CMH John Glenn Columbus International Airport Southwest Airlines

I take every opportunity to photograph aircraft of any kind anywhere I am. In February 2022 I went to John Glenn Columbus International Airport to create exterior and aircraft photos. I arrived early in the evening and parked at the top of the parking garage. As a Southwest 737 Max landed, I captured the landing and taxiing of the aircraft. It was a beautiful way to start the night.

Photographing John Glenn Columbus International Airport

In between planes landing, I photographed CMH from angles not normally seen by the general public. All of my aviation photography is done legally without trespassing. I utilized several good photography locations atop the parking garage. Southwest almost always lands on the south runway, so I focused my attention there. I was able to photograph several landings and takeoffs as well as many parked aircraft.

Just to the south of the south runway is a public road that hugs the airport fence line. I love plane spotting at Columbus International Airport, especially from this spot. There is a hole in the fence where you can get clean shots of airplanes departing to the west. This isn’t a great spot for arrivals as it is 3/4 to the end of the runway.

I also love this photo of the CMH FAA air traffic control tower. I know it will never happen, but I’d love to photograph an airport from inside the control tower. How amazing would it be to get a view like that!

Leading lines in photography intrigue me, so I often try to use them in my photographs. The black and white shot looking west toward downtown has a great leading line atop the Southwest terminal. It runs parallel to the runway as well. Each time I fly into or out of CMH I look for unique angles that others may overlook. Check out my CVG plane spotting as well.