Roarer

Photographie is like a sport, the more regularly you do it, the more you improve and gain experience.

After a while, you get like me who just *KNOWS* what a good picture is and you start seeing pictures everywhere when you walk down the street (a blessing and a curse).

If you need inspiration, look at other people's pictures, in fact, don't just look at plane pictures, look at ones from different subjects, and see how they have gone about things, and then, ask yourself, 'how could I do this'.

My favourite style of photography was more with the human angle on things - man and machine.

Now, I know that it is difficult to do at airports, and I am blessed with being a railway photographer, but, believe me, they will beat the average 'spotterish' record shot of yet another plane (or train) which just looks like the last, except for the reg or number.

In fact, in my photography, the train was often secondary. I'd take pictures of the passengers coming from or boarding the trains, looking at the info screens, I'd take pictures of the staff going about their business, I took pictures of the stations and the people passing through, and as well as normal 'still' shots, I did time exposures as well (this will normally require a tripod).

Don't just be a spotter and simply take the most obvious pictures (well, do for record sake, but you know what I mean!), mingle, people watch, find a particular scene and then wait for people to pass by, such as the passenger running to catch their flight, bags in hand, take pictures from different angles or perspectives, look at reflections, just think about the rich diversity there is out there.
Just LOOK.

When taking a picture, be quick about it or at least don't be too conspicuous 'hide' in a doorway or whatever. Even pretend you are just fiddling with your camera.
Sometimes, you have to be conspicuous, there's no other way, so, like I say, just be quick.
And there is nothing worse than people posing for pictures, candids are the best as you get them as they are naturally. Big cheezy grins or poses are a big no no unless it's deliberate. It looks really unnatural and contrived.
I have taken pictures of big events, and see when people notice the camera?? forget it!! move on!

As an example of different angles, one of my favourite pictures is of the cleaners at Glasgow Central.
I saw this coming, put the camera to it's widest angle, prefocussed it, put it at platform level, pointing up, and then took a picture of a guy driving his electric buggy with a trailer of rubbish in one direction, whilst someone else walked past in front of him in the other direction. What I had was him there driving along, and perfectly timed, I had the bottom half of other person walking away lifting their shoe up so that I have the bottom of one of their shoes as they go to walk out of shot.
And, right at the back of this shot, was a train. A '334 to be exact, but that is secondary in the shot.
Things like that.

I know security is an issue, but just play about a bit.

Even take pictures of the other enthusiasts taking pictures or spotting themselves.
Who knows, they may even want a copy for themselves.

Good luck.

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'Up close, the Britten Norman Islander has the air of a relic from a bygone era, but it is precisely that.
Built in the '80s to a 1960s design, this is a plane that first turned up for work when Prime Minister Harold Wilson wore a Gannex raincoat and the first coat of paint was still wet on Coronation Street.
But when the daily remit is multiple short hops between tiny bumpy strips in a climate that flickers from the blustery to the apocalyptic, this sturdy little craft is hard to beat.'