In the second edition of the new AviationDirect series “Personal”, in which we will portray interesting people from the aviation scene in the future, we are dedicated to Németh Gabor, planespotter at Vienna Airport and master of the 3 aircraft pictures.

AviationDirect: Gábor, you are already well known in Vienna as a passionate plan spotters, but you originally come from Hungary. May I ask how you got into this hobby and what brought you to Austria?

I was born in Budapest and moved to Vienna with my family in 2012 because I found a job here. Before that, my brother was a racing driver for 20 years and I took photos at the races. When he ended his racing career, I also moved a bit away from motorsport, so here in Austria I kept looking for a photo motif that was “fast”, “colorful” and “loud”. On a trip we passed Vienna Airport and a plane arrived right over our heads. At that time I decided to take pictures of airplanes one day. In Hungary I couldn't take the time to do this, so I had to try it here. I was at the fence three times in three days and then it became my hobby.

One of the highlights so far for Németh Gábor, the Tupolev Tu-154M

AviationDirect: Vienna Airport has already shared your pictures several times on its social media pages. I suppose a great honor for you?

This is not only an honor that I am very happy about, but also positive feedback that it was worth going in this direction. As a result, I was invited to a very exclusive photo tour by Austrian Airlines in 2016, and I managed to get to know more and more local photographers and airport workers, so I was soon accepted into the photo community. My pictures have been used several times by Vienna Airport and Austrian Airlines on the Internet and by Flughafenfreunde Wien in its print newspapers, such as “Approach”. The story of one of my favorite pictures is also linked to the VIE when I managed to photograph a perfectly normal but specially painted machine that I saw here every now and then. The German model company Herpa also used this machine for the model box. The airplane model, which I received as a gift, has since been in the main item on my shelf, with my photo on the box.

Regardless, I don't consider myself a professional photographer, it's a good hobby for me and I know very well that there is still room for improvement, to learn and try new things in photography.

AviationDirect: I suppose with so many airplane photos in recent years there is still one or the other personal highlight for you?

I owe a lot of experience and photos to this hobby, meanwhile I already have more flight photos than racing cars. I have photographed many interesting and special aircraft over the years, but the list that I have missed is very long. This, of course, is very motivating to have a photo of a machine over time that is important to me for whatever reason. Since I've been photographing airplanes, perhaps the biggest catch for me has been the Tu-154, because when these airplanes were actively flying, I wasn't interested in flying. But it was a great experience for me to photograph this type of aircraft two years ago, which was traveling for a delegation. There is another experience with the photo, with which I was able to win a competition from Vienna Airport, a look behind the scenes of the airport. I can be very grateful to the airport because I was able to take pictures of special vehicles at the airport fire brigade.

Second passion for Gábor Németh: blue light organizations like the fire brigade

AviationDirect: In addition to photography, you have a second, extremely interesting hobby, the creation of 3D wall pictures. How did you come to this unique cross between model airplanes and pictures?

That is a long story. I have been building racing car models for more than 10 years. After a hiatus of a few years when I was already photographing airplanes, I thought about even building model airplanes. There is a problem with that the finished models take up a lot of space and there is no space for it in our apartment. I saw a photo of a model of a fighter plane that flew out of a picture frame, so I thought about how I could build a similar passenger plane. The result is now visible to everyone.

Aviation Direct: Many would be interested in a glimpse without revealing too much how you make these pictures?

This hobby requires a lot of patience and skill, that is the basis of model building. I have a little “workshop secret” when creating my 3D murals, which I don't want to reveal now, as it caused a lot of headaches at first before I found out the solution. This is especially used to fix the model in the frame. Another interesting feature of my pictures is that behind each machine there is a background photo taken from my own photo and made by a printing company.

In making his unique 3D murals

Aviation Direct: Do you make these 3D wall pictures not only for your own use, but also for friends and other interested parties?

It started as a hobby three years ago, I just wanted to build some of my favorite airplanes for myself, but after the second picture I received an order from a photographer whose partner is a flight attendant. Since then, more and more people have taken an interest in it, and requests have come from them.

Even the Vienna Airport friends have already been immortalized as a 3D aircraft motif

Aviation Direct: The Flughafenfreunde Wien are also a great support for you?

I first got in touch with Flughafenfreunde Wien through another Hungarian photographer, then I got to know more and more members. I had the opportunity to meet them at events, took photos together several times and last year I was able to take part in their “Collectors Day” as an exhibitor. This enabled interested parties to get to know my models. This year I also made a picture for Flughafenfreunde Wien, which was a big surprise and I'm glad that I was able to thank them for their support.

The imagination knows no limits

AviationDirect: Gábor, we thank you for this interview and we hope that even more people will enjoy your airplane pictures and your 3D murals that are on your Facebook page 3D airplane murals to admire there, have received.

All pictures were made available to us by Gábor Németh