Author Archives: Rob

Doggy Antics

Our friends in Wichita have a great pair of dogs. I have always struggled to get good shots of them. They can look very peaceful and cute but, as soon as I try to get into position to get a shot, they immediately come and investigate. Repeating that process never fails to interest them so the shots never are made. I must have grabbed tons of shots of them on this trip, most of which went straight in the trash. however, I did get a couple that were okay so here are the two of them at the best I can manage.

Keeper of the Plains

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It has been a while since we last went to Wichita in Kansas. We have good friends who live there and who we have visited before. However, they have been on the move a lot in recent years and then we had to cancel a trip when things got a little hectic. However, we finally got back down there again. It was a great visit so thanks for having us guys. While we were there, we took a walk along the Arkansas River. Opinion appears to vary on how to pronounce this river depending on which state you are in but the joy of writing rather than speaking is that you won’t know which way I said it so you can’t tell me I am wrong!

There is a split in the river near where we parked and there are a pair of bridges and an island with a large sculpture on it. This is called the Keeper of the Plains. It is a very impressive steel sculpture of a Native American with his arms raised to the skies. Given plenty of time, I would have come back and seen it later in the day. I am not sure if it is illuminated at night but it certainly was very impressive during daylight hours. If you are in the area, do take a look.

Museum of Flight

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The end of the field trip for the ISAP Symposium was a visit to the Museum of Flight. Located at Boeing Field, this is a great museum and worth a visit whether you are an aviation nut or not. It has an impressive collection of aircraft and they are nicely displayed. Inside are some impressive machines including the always attractive M-12, a variant of the Blackbird family that was intended to launch high speed drones (a program that was not ultimately successful and was cancelled).

Outside is a further selection of great airframes including a British Airways Concorde, the prototype Boeing 747, a Boeing 727 in American Airlines colors and a NASA Boeing 737 which may (or may not) be a prototype. There are others too but these stand out. They also have a Space Shuttle crew trainer which, since it is not an original orbiter, is actually more accessible to the visitors. It was not a long visit so we had to move pretty quickly to get around but a good time nonetheless.

Heritage Flight Foundation Visit

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The field trip during the ISAP Symposium was held at Paine Field in Everett. We were hosted by the Heritage Flight Foundation and its owner John Sessions and they were excellent hosts. (I visited once before and you can see that post here.) Aside from the selection of aircraft still in the hangar where we were set up, they had arranged some photo sorties with some of their aircraft. The B-25, Grumpy, was the camera ship for a few photographers and the P-51 Mustang was the target. A T-6 also went up as a second camera ship. Each photo position was a paying ride with the T-6 obviously being the premium slot.

I had decided not to take the ride. It was not cheap although certainly not bad value for money. As the weather was not looking great, I wondered whether I had chosen wisely. As it was, the people who did go up did get some great images. The area certainly can provide some nice backdrops and the light, while flat, did not hurt things. However, even as someone on the ground, the flights seemed over very fast so I imagine for those on board, it was gone all to quickly.

For those of us on the ground, we got treated to the departure and arrivals of the aircraft plus a few passes of the P-51 and T-6 which were a lot of fun. Gloomy skies made it all a little flat looking but still a great sight. Being able to be close to the aircraft during the start up, taxi out and return was certainly worthwhile. The following day they were having a public event and I hope the weather improved for the large numbers they were expecting.

Bremerton Ferry

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I have been to Seattle many times but this trip gave me an opportunity to do something that I haven’t done there before. My friend Hayman and I were off to visit a buddy of Hayman’s who lived over near Bremerton. From Seattle you can either drive around or take the ferry. We decided to take the ferry. I have watched the Washington State Ferries go back and forth across Elliott Bay and Puget Sound before but had never been on one.

Having grown up on an island, ferry trips were a pretty regular feature of life. It was all rather familiar although the passengers were a different crowd. These boats seem to be predominantly commuter boats. People stayed in the cars to have a nap and the foot passengers upstairs also seemed to be zonked out in large numbers. Having lots of people around sleeping or reading reminded me a lot of my days commuting by train in to London.

Consequently, as I wandered around taking pictures and looking at new things, I was very conscious of looking like a total tourist. Since that is exactly what I was, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised! Still, tourists never look cool and trying not to look like one is something I normally try to do. Spend most of your life in places populated by tourists and you certainly don’t want to be confused for one!

Pulling out of Seattle in the afternoon means the light was shining on the city. It was still early enough in the day to not be the best light but it was still an attractive sight. As we moved away from the city, we went through a narrow passage to get to Bremerton itself. The shoreline was populated with lots of nice looking places. I imagine they are quite popular residences. It really did remind me of the Isle of Wight in many ways – quite a throwback for me.

NAS Whidbey Island

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The day before the ISAP Symposium kicked off, there was a smaller field trip to NAS Whidbey Island. Located on an island (surprisingly enough) north of Seattle, it was a bit of a journey to get there with a bus ride and ferry trip to get us there. As with all military bases, you never quite know what will be going on when you get there. They can be a hive of activity or have no flying at all. We did okay on this trip.

First we stopped in the hangar of an E/A-18G Growler unit. One of the officers was their to show us around and answer any questions. There was also one jet in the hangar that we could shoot. We then migrated outside to see some jets launching or coming back from trips. Then it was time to head up to the tower. We got to hang out for a short while on the catwalk outside the tower cab. This gives you a great view over the ramp area and the field as a whole. We had a couple of movements while we were there but then things got pretty quiet which would have been a disappointment for the second half of our group who were up second.

Lunch was served in the officers’ club which included some great mementos of operations and types passed. After that is was back on the journey home. A good little trip and a nice time to hang out with some folks I hadn’t seen for a while and others who were new to meet.

Under Your Nose at King County

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Hayman and I had a few hours to kill after we arrived in Seattle and before we had a ferry to catch (of which more in another post). We decided to stop off at Beoing Field to have a look around. We checked out a number of places including the excellent pilot shop they have and ended up near the end of the runway. I had looked at this location on a previous visit but not shot there. A 737 was up on a test flight and due in soon so we decided to hang around.

Before the 737 appeared, we did have a couple of corporate jets show up. Identifying them from underneath is a little hard to do, even for those of us with far too familiar a knowledge of this things. However, I was more interested in getting a slightly different shot from underneath. With power lines nearby, there was a relatively short period of time in which you could get a clear shot.

The 737 showed up shortly afterwards. We did get to shoot it as it passed overhead but I did remember to stop shooting at one point and just look. The view through a wide lens tends to make everything look small. However, having something the size of a 737 right over your head is very impressive and you need to stop taking pictures and just have a look every once in a while.

Brickworld 2013

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Once a year a Lego convention is held in the Chicago area. It used to be up in Wheeling and I have blogged about it here. This year they moved to a new venue in Schaumburg. We went along again. Some of the creations that people put together for this event are quite stunning. Their creativity and ingenuity are very impressive. Not all of the stuff suits me but I am cognizant of the skill, even for those that I won’t spend much time checking out.

I am not a Lego builder but my family has a few enthusiasts. I hope they enjoy a far larger gallery than usual.

Lion

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Getting lion pictures at the zoo is not too tricky. Getting them doing anything requires a bit more patience. The middle of the day is not when they are terribly active. Sure enough, when we first passed by, they were both asleep at the back of the enclosure. When we came back, the lioness was on a different spot and the male was awake in the middle of the enclosure. If you have ever watched lions, you will know that they roar in a way that makes them look like they are blowing smoke rings. Lots of teeth in the shot are usually the result of a yawn.

That was what I was waiting for. A sleepy lion is bound to yawn before too long. Unfortunately, lions are not like people and they do not yawn sympathetically if you do. Trust me, I have tried this. Either lions are not supposed to do this or they are sociopaths like people who don’t yawn when prompted. Imagining a lion as a sociopath is probably not that much of a stretch really. Anyway, patience was rewarded and we got a yawn. Lots so teeth! Thank you…

Dolphins

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My zoo membership was recently renewed so a trip to Brookfield was in order. We included a visit to the underwater viewing gallery for the dolphins. This can be a bit hit and miss depending on where the dolphins are and how much they want to show themselves. This time turned out to be a bit different.

One of the dolphins seemed a lot less interested in swimming around and far more fascinated by us. It was up at the end of the gallery hanging out by the window. I thought moving up would be the trigger for it moving off but went anyway. I was wrong. Instead, I ended up having a pretty amazing interaction with the dolphin. It seemed to enjoy having its picture taken and kept coming up to the window, resting its blowhole against the glass, blowing some bubbles and making lots of clicking sounds.

No point in overestimating these things but I really felt like it was talking to me. I was captivated and it seemed to have no boredom for this so we spent a lot of time like this. It was very cool. The pictures may not be the most technically accurate. Shooting through thick glass into water is problematic and the focus on the eye is not always there but, frankly, I don’t care. This dolphin was looking straight at me for ages and these images remind me of just how cool that was.