On 10 August 2026 I was at Itami Skypark from 17:03 to 19:44. The first frame is 1/1250s at ISO 400. The last is a three-second exposure at ISO 800. In two hours and forty-one minutes the settings travelled the whole range.
17:00, still freezing at 1/1250s
The first half hour sits between f9 and f10 at 1/800s to 1/1600s, with the ISO fixed at 400. A summer evening still has enough light that even 400mm is not short of shutter speed.
The three frames at 17:25 share 1/1600s, f9 and ISO 400, and differ only in focal length, 223mm against 400mm. Line the climbing aircraft up with the ridge, or take the aircraft alone.
18:22, switching to the 35mm
Four frames of sunflowers were taken on a different lens: a NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 at f4.5 and ISO 100, between 18:22 and 18:23. One minute of switching from long to wide.
Focus on the flowers with the airport behind, or focus on the aircraft and let the flowers blur in front. At 35mm only the first is available, so in these four the flowers are the subject.
18:35, the ISO goes to 800
Back on the long lens, the ISO moves to 800 at 1/160s and f8. From here the falling light gets paid for in ISO. By 18:42 it is 1/250s, f6.3, ISO 800.
The two frames at 18:56 are at 1/100s. Still freezing, but 1/100s handheld at 400mm is asking a lot, which is why one of them is pulled back to 76mm.
19:05, giving up on freezing it
ISO 1600, 1/60s. This is where the approach changes. Freezing the aircraft is abandoned and panning takes over. By 19:07 the shutter is down to 1/40s.
Swinging a near-400mm lens at 1/40s does not have a high success rate. The seven frames from this window are what survived a lot of failures.
19:39, three seconds
The last four frames run from 19:39 to 19:41: 1.6 seconds, three seconds, then 0.6 and 0.6, all at f6.3 and ISO 800. Terminal lights and parked aircraft, nothing else.
Two hours and forty-one minutes, from 1/1600s to three seconds. These thirty-three frames are what comes of standing in one place and conceding settings as the light goes.
Aviation and landscape commissions
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