I Found the Best Photography Spot at the Atlanta Airport | Photo Stories
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
I hadn’t flown on an airplane or been to an airport in five years! It’s kind of crazy to think about, or how it is even possible. But most of my business clients are local, so I don’t require flights for work and taking family trips with my wife and three kids it a bit cost prohibitive when thinking about purchasing all of those plane tickets and baggage fees. So, all of the vacations we’ve made in the past few years have been somewhere we could reach by car. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to be at the Atlanta Airport for this once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Camera Settings: ISO 125, f/3.2, 1/1600 | Shot on Canon G7X Mark III
Ask my family, I’m constantly filming or photographing — even a random dinner at La Parilla in Athens, Georgia is not safe from my Canon G7X showing up at some point before, during, or after dinner so you can imagine my excitement when the iconic “Fly Delta Jets” sign showed up as we were in the airport shuttle from our parking spot to the international terminal.
I wouldn’t describe it technically as a “great shot” — there are interior lights from the shuttle, I didn’t do that great of a job with the edit IMO — but it’s the photo that kicked off our trip and holds a significant spot in my memory. That’s why we take the photo, isn’t it? We remember these moments whether we end up printing the photo or it shows up on our Facebook memories in a couple of years. Nostalgia is a helluva drug. We love accessing those “core memories” and this photo represented a new one for me.
Why “Photo Stories”
I love consuming articles and videos from other photographers, filmmakers, and content creators. I find it helpful as I continue to try and improve my own photography and creative career. Seeing and hearing what other people shoot on, why they take the photo, why they film a certain way among other technical topics fascinates me, so perhaps others might enjoy hearing my perspective.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might recognize this format. I've published a few of these “Photo Stories” Instagram Reels where I talk about the photos I've posted from a Georgia football game and talk about the behind-the-scenes: composition choices, camera settings, and why I edited or cropped an image in a certain way. This blog post you are currently reading and a companion YouTube video takes that same idea from Instagram and applies it to our recent family trip — starting here at the Atlanta airport, with (hopefully) more episodes coming covering London, Paris, and Switzerland.
Some of the “Photo Stories” Instagram Reels I have published
I actually made a London and Paris highlight video reel on my Instagram account, but this video series is not that. My goal for this is to actually share my thinking — the camera gear, the settings, the in-the-moment decisions, and delightful discoveries — so if you're into photography, perhaps you walk away with something useful, it’s not meant as a self-indulgent scroll through vacation photos.
The Cameras I Use
Most, if not all of what you'll see in this post came from two cameras that I used almost exclusively on my travels. The Canon G7X Mark III handled a lot of the candid, in-transit moments — I love the quick nature of this pocket sized camera. The image quality and video capabilities are very good and in a fleeting moment, such as riding in the airport shuttle, I can be ready to take a photo or video in an instant. My Canon EOS R5 Mark II, paired mostly with my older RF 24-105mm f/4 lens (an intriguing choice for me), was the workhorse for the more deliberate shots — airport terminal photography, family candids in the concourse, and the travel where I had time to compose and think about a photograph.
Photographs inside the Terminal
A candid selfie moment with my wife and my three kids as we arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson turned into one of my favorite photos of the whole airport experience — I had to take this shot real quick due to the fact that I was filming. I quickly ended the video in time to catch this perfect candid. The unedited photograph was a bit washed out straight out of camera, but with a little editing I was able to boost the color, increase contrast, and give a subtle bump of color for the sky.
Camera Settings: ISO 200, f/5, 1/640 | Shot on Canon G7X Mark III
Once we got through security and into the E concourse at Hartsfield-Jackson, the photo opportunities became more abundant. There's something about an airport that turns me into a kid with a camera. I referenced this point in the video and it’s so true as I think back to it. So often at home or for clients, I get bored shooting the same ole stuff. I needed this vacation more than I knew. To bring back the fun and wonder of photography for me. I’ve always told people — surely more than my wife and kids would like to admit — that I’m a nightmare on vacation with my camera. It’s so true that at one point my son, Jack was not at all surprised that I had taken well over 100 photos as we waited for our flight to London to start boarding — I AM a nightmare in the best way possible on vacation.
Some of my favorite shots from the E concourse:
The Atlanta tower and a picture-perfect sky, edited vertically to play up the height of the tower and the Delta jet on approach
A Delta Airlines plane parked at the gate with the colors and composition making the photo so interesting to me. Notice the difference in the sky color edit from the Atlanta tower photo — it’s different, but there’s no wrong answers in photo editing
A few silhouette shots, which might be one of the easiest ways to get a genuinely unique photo in an airport — just expose for the bright light coming through the window and let your subject go dark
I Found the Best Photography Spot on the E Concourse
If there's one discovery from my first visit to an airport in five years, it's the large window at the end of the E concourse at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport that faces north and overlooks the runway. I found it by accident as I was walking around looking for a coffee, and I stayed there for about 30 minutes. Even more reason to get to the airport early. Oh, and there was no coffee going that direction.
The photos that came out of it were pretty special in my eyes — a Southwest jet taking off, center framed above a taxiing Delta jet — I knew I had a good photo the moment I took it. I was super-lucky. It's definitely the kind of photo that I will print out and it’s also the main photo for the thumbnail for the YouTube video that compliments this blog post.
Camera Settings: ISO 160, f/5.6, 1/1000 | Shot on Canon EOS R5 Mark II
There was so much activity and variety in the planes taking off and taxing, I must admit, the photos sort of took themselves. Wouldn’t it be great to have the opportunity to work with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport or Delta Airlines and just spend the day traveling between all of the concourses, taking photos and video clips of all of the action? Mr. Smith or Mr. Bastian, I’m available if you ever need me.
Leaving Hartsfield-Jackson on a 757-400 Delta Airlines Jet to London
The five of us were not at the Atlanta Airport solely for me to enjoy walking the concourse, in my own world, taking photos. Our destination was London, England. At last we began boarding the 757-400 airplane to take us across the pond. In the YouTube video about my experiences at the airport, I talk about how important it is for me to have one camera that has the option to use a proper flash — that’s the G7X Mark III. This photo of my daughter and me perfectly shows how the flash illuminates our faces, yet keeps the background colors and details as well. It’s really easy to do, especially on a point and shoot camera. You might be able to also take a backlit photo similar to this with an iPhone, but didn’t and probably wouldn’t ever try it.
Two final photos I snapped that I’d like to talk about. A surprising favorite that I simply got lucky capturing was when I was able to time another airplane taking off framed through the window of our flight as we were on the tarmac in Atlanta. And another one during our flight as we were many hours into our journey and somewhere over the North Atlantic. The second photo really struck me. Since it was summer, it never got completely dark during our entire flight to London. I feel pretty fortunate that I was sitting on the left side of the plane to capture the scene.
Both photos were taken with the G7X and it’s why I love having it as my companion camera. Here’s why I prefer having it to take my in-the-moment photos vs my iPhone. It fits in my pocket, or the seatback of the airplane I was in. It’s ready to go with one touch of a button. It’s dedicated to taking photos and video. It’s not an iPhone that is being used for email. It’s not an iPhone that I’m watching a YouTube video on. It’s not an iPhone that takes time to flip to the camera app and hoping it’s not in selfie mode when you’re wanting to take a shot of something that’s happening at that moment.
What Was In My Bag
For anyone curious about the actual kit I carried with me to the airport and Europe, here's what made the trip:
Canon EOS R5 Mark II — primary camera, paired with an RF 24-105mm f/4 lens. The lens was critical because it was lighter than the RF 24-70mm, f/2.8, and I got a little more reach up to 105mm, which I loved.
Canon G7X Mark III — my third G7X that I have purchased. Shoots great video, has a built-in flash, and produces solid stills.
RF 28mm f/2.8 lens — used sparingly, mostly for street photography. But it’s a pancake lens, tiny, and light as a feather.
GoPro Hero11 — used one time for video in Switzerland (more on that in a later episode).
iPhone 17 Pro Max — my tertiary camera in rotation, for both photos and video. I know I dog on the iPhone’s photo quality, but it does a great job with video and the 0.5 camera is sweet.
1TB SanDisk SSD — used about 330GB across the whole trip: 3,000+ photos and a good amount of video. Highly recommend.
Peak Design 6L Sling — genuinely the most important accessory I packed. Fit both cameras, an extra lens, and other stuff without feeling bulky. I almost bought the 10L sling, but watched one YouTube review of the 10L where someone described it as feeling like they were carrying around a diaper bag and that was all I needed to hear not to buy it.
What's Next
This is the first video in the Photo Stories series covering my photography during our family trip through parts of Europe. More episodes are coming covering London, Paris, and Switzerland — I hope I can get to recording and editing it soon.
Watch the full episode here:
Scott Duvall is a photographer and videographer based in Watkinsville, Georgia, working across commercial photography, social media content, and video production.