End of an Era

If I remember correctly, this was taken on the last day Kai Tak was open. This airport was an icon for Hong Kong and it is sadly missed.

 

Scanned from an old photograph. Feedback appreciated.

 

Should there be anyone lookingfor my more daring work, you can always do a search for me on photopoints orphotosig where I have uploaded some of mydeleted images and where I will be uploading more soon.

What an extraordinary image! And scary!

Wow!!! What great timing and overall "chaotic" feel to it. An airport in the middle of madness. I like this image!

Great image David...you were on the right place, on the right time...a true testimony of a crazy lifetime.Perfect timing, foreground, background...congrats!

 

JP

Alan, This wasn't scary! It was a thrill. I miss this airport a lot.

 

J. , It was kind of mad but it was something everyone loved.

 

Jean Pierre, I have thousands of photographs of Kai Tak. I may upload more later.

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. This is technically not the best photograph I have taken but it is something I loved doing.

You are showing your age with this shot! I've been HK twice and have never seen the old airport! NIce shot.

John, I never tired of this airport. I used to go there as often as I could. When it closed I had to find something else to take photographs of.

 

What you say is very apt. You used to hear those engines thundering what seemed like a few feet above your head and the locals would just ignore them. I never did.

 

Daniel, I wish you could have experienced it! It really was a sight to behold!

 

Thank you both.

Great catch, nice image.

Mike, Thanks a lot.

What a wonderful image. It is amusing, and in keeping with your comment above, that several of the people standing at the corner/crosswalk haven't even turned to look at the plane. There's no way this beast could fly by without me wanting to take a look.

 

I really enjoyed this one, David. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comment Jamie. I wish you could have experienced it for real.

A comment was made that you "were in the right place at the right time". I dissagree, I believe you were in the right place, but not quite the right time. If you had the front of the aircraft in your shot, then maybe, but it looks like it is just sticking out of the construction work on the right. I would have only posted your other image that is similar but more rewarding.

I appreciate you taking the time to comment.You are right, I failed. However, rather than too late with the shutter, I was too early. I did want to capture the end of Kai Tak with the tale of a Cathay Pacific plane just above the control tower.

 

You have obviously seen the Fed Ex shot and so I am sure you appreciate the timing difficulty getting this shot. They planes do appear between both sides of the street in their entirety for the briefest of moments. I am also a little confused why you chose this picture to comment on and not the Fed Ex one. When I go through peoples' portfolios and deliberately look at older images, I comment on photos I like. Coming across photos in the rate recent queues is something entirely different.

David,

I like the fact that you reply to comments, and that you do so with honesty.

I commented on this image in particular because I actually DO like it. It is the busy street in the foreground that lifts it above the FedEx shot. I just don't agree with the main subject's position within the image.

Before I comment on an image, I like to read others comments first. This is so I am not telling you the same thing over again. You received alot of positive feedback on the image, and it deserves it, however, it was the quote I stated in my previous critique that particually caught my attention. I felt (in my personal opinion) that the quote wasn't quite right. I like to be, and try to be, honest with people myself. I only wish I could receive more critiques myself. I don't see critiques as a negative, but more so a positive learning curve for next time. I'm not a pro and have never claimed to be one, but if I can give someone my opinion, then it is completely up to them to use or disregard what I have suggested.

I still stand by my original statement, also I'm not convinced that if the tail had have been over the control tower, it would have improved the image.

I commend you for taking the time to scan and display your old images.

I hope this helps you to understand my comments. Cheers

Thanks again for coming back. I apologise for the misunderstanding. I really didn't catch the fact that you liked this. (And here's me thinking I was perfect.) I think it was the, "I would have only posted your other image that is similar but more rewarding." remark that confued me.

 

I am glad that you appreciate I give honest critiques or comments. Unfortunately not everyone appreciates this. Indeed, one guy objected to my honesty so much that he went crying to the photo.net admins to have me stop commenting on his photographs. That tells you something about the person in question and the site admins but that is another story.

 

To this image. There is a lot that could be better. Probably, if I had bothered to find this location before Kai Tak airport closed I would have taken a shot that was very much better than this. The main difficulty is not the height the plane will apprear when it does become visible.

As for getting more critiques and comments yourself, I am at a loss as to what to suggest. When I joined the site, there seemed to be a core of people contributing and you got to know your favourites. I still have those favourites but generally I only comment on photos when I come across them in the queue. Even then, I check to see if the person asking for a critique has bothered to comment / critique others.

 

Anyway! I do appreciate you coming back and clarifying your position. Thanks again!

I remember those time when few moments before landing, the skyscrapers were over the your head (I actually was on the last Cathay flight that landended in the old HK airport and there was a nice cerimony too).

The pics is excellent at it well pass the feeling of how caotic was HK at that time to the viewer.

I must have watched you land. I was in Hong Kong the day it closed! It was a sad day! Indeed, I got the feeling that the people of Hong Kong were more interested in the new and old airport story than the end of British rule and being dumped by the British and being handed back to China! Thanks for stopping by.