Stunning Photo – EVA Air Boeing 747 taking off from Amsterdam – Schiphol

Today I came across of some amazing photo at Flickr. It’s showing an EVA Air Boeing 747-45EM taking off from runway 36L at Amsterdam – Schiphol (AMS / EHAM) (Netherlands). The great timing and angle just makes this shot, and the size of the 747, looking quite surreal. Just amazing if you ask me!

VA Air Boeing 747 taking off from Amsterdam - Schiphol
(Click for full size)

All credits go to Flickr User “Points1“. Visit his photo page to leave comments.

37 thoughts on “Stunning Photo – EVA Air Boeing 747 taking off from Amsterdam – Schiphol”

  1. Wow! Incredible photo. I’m planning to go spotting planes at Amsterdam Airport, as I live very close to the airport. It’s a five minute drive to the spot that photo was made.

    I really should go there soon!

  2. The long lens foreshortans the image.Note the perspective of the road.
    The runway is 475′ from this viewing point. Many airports have run-way
    veiwing locations closer than that….Remember the F 15’s picture at the
    Detroit River Airshow, that looked like it was right next to the
    guy standing on his balcony? Same thing!

  3. Whilst the picture is impressive and not quite as dangerous as it first appears, can someone explain what seem to be wrinkles in the fuselage skin under and around the EvaAir logo. I know aircraft flex, but that looks like a vinyl banner in the wind.

  4. Looks like a staged EVA publicity stunt. Long lens = forshortened perspective with advertising banner stuck all over aircraft wrinkling in the breeze. Impressive photo though. Aircraft is nowhere near end of runway.

  5. Must have been a bad day………………………..

    Runway is 3800 m long

    At max weight of circa 400tons would need 3000m of runway and vr of 170kts

    Assume he lost an engine after v1 and was taking off with a tail wind

    3rd world pilots ……….. keep well clear !!

  6. Great photo! It looks like a 600mm?

    I’d say the photo is real, and although the aircraft is taking off from 36, not that the photo is taken from the threshold as some think. The cover on the name is not unusual.
    The 747-400 would hardly be affected by a engine failure after V1 in regard to performance capability, as most takeoffs are temperature derated and October would be nice and cold. Their takeoff requirements are such that the aircraft manufacturers have to prove that it will be able to climb with sufficient clearance with engine failure of the critical engine at V1. If your Vr figures are correct, (I think at MAUW it is around 155 from memory) and the rotate is at 3000m as you say then they will climb at greater than 0.5% with one engine failure until their gear is retracted and at greater than 3% until they reach 400ft or obstacle clearance speed. Being Schiphol I doubt whether there would be any serious obstacles to clear. These obstacle clearance figures also allow 1% degradation for wear and tear in the engine (Ie if it was an old engine). All engine failures must be reported, and there is no such report so we can assume it is a normal 4 engine takeoff.

    People would have no reason not to be relaxed and they are still a good distance from the runway. The 400 is quiet as most noise is compressor noise, not exhaust as in the older ones.

    3rd world pilot comment; sigh; it is not nationality based, it is the flying culture of safety that determines whether you should keep clear of them, not where they live or their ethnicity!! I know some great third world professional pilots and I know some shocking first world professional pilots that I would not send my family in the air with!

  7. Not only is the lighting on the left side of the small red vehicle inconsistent with the light on the same side of the fuse, flight timetable lists departure time of 21:40hrs – so I’m doubtful this is real.

  8. The apparent danger is just an optical illusion. The photographer took the picture at a distance of hundreds of meters. This creates the impression that the plane and the spectators are close to eachother, when there is in fact a distance of about 150 meters between them.
    I have calculated that the plane is actually in the air with over 1500 meters of runway 36L (the Polderbaan) left to go. The total length of the runway is 3800 meters.
    So there is no problem at all. Noone was in danger. The pilots are doing a fine job.
    But the photo is fantastic. Compliments to the photographer.

  9. not real look at the flaps that is a landing 😛
    btw there are no trees that close to the runways because of safety and birds.
    So this is a photo shop.

  10. This forum is liek talk radio. A bunch of conspiracy minded people with no knowledge of planes , local geopgraphy and photgraphy commenting. Some people just know how to take pics and wait for the right time. You can make an almost identical pic time and again at the same spot. The exact alignment with the road and the recent lift off , make this one perfect. My compliments. Not all that shines is photoshopped. HH

  11. Notice how the security fence at left of picture is angled downwards towards the right, presumably to give planes maximum clearance at the end of the runway. I expect that the angling would start a good distance away from the centreline of the runway, so this means that the plane and runway are well away from the people and cars.

  12. For me, as maker of this shot, it is very difficult to imagine the exact impression the viewers have.

    Naseem, navigate to photographers position [google earth 52°21’3.63″N, 4°43’4.85″E], maybe then you understand.

    For the ones who think this is fake, please ask me questions. Maybe i can change your thoughts 🙂

    Les, the visible road is approx. 150 meters from the plane, while the shadow will be somewhere on the unvisible runway, very close to the plane.

  13. Well, as an aviation buff and photographer (in Australia) I believe the photo to be factual, but the description left by the photographer somewhat misleading. Sure, the end of the road might be some 150m from the aircraft, but the photographer must be some 6-700 metres away. I imagine the photo to be taken with a 200mm lens – perhaps 300mm, at @ 5.6 and is cropped to suit viewing. Obviously the runway is higher or at the same level as the photographer. For those prattling on about the appearance of the outer hull – that’s normal in practically all aircraft – the angle of the sun creates the texture – something that photographers crave. No need to comment on weights and V1 etc – that’s been covered by experts greater than I. Still, I would like to know more of the camera and settings. BE HAPPY PC

  14. I have a few questions for the photographer.

    Why doesn’t the foliage just under the planes nose, and around the nose gear tire, “touch” the aircraft surfaces? Gaps and other distortions between the foreground (aircraft) and background (foliage, sky) appear in several areas as well as around the person walking in the roadway. This distortion is most prominent around the aircraft, but does not appear around most other foreground/background objects.

    Why is the angle of sunlight on the aircraft different than the angle of light falling on the foreground? The left side of most objects in the foreground are illuminated from approximately 9 to 10 o’clock while the aircraft is illuminated at approximately 12 o’clock. Notice the lack of brightness on the roof of the foreground building, yet the top of the plane is fully illuminated (but not it’s right side). Back to the person walking in the roadway, they are not illuminated on their left side as the people nearer the fence are.

    Just asking.

  15. Hugh and Pieter are right that the airplane is only about halfway down the runway, as you can see in a satellite view. The 475 ft mentioned by Mike is the perpendicular distance from the near edge of the runway to the gate where spectators are standing. Given the angle of view, and assuming the airplane is centered on the runway, the distance from the gate to the airplane is about 850 ft. The photographer was a long way back from the gate, maybe something like 1500ft, and the lens was a long telephoto.

    The point is that this was probably a normal takeoff, with the airplane airborne with more than a mile of runway left before it has to clear any fence.

    It’s a spectacular photo, well done technically. But It’s also a bit distasteful in that it’s deliberately misleading. It was purposely composed so as to manufacture drama where none really existed.

  16. Photo is distorting reality so in my opinion equal to photoshop. Making the viewer believe something else is the case than reality is untrue and is not honest. Yes it’s clever but the technique is old. Compliments to the moment and Photographer’s talent, no doubt that he is either good or lucky..:)

    Compliments to the provider of the awesome lighting

    Interesting would be to make a second photo, next time, with a pocket camera and post them both. Now that would be clever..

    Julia Gillard

  17. For the profesionals,
    The Exif data from the Picture
    Regards
    Jos B

    Make – Canon
    Model – Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
    Orientation – Top left
    XResolution – 240.00
    YResolution – 240.00
    ResolutionUnit – Inch
    Software – Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
    DateTime – 2007:11:11 15:39:48
    Artist – unknown
    ExifOffset – 236
    ExposureTime – 1/640 seconds
    FNumber – 7.10
    ExposureProgram – Aperture priority
    ISOSpeedRatings – 400
    ExifVersion – 0221
    DateTimeOriginal – 2007:11:11 14:11:54
    DateTimeDigitized – 2007:11:11 14:11:54
    ShutterSpeedValue – 1/640 seconds
    ApertureValue – F 7.10
    ExposureBiasValue – 0.67
    MaxApertureValue – F 5.60
    MeteringMode – Multi-segment
    Flash – Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode
    FocalLength – 250 mm
    ColorSpace – sRGB
    ExifImageWidth – 1024
    ExifImageHeight – 683
    FocalPlaneXResolution – 3954.23
    FocalPlaneYResolution – 3958.76
    FocalPlaneResolutionUnit – Inch
    CustomRendered – Normal process
    ExposureMode – Auto
    White Balance – Auto
    SceneCaptureType – Standard

    Thumbnail: –
    Compression – 6 (JPG)
    XResolution – 72
    YResolution – 72
    ResolutionUnit – Inch
    JpegIFOffset – 738
    JpegIFByteCount – 4957