Monthly Archives: October 2013

Beaulieu

wpid7728-C59F7165.jpgContinuing our UK trip, we were still in the New Forest and I wanted to visit Beaulieu.  It is many years since I have been to Beaulieu.  My grandparents took me there once and we went with the school on one occasion too.  However, I wasn’t interested in visiting the motor museum on this occasion.  Certainly, if I had a lot more time, I would have loved to take a look around but we didn’t have that much time.  Instead, I wanted to see the village which, judging by some pictures I had seen online, looked like it was very picturesque.

wpid7734-C59F7214.jpgFirst, though, I had to stay awake.  As we drove there, I was feeling rather drowsy.  Not a good state to be but hardly surprising given how long I had been awake.  When we got the village, I put the seat back and had a nap for a few minutes.  This was a big help.  Nancy was tired but not able to nap so she checked out a tea shop while I closed my eyes.

wpid7724-C59F7162.jpgWe then took a walk around the village.  It is by a river and is very pretty.  Lots of small houses and shops combined with a big green area all alongside the estate of the Earl which now houses the motor museum.  What I hadn’t realized is how much wildlife wanders around.  Yes there were ducks and swans.  I didn’t know that cows, horses and donkeys were loose in the area.  The donkeys seem to like the shops and apparently walk in if they feel like it.  The horses and cows were grazing on the more grassy areas but if they needed to get somewhere, they would walk up the street and trucks coming the other way would just have to wait.  Could I come up with something more English for our first day back?

Birds of Prey

wpid7712-C59F7066.jpgThis is the first of a series of posts that shall crop up in the coming weeks that are from a trip to the UK.  Both my parents had significant birthdays this year and parties for both of them were to top and tail a trip back for us.  It has been a long time since we were back and it was nice to see a lot of people while we were there.

wpid7716-C59F7098.jpgWe arrived in Heathrow early in the morning and picked up the rental car.  We didn’t have anyone to see that day and our hotel wouldn’t be free until later in the day so we had a mission to keep ourselves busy and to stay awake.  Consequently, we headed down to the New Forest in search of a bird of prey sanctuary.

wpid7708-C59F7021.jpgWe had found this place online so didn’t know much more about it than the website.  The GPS got us there without any trouble.  I had bought the Europe maps for our Garmin because, despite years of getting around the UK without having heard of GPS, now I guess I am dependent!  The place was not huge but it had a very large collection of birds including lots of species of owl.  We wandered around looking at the various birds before a small flying demonstration took place on their flying field.  Apparently some of the bigger birds would be flying at the second show but we were content with what they had earlier on.  We didn’t want to spend all day there.

wpid7720-C59F7141.jpgAt the end of the flying, they brought out a couple of baby barn owls.  They were just in the stage of fledging but were still very fluffy and we were encouraged to stroke them to see just how soft they were.  Very soft and very cute.  It’s almost like I am back in my cute baby animal posts!

Donner Pass

wpid7672-AU0E8150-Edit.jpgA work trip was tacked on the end of a photo project since I was in the vicinity – if a two and a half hour drive counts as the vicinity!  I found myself driving over the Donner Pass twice in one day.  The first trip was early in the morning.  Everything looked great in the early light but I had a place to be and so hanging around was not possible.  However, on the return leg, I wasn’t under pressure to be anywhere (except the airport the following morning) so I was able to stop when I got to the area of Donner Lake.  The sun was already going down and the moon coming up.  Took me a short while to work that out since I was initially hoping the moon would stay up long enough for me to get there, only to realize which direction I was facing and it was only getting higher in the sky!  Doh!

wpid7674-AU0E8160-Edit.jpgI did manage to get to see the lake with some light still on it as the shadows started to stretch across.  A very pretty location although not one I think I did justice too.  Another time perhaps.  I suspect I will get to make that trip again before too long.

Reno Air Races

wpid8130-C59F4251.jpgThe National Championship Air Races recently took place at Reno NV.  This was my second year covering it and the 50th running of the races.  Before I go too much further, here is the link to the article I wrote for Global Aviation Resource so, if you want a rundown on how the event went, that is a good place to go.  It also has pictures but you don’t need to go there for them since I am about the share a bunch of them here too!

wpid8124-AU0E5304.jpgReno is a very interesting event to shoot.  The organizers go to a lot of effort to host the media representatives.  Given how many of us show up, this is no small feat.  They provide a center for us to base ourselves out of, breakfast and lunch each day (this year sponsored by Nikon), buses to take a selection of people out to the pylons each morning and afternoon, access to most places you could want to be and a team with golf carts who will run you to wherever you want to go (provided you can find them since they are kept busy!).

wpid8142-C59F5571.jpgThe parts of the show are very interesting in themselves.  Exploring the pits is a great thing to do.  The main pit area has the Unlimited racers and the T-6s.  The jets are at the far end of the field and always seem isolated to me.  However, more fun can be had walking through the hangars for the Sport, Bi-Plane and Formula One classes.  Here you will see small teams of people beavering away on their pride and joy.  With a lot less people coming through, you can get a lot more access to what they are doing.

wpid8116-C59F3670.jpgWhen it comes down to it though, the racing is what it is all about.  Shooting from the pits and the stands is fine and it gives a certain perspective on the races but shooting from the pylons is something else.  Being right inside the turn as aircraft zip by at high speed and low altitude is really impressive.  Sometimes you want to just stand and watch rather than see it all through a viewfinder.  However, the races are not long and, if you have a variety of shots that you are looking for, you have to get them quickly.

wpid8140-C59F5525-Edit.jpgMoreover, sometimes you need to get in the groove.  The slower types are easier to calibrate yourself for but the jets and the Unlimiteds are really motoring and you don’t have much time to get in practice.  You may want shots of everything but there are certain planes that you know are going to be required for coverage and whether you get them looking good, in good light and sharp in the brief windows available is a combination of practice and luck – plenty of the latter in my case!

wpid8136-AU0E6689.jpgIt is a fun event to be at and one that will leave you pretty exhausted.  Getting there early for the sunrise lighting and being around to get whatever opens up at the end of the day followed by downloading everything and cataloging it before cleaning your gear up – that dust gets everywhere – charging anything that needs charging and also remembering to eat and suddenly the sleep feels awfully short.  It’s only a few days though.  Is there somewhere else you would rather be?

Kankakee Powerboat Nationals

wpid8181-AU0E6147.jpgMy friend Joel has introduced me to many things that are fun to shoot.  One of them is powerboat racing and the Nationals at Kankakee are particularly good fun to watch.  Taking place on the Kankakee River, it is a great location for spectators since you can be on either side of the river and still be close to the action.  With the boats screaming up and down the river, they are close to you a lot of the time and you feel really involved with the action.

wpid8173-C59F8549.jpgThere are a variety of classes of boat taking part.  The engines in use also determine the class so the same boat can race in different classes with different engines bolted on the back.  Straight line speed of the boats is impressive but I find the cornering to be even better.  They hit the corners at speed and then just turn.  They seem to cut into the water and turn in no distance at all.  They throw up some spray and then blast down the next straight.

wpid8183-AU0E6595.jpgThe races are fast and furious and the action means that you can be shooting almost constantly.  In fact, that was exactly what I was doing.  So many shots.  After a couple of races, I realized I needed to pace myself or I would end up running out of cards before the day was out.  Even so, I still ended up with an awful lot of shots to go through.  Combined with a bunch of other events shortly afterwards, it meant it took me quite a while to get through the whole shoot.  However, I have managed to narrow it down a bit and these shots are hopefully a good summary of the day.

Our Window Cleaning

wpid7694-IMG_1677.jpgSlightly strange to manage to get more than one post out of window cleaning but that is exactly what I am doing.  I mentioned in my earlier post about the ways in which buildings have their windows cleaned.  Our building used ropes with guys abseiling down them.  I was working at my desk when they came by.  I wasn’t prepared but I grabbed my phone and got a couple of shots.  Here is the view of the guys at work from another guy at work.

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Up Close and Personal with an Enstrom

wpid7632-C59F4039.jpgI was visiting a helicopter operator as part of an article that I am working on at the moment.  Unconnected with the subject I was covering are some other operations that they undertake including some flying training activities.  One of the customers was converting onto the Enstrom while I was there so I took the time to get some shots.

wpid7634-C59F4070.jpgThe Enstrom is a cute looking machine to my eye.  The shape of the fuselage is emphasized by getting as close as you can to it.  The best place to be was low and just off the pad.  I was in a safe spot where I was and I knew the capabilities of those in control so was happy to get the shot.  The hardest thing about shooting here is that the downwash is strong so holding steady is tricky.

wpid7636-AU0E0517.jpgWhen the sortie was over, they came back and taxied low across the site so I managed to grab a few more shots.  What better way to spend time on a lovely sunny day?

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Kemper Window Cleaning

wpid7666-AU0E7264.jpgThe window cleaning in Chicago is done one of two ways.  Some buildings have cradles that are hung from frames on the roof in which the guys can stand while they clean the windows.  Others involve ropes being hung from the roof with the guys abseiling down the side of the building cleaning the windows as they go.

wpid7668-AU0E7272.jpgI was working at my desk when I saw a crew cleaning the Kemper building’s windows being cleaned.  The guys looked very small against the side of such a large building.  As I shot them with a longer lens, the building became more abstract and the individuals looked even more remote.  It looked good to me so I grabbed a few shots before returning to my work.

Lightning

wpid7684-C59F6538.jpgWhen we first moved to Chicago, we had a lot of storms that came through the city which resulted in some great lightning displays.  For some reason, the number of great storms we had in the city decreased in recent years.  You could watch them come through on the weather radar but they tended to go either north or south of downtown.  However, recently we got a bit lucky.

wpid7688-C59F6706.jpgA storm came through that lasted a long time and produced a steady stream of lightning.  At first, I thought it was going to finish quickly and, by the time I could get my camera set up, it would all be over.  However, as we sat and watched, the storm continued to be a steady stream of big lightning bolts all around us.

wpid7692-C59F6909.jpgFinally, I decided it was too good to miss so I went and grabbed the camera, the tripod and the intervalometer.  I set the rig up in one room to take a steady stream of shots and then retreated to the other room.  In days gone by I have had the camera with the cable release and spent my time pressing the release as soon as the previous shot finished.  Now I set up the exposure and set the intervalometer for one second more than the exposure.  There is still a small window when the lightning might strike without the shutter open but it covers almost everything.  Plus, I don’t have to do anything.

wpid7682-C59F6503.jpgThen it is just a question of downloading the shots when the storm is over and running through to see what lightning I caught.  Fortunately, there was a lot of lightning but not much rain so the lightning did not flare out the moisture in the air and I didn’t get rain drops on the window to ruin things.  The result?  A bunch of interesting looking lightning shots.  I was happy…

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Farewell Chicago

After nearly ten years of living in Chicago, it is time to move on.  Nancy and I are moving to California and have said goodbye to our home for the last decade.  It is a shame to go but some new adventures await us where we are heading.  The blog will now have to be propped up with images of new cities.

I hope you have enjoyed the bits of Chicago I have shared with you as much as I have enjoyed being here.  A few stories from the city have yet to make it onto the blog so will show up in weeks to come.  Hopefully I will have enough new source material where I am going to keep adding new stuff.  Stay tuned…