Statement in Response to the Announcement of PlaneImages.net Shutting Down

This morning, I received an E-mail where I learned that PlaneImages.net, an aviation photography website will be shutting down as of July 15, 2018 due to an unsustainable business model and lack of funding from a venture capitalist. PlaneImages was meant to make plane-spotting and aviation photography, two old, tired hobbies fun and revitalize great photographers by making a home for their work that would otherwise never have been accepted onto screener-based websites and stepping away from catalog data-basing.

There is no hiding that fact in how disappointed I am to hear that such an incredible website is shutting down. PlaneImages was a huge win for underdog photographers such as myself, who don't have the means or resources to make our photos "high-quality," at least according to overly-high standards of elitists from other, screener-based websites. While we can all agree or disagree on what's considered high-quality based on personal preferences, such screener-based standards suppresses creativity, and is an insult to the vast majority of aviation photographers and the incredible work they otherwise produce. PlaneImages encouraged artistic creativity and recognized contribution in our photos, as the site provided the perfect platform to showcase my best work after nothing but negative and insulting experiences with other screener-based aviation photography websites.

The shutdown of PlaneImages.net, once again leaves us underdog photographers in the shadows of those elitist photographers and their screener-based sites with their high, often unattainable standards.

That being said, I wish to express gratitude to the founders of PlaneImages.net, Beau, Jake and Drew, for taking a stab at addressing a plane-spotter's frustrations and delivering a service for the aviation photography underdogs via funding often out of their own pockets and in their own time. I wish them the all the best and hope that one day, they will find the proper and sustainable means to open a website (without the screening!) that showcases aircraft in real-time that will ultimately change the aviation photography/plane-spotter game for the better.