Three trips to the Haneda decks over one winter: 31 December 2025, 14 February 2026 and 23 February 2026. All three at ISO 100, all three on one lens, a NIKKOR Z 70-180mm f/2.8. Winter, because the air clears and you can see all the way across.
New Year's Eve, from 14:04
On 31 December 2025 I shot from 14:04 to 15:29, between 1/640s and 1/2000s, opening and closing the aperture as the subjects changed. Getting 1/2000s at ISO 100 tells you how much light there is.
A winter afternoon keeps the sun low, so it comes around onto the side of the fuselage. Livery colours read better than they do under the overhead light of midsummer.
The days Fuji shows up
One frame from 31 December has a Star Alliance aircraft and Mount Fuji in the same picture. The terminals face west, so on a clear winter day the mountain sits behind everything.
At 16:51 on 23 February I stopped down to f11 at 70mm, 1/2000s, for a distant view, wanting depth from the foreground through to the far shore. Later the same day, after 17:00, Fuji turns into a silhouette.
14 February, waiting on liveries
14 February 2026 ran from 12:35 to 14:25, holding between 1/400s and 1/500s at ISO 100 with the aperture more or less fixed. That day was not about light. It was about waiting for aircraft.
A Lufthansa 747, a Cathay 777, ANA's green livery, a United aircraft in Star Alliance colours. Stand on the deck long enough and they arrive one after another.
Cutting in close at the long end
The stands are close enough that 180mm will take just the nose. Frame 1605 from 14 February and frames 1265 and 1282 from 31 December are all at that distance.
A wide frame carries the scale of the airport; a tight one carries the shape of the aircraft. Both are available from the same spot, so one visit yields more than one kind of picture.
On 23 February I stayed for the sunset
Of the three, only 23 February ran long: 12:38 to 17:58, five hours and twenty minutes. ISO climbed from 100 to 1600 and the shutter fell from 1/400s to 1/10s. Day and night joined up inside a single visit.
At 17:33, f2.8 and ISO 500. At 17:45, ISO 1600. This is the window where a white A350 turns magenta. The night work has its own article.
Aviation and landscape commissions
Airport and landscape shoots start at ¥22,000 (tax incl.) for half a day. Tell me the aircraft or the light you want and we plan from there.