I think we all strive to take good or at least, interesting photographs. The quality may not always be as high as one would like but we canâ€™t all afford top of the range cameras and lenses or be brilliant photographers. Iâ€™d class my own efforts as adequate at best but then itâ€™s a hobby, itâ€™s not paying my mortgage.

Some of the main problems with consistently taking good photographs are weather, light, airfield accessibility and time constraints. Sometimes one has to photograph an aeroplane under grey skies, from a less than ideal angle or distance and very quickly before it takes off and disappears. These certainly wonâ€™t always be brilliant technically but maybe more atmospheric for the viewer. Saying that, I envy Doug Robertson and what seems like endless blue skies at Santa Paula (what a smashing litte aerodrome, must get there some time).

On this site we find a great variety of photographs, side on, three quarter views, landing, take-off, cruising etc etc., not forgetting the excellent airport shots. These may not all be of wonderful quality from a photographerâ€™s perspective but they are all valuable in some way. They are a moment in time that will never be repeated. The backgrounds (which are sometimes more interesting than the subject) and the airfield shots are an all important record of how things are now or were, before the seemingly endless march of money orientated property developing destroys my green and pleasant land and everyone elseâ€™s, replacing it with a blanket of houses, retail and distribution parks which nobody appears to want and which stay empty for years.

I personally find the pictures on this site much more interesting than those on Airliners.net which to me are somewhat sterile. A-D com seems to attract people who have a love of aviation and flying in general rather than those that seem more interested in aviation photography for itâ€™s own sake.

Enough of my ramblings though just to finish, I am not too keen on photos of aeroplanes with covers on. Nevertheless, I have been guilty on the odd occasion but prefer to see the cockpit and engine areas not a tarpaulin.

ROB