Air Force One taking off from LAS

So after oversleeping today I was just barely able to catch AF1 taking off after Obama's overnight stay in sin city. It was a dull, overcast afternoon, I wish the clouds were fewer in number for sure. Here's my favorite shot, which is probably over a 100% crop of the original picture. The full gallery is here http://deadpass.com/af​1t

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Great shot. My only "complaint" is that there isnt a bit more space on the right wing from the edge of the picture.

Also a suggestion if you want to try is to put a gradiant layer over the sky maybe to make the sky pop. Plane looks great, theres just something about the sky that looks dull.
I donno, maybe im just crazy.

I'll see if i can rework the pic a bit and try your suggestions. I know I'm tight on the right wing and I agree, but I was shooting under a low hangin branch. Lemme see what I can come up with. Thanks for the suggestions!

I reworked it a bit per your suggestions. I'm sure I could get a bit more out of it, but this quick and dirty will do for now.

Looks good to me.

Not every image has to be "cut yourself on it" sharp. This has a very nice feel to it and really only suffers at all due to the extreme crop.

Good shot!

I like the reworked crop. I might try one with a bit more sky at the top & to the left.

I added as much space as i could without having to do major cloning. I think this is about as much as I can get in the shot without the bushes or tree getting in the way. I've included the original shot as well, so you guys can see what I mean.

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I like them, awesome location. What lens did you use?

Edit- 135L I'm guessing from the EXIF.

Great shots! The one with JANET in the background is pretty cool.

Really nice shots. I liked the one with JANET in the web series as well.

I wouldn't even have attempted that shot. I don't have any lenses sharp enough to zoom in lie that (or maybe i don't have a monitor good enough to sow it?), and I'm not that good with pp. Nice job!

whats janet?

jacktompson wrote in post #9677523
whats janet?

"Janet" is the nickname given to the unmarked white 737s with red stripes that are nearly universally known for flying staff to and from the Groom Lake Facility (better known as Area 51)

They have a terminal and ramp space on the west side of the airport.

Very cool, what a great opportunity to be able see AF1 in person...I would be a little nervous taking a bunch of pics of it though....

aviator.4.life wrote in post #9655522
I like them, awesome location. What lens did you use?

Edit- 135L I'm guessing from the EXIF.

You are correct, at the time my 135 was my longest lens because my wife was using the 70-200. I have since fixed that by getting a 300 f4 and a 100-400.

SkyBaby wrote in post #9655564
Great shots! The one with JANET in the background is pretty cool.

I had to go back and look thru the shots, I didn't even notice that at first, good eye.

ELDUDER wrote in post #9701951
Very cool, what a great opportunity to be able see AF1 in person...I would be a little nervous taking a bunch of pics of it though....

I was a bit nervous when I was taking the night landing pictures, but the next day the only concern I had was getting kicked from the property I was one because I was standing on a huge concrete sign to get above the fence of the airport.

thanks for the comments everyone.