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Heat Distortion

Bruce From United States of America, joined May 1999, 4991 posts, RR: 20
Posted (8 years 3 months 3 hours ago) and read 2196 times:

What causes heat distortion in a photo like where the fuselage top would look wavy? I dont think it is just the temperature. Today i shot at MEM and it was only 40 or 42 degrees (but sunny) and the shots of planes on the runway all have heat distortion/haze while the close ones on the taxiway do not. All of the straight line surfaces like fuselage, tail, etc are kind of wavy.

What would happen if I shot a plane on the runway in palm springs, california when the temp is 108? Wouldn't that have major distortion or does it have to do with the air itself like humidity or how clear the air is or if it is direct sunlight?

Bruce Leibowitz - Birmingham, AL (BHM/KBHM) - Canon 50D/100-400L IS lens

5 replies: All unread, jump to last

Ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 323 posts, RR: 19
Reply 1, posted (8 years 3 months 2 hours ago) and read 2010 times:

Heat distortion is not caused by heat as such, but the interaction of warm air and colder air - its not the temperature the matters, its the temperature differential. On any sunny day, tarmac warms up heats the air above it which then rises, interacts with colder air and, voila, heat distortion.

Cheers,

Colin

Colin K. Work, Pixstel

IL76 From Netherlands, joined Jan 2004, 2223 posts, RR: 53
Reply 2, posted (8 years 3 months 2 hours ago) and read 2005 times:

It's the nightmare of every photographer!!! That's why photography in winter is so good! Smile

It doesn't need to be too hot for it to show up though. But as long as the sun is shining, it'll heat up the tarmac and the temperature difference between the tarmac and the surrounding air will cause a movement of air (hot air goes up) which will cause this heat-haze.
It's nasty, but there's nothing you can do. Perhaps more airports should get a lighter colour of tarmac to reduce this effect!

IL76 From Netherlands, joined Jan 2004, 2223 posts, RR: 53
Reply 3, posted (8 years 3 months 2 hours ago) and read 2010 times:

Hmm... Colin beat me to it... Smile

Aagold From United States of America, joined Nov 2002, 534 posts, RR: 54
Reply 4, posted (8 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 1915 times:

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I can definitely second what Colin says. On a recent outing to EWR when it was 15 degrees outside we lost a lot of shots to heat distortion. Sounds ridiculous when you're freezing your buns off, but it's a fact of life we have to deal with in any kind of weather.

Art

Karlok From Netherlands, joined Mar 2002, 839 posts, RR: 1
Reply 5, posted (8 years 2 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 1853 times:

What also can cause the same wavy effects are running APU's. I hate them.

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