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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1/400 sec, f/11, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sandwiched
between cloud layers at 20,000 feet
15 minutes out of Tokyo Narita, heading toward Osaka
My body is back in Japan after a month in Ohio visiting my folks with Anthony. Unlike my trip out, my luggage did arrive with me, though I seem to have lost my brain somewhere during the 22-hour trip.
We came through Tokyo Narita on Sunday evening. During the flight back out, I was surprised to notice how stratified the clouds were: as we ascended, we would pop through a layer of cloud to find clear air, but another layer above. I took the photo above while in the second such “sandwiched zone”.
10 minutes later we were a mile higher and passing Mt. Fuji, though I'm sure I was the only passenger that noticed, since it wasn't more than a bump in the clouds...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
That Dark Spot Center-Right is Mt. Fuji's Summit
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
21½ Miles Over, 2½ Miles Below
The summit 2½ miles below is about half way between the ground and the plane
It wasn't much of a view, but it was better than the one we had going out. For whatever reason, we passed much further away on that trip...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/5000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The View Heading Out a Month Ago
67 Miles Over, 4 Miles Below
I'm glad we came in on Sunday, because Tokyo got slammed by a powerful typhoon on Monday, grounding 60 flights.
For reference, here's a point-n-shoot photo of Mt. Fuji taken from a speeding train. During our flight in last year, we didn't see Mt. Fuji, but did have a photogenic surprise.
Ah, another “hobby” of mine, photos out of plane windows. Any reception issues with your GPS working inside an airliner? I notice in your linked post that it has flight modes but that’s generally meant for small Cessna-sized aircraft.
I’ve used my TomTom sat-nav with relatively poor results (terrible reception farther than 6 inches away from the window, battery life is only about 2 hours max) and I’ve used my AMOD380 GPS Tracker with better results by keeping it inside my pillow (aka, rolled up coat) up against the wall. Unfortunately it lost power just as we were about to circle London after 7.5 hours from Chicago… which is about when I started snapping photos 🙁
The GPS unit I use (Garmin Legend HDx) has a high-sensitivity antenna, so it gets a great signal at the window. Once it has a signal, I can leave it on the armrest below the window, or in the seat-front pocket near the window, and it generally keeps working. It’ll go 20+ hours on two AA batteries, so I don’t worry too much about it, though I do doublecheck the battery level and satellite signal when we approach something interesting. —Jeffrey