This article’s title is, I think, appropriate. I shot the photo as our Lufthansa Airbus 340 winged its way from Boston to Italy (via Frankfurt) last May. Jetting east like that compressed time so much that the airline’s unusually attentive staff delivered dinner only about three hours before interior lights came back on for breakfast. And between meals, the sky outside was only briefly dark.
Fortunately, when we were told to close our window shades after dinner, ours wasn’t all the way down. And midway between meals, I noticed a lovely powder-blue light filtering in through the crack. Lifting the shade, I marveled at the moonlit scene outside… to which the jet’s thick plasticky windows contributed their own otherworldly softness.
I only had enough time to grab a couple shots before the color disappeared. So I (rightly or wrongly) think it was a fleeting airborne version of photography’s beloved “Blue Hour”— viewed from above the clouds rather than below.
NOTE: Since my Panasonic ZS100 travel zoom was stowed out of easy reach, I grabbed the photo with my old iPhone 6. It may have added even more gentle softness!
–Dave Powell is a Westford, Mass., writer and avid amateur photographer.
Ethereal was the first word I thought of when I saw this shot…..
Thank you so much my friend… I love the effect!
Dave
I love it. The colour and softness really add to a wonderfully ethereal effect. It would look lovely printed large and hung on the wall. Excellent stuff.
That’s wonderful, Dean… AND a timely idea, since our condo community’s art show is in October. I’ll print ‘er up!
Cheers,
Dave
Dave, please do and get a shot to show us. That’s exciting news.
Dean.
Thanks Dean… I will!
Dave
Very nice, could be a scene from a Michael Mann movie.
Hi Max,
I’ll look him up on Roku… see if “The Keep” is there (or anything else).
The image also reminds me of the “colorist” photographer Pete Turner, who I mention in an upcoming 35mmc article about LP jacket art. (It’ll probably be scheduled to go online in late August or early September.)
I remember that Omni magazine’s first issue had a blue Turner photo of a car racing beside a wall. A lot of his images seemed to feature blue. Think he liked blue too!
Thanks Max!
Dave