JPG

Ever look out the window of your 767 and get tempted to pull out your camera? ..But then you don't want to make a scene and you're worried people will think you're an idiot? Maybe you think that if you try to take a picture, it won't come out anyway because your window looks like someone cleaned it with 60 grit sandpaper? Well - there is hope for you, and this picture is a testament to the fact that it can be done.

On a boring business trip back to San Diego from DFW, I decided I was not going to miss the spectacular cloud formations I was seeing up there at 35,000 feet. They were indeed quite unique and spectacular, so I yanked out my Canon 20D and a Sigma 17-70 mm DC lens and proceeded to set up my shot.

Now - Granted, if you get blessed with a clear enough window, here's a couple of tips: First, take out some napkins, or ask the flight attendant for some and then wet them using bottled water (or ask for some water). Next, wipe down your window until it is good and clean. You might be surprised at how clean that window gets - even if it has a few scratches. If ice or condensation has formed anywhere on your window, your best bet is to see if you can press the lens up against a clear area of the window that will give you a clear shot.

Good - now you are ready to shoot. Adjust your exposure for the glare, and you may decide to go for a circular polarizing filter just in case it is extra bright. In this case, I used my standard UV haze filter and fired away on 'P' mode. The trick is to angle your lens against that window so you do not get reflections.

Remember, the outsides of those thick jet windows have all kinds of distortion and blurring issues, so if you aim directly through the very center of the window, you will get the best shot possible. You may also want to work at a low iso in order to reduce that noise that will surely come from shooting through the jet window.

Now, JPG says I only have 1131 characters left in this little description box, so let's talk about what you do with your images in post-process:

Step 1 - convert from RAW and handle the basic sharpening, contrast and exposure tweaking.

Step 2 - in your photo editor, apply any last changes such as levels, crop and saturation.

Now for the finale: Step 3 - whip out NeatImage (www.neatimage.com) and apply that filter algorithm to clean up some of those grains and artifacts created by shooting through that jet window. You may just be very surprised at what you see - I know I was.

Happy shooting in the friendly skies!

**Update - I wrote and submitted this before I saw the great photo essay submitted by Alexis Gerard here for issue 13:

http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/1676

This photo essay is really well done, and the photos are really outstanding! Congrats to Alexis for his published work in issue 13.