I found myself on a business trip to San Francisco (SFO) last week, so I took the opportunity to do a little shooting during the first hour after sunrise and last light in the evening. Paul Filmer’s reports from SFO.

UAL Boeing 777 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 777 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Emirates Airbus 380 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

Emirates A380 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Nippon Cargo Airlines Boeing 747-8F - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

Nippon Cargo Airlines Boeing 747-8F – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Although I live at a United Airlines (UAL) hub, we see almost no Boeing 747s there. A few weeks ago UAL announced that they would be phasing the Boeing 747 out of service this year.

UAL Boeing 747-400 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Korean Air Boeing 747-8 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

Korean Air Boeing 747-8 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Swiss Airbus 340 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

Swiss Airbus 340 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

SFO, being on the west coast, gets a lot of UAL 747 flights, so it seemed like a good opportunity to capture some on this trip. Over by the UAL maintenance hangars there were already at least eight 747s parked up not in service.

Hawaiian Airbus 330 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

Hawaiian Airbus 330 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

China Southern Boeing 787-8 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

China Southern Boeing 787-8 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

UAL Boeing 747-400 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Most of my shooting was from between Bayfront Park and the Bay landing Hotel. The further south you walk, the less chance you’ll have getting the runway fence blocking the landing wheels.

British Airways Boeing 747-400 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

British Airways Boeing 747-400 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

Lynden Air Cargo L-100-30 - © Paul Filmer - Global Aviation Resource

Lynden Air Cargo L-100-30 – © Paul Filmer – Global Aviation Resource

I probably only captured the images over a period of 4-5 hours over three days, but it ended up being productive, and it was nice to be able to see many Queen of the Skies Boeing 747s here.