Yesterday was a good day. The Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) was in town for its final ever visit. She’s off to Dubai to be turned into a floating hotel. Its a shame. I’ve seen Grand Princess and other liners visit Liverpool this year and they don’t come close to looking as good as the QE2. They’re function over form, designed to be a hotel that floats around the world. The QE2 and the old liners have a certain romanticism about them. They’re from a historic time when going across the world was something amazing.
As this was the final ever visit to Liverpool I was lucky enough to have a plane waiting for me to take me for a spin. I really got taken for a spin. We circled for about 30 minutes, which felt like 5 and by the end I was a little queasy. Most people would be with the g-force, turbulence, spinning and breathing jet fuel for 30 minutes. Glad to say I don’t have a fear of flying as I once thought I did. I now have a strong urge to do more. That plane trip was *the* most amazing thing I’ve done this year. Absolutely incredible. I spent most of the time looking through my lens so in some ways I was slightly removed from the moment but wow. Its just so unreal. Everything is so completely different, so small. It is like you’re looking at this photo but you’re there too. The plane banked incredibly steeply too. I never felt like I was going to fall out the window but it banked to at least 45 degrees and well, holy cow! If you have a few hundred spare take that trip. Raven Air in Liverpool. Great guys, amazing flight. Thanks to the cruise terminal for sorting it too.
12 responses
I wasn’t expecting anything like this, amazing.
A beautiful image, very beautiful scenery, magnificent colors.
Must pass this vessel here, a few days.
incredible photo! i love the detail in the water and buildings.
I am curious to know, is this a single RAW hdr generated photo? thanks!
Great shot Pete, any tips for the readers that may one day have the opportunity to take photos from an airplane?
Wow, this is really impressive. What a great opportunity, and you made perfect use of it.
Wonderful shot, Pete! I love the detail in the buildings and the framing.
Great pic Pete as usual…
I’ve also done the ride in a small plane thing .
As you said, it’s highly recomended
Fantastic capture – and very cool idea to shoot QE2 from this angle.
@Bob – No real tips I’m afraid. First time for me. I just kept shooting. I made sure that the shutter speed was ok for the movement of the plane, checked sharpness as I shot.
Gives a great overview of the city… really puts the ship into context
I am assuming you used 3 images to make the HDR, am I wrong? How did you align the images? The boats were obviously moving. How did you get rid of the ghost images?
Or did you just tone map a single RAW file?
Great shots. Inspiring pictures. Thank you.
Fantastic image of the QE2. I was lucky enough to work on board in the early 80’s. Thank you