto a taxiway. It's a very similar situation to what photographers face at the Heathrow Renaissance. I've had good times there putting the camera away and just sitting out on the balcony watching all the activity with a couple of beers.

I flew on a Delta DC9-50 this afternoon ATL-LIT and transited the airport with this thread in mind. It seems the epicenter of DL D95 operations at ATL is Concourse C. If you have a smartphone, firing up FlightAware will help a lot. You can check the arrivals/en route/scheduled departures to see what D95 operations are going on, and plan your trip through the airport accordingly. I was disorganized today and not really prepared, but I could have bagged several DC9 flights if I'd been on top of my game using this strategy. As I mentioned before, the way ATL is laid out, you can get decent lighting virtually any time of day if you use the different concourses to your advantage. My flight today departed from the east side of Concourse C when the sun was still in the east, so a gate on Concourse D would have been the best choice to photograph my flight.

I did notice that the windows at the end of Concourse D seem to have been replaced by a new gate - so that angle may no longer be possible. Concourse C is the only other concourse with north-facing windows, but be aware that the angle of the windows there is skewed from the taxiway/runways so it's tough to avoid window reflections. I caught the Sktyteam 757 and of the three shots I took, only one appears to be reflectiion-free.

Thanks everyone for the useful replies.

Karl