kimberley cutie...
VH-VOS, otherwise known as Kimberley Cutie (all Virgin Blue planes have unique World War II-style nose art Maidens with funny names), today became the first jet aircraft to land at the new airport. This shot was just as it had taken off for its return to Sydney - I waited under the martial sun in a field at the end of the runway for about 40 minutes to get this shot, so I'm glad that it worked! I managed to catch a shot just as it flew directly above me, with the plane overflowing the frame, but I prefer the symmetry of the above shot (which was taken three seconds later).
Of course the event wasn't without its fair share of Politicians and Very "Important" People; I had a lot of fun snapping away and was assumed to be a member of the small group of professional media photographers, which suited me just fine. For the sake of humour and to provide something a little different to the photos that everyone else was striving to take, here's a photo that'll never make it into a newspaper:
I think everyone enjoyed the day - that is, everyone who got there early. The first flight arrived half an hour before it was expected, thus some people missed out on seeing it actually land. Then it was half an hour late for take off, which resulted in the aforementioned 40 minutes in the sun (along with a minor dose of sunburn). It didn't really bother me though; I was just happy to have an excuse to be out taking photos.
And now it's time I slipped into the blue depth of sleep.