Category Archives: photo

Smoke the Tires and Make Them Shiny

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I was photographing some evening arrivals at Vancouver and, as I went through the shots afterwards, I got to see some detail on the tires that I had not noticed before.  The tires’ surface has a matt finish as you would expect of rubber.  When they hit the runway they go from zero rotation to very fast rotation extremely quickly.  The friction that causes this rapid run up scrubs a bit from the surface of the tire making the familiar smoke.

What I didn’t know is that the heat changes the appearance of the surface of the tires.  They suddenly become very shiny.  In these shots you can see wheels of a 777 just before and just after contact.  Also there is a shot from an A321 where you can see some of the tires have touched down and others haven’t.  Only with the low sum angle was this obvious.

Floatplanes from the Space Needle

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While the Space Needle is a great place to view the city of Seattle, it is also good for seeing floatplanes.  Lake Union is a base for many floatplane operations and the routes take the planes close to the Needle.  On the day we were there, the wind was quite strong from the south so the planes were water taxiing to the other end of the lake before taking off.  We had quite a procession with a stream takeoff from a couple of them.

Once airborne, the commenced a turn towards Elliott Bay which took them just north of us and pretty close.  I wasn’t well set up to get shots but I managed to get a few.  I tried my best to shoot through the gaps between the glass panels but sometimes I shot through the glass which was surprisingly good.  You get the feeling of being air to air, even while standing on something solid.

A Couple of A350s (One is Closer Than the Other)

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The A350 is becoming a lot more widespread now.  China Airlines has been flying them in to Vancouver for a while.  I actually shot one last year on approach but it was coming in from the sea on the opposite runway near sunset so it is a tiny spec in the distance!  This time I got one coming in a bit closer.  The sun was getting low so the conditions were turning into something very nice.  I touched down right in front of me with the sun pretty much on the nose.

It wasn’t the only A350 that day.  Lufthansa also operated one in but it arrived before I got across the border.  It did depart while I was there but departures are from the opposite runway so it was a bit far away.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t much distortion in the air and I was able to get a reasonable view of it although not something that would have much use.  The fleet will only grow so there will be more opportunities to get the German jet.

Tourist Boat in the Lock

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While watching a bunch of leisure craft heading through the locks at Ballard, a tour boat was coming from the opposite direction and was fed into the smaller lock.  I headed across to watch it come into the lock.  It was a pretty snug fit.  All of the people onboard were out on the deck watching the lock process.  I was watching them watching us.  They were below me when the boat entered the lock but, once the water level was up, they were looking down at us on the lock side.

Dreamlifter at the Other End

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When planes are arriving at Paine Field from the north, I am usually up near Future of Flight.  However, I was down at the south end when a Dreamlifter came in.  They used the full length of the runway and turned on to the taxiway when they reached the end. This meant I got a good chance to shoot the plane from a place I had not done before.  The weather was overcast which actually helped to show some of the textures associated with the modifications that the base 747-400 had received.

Stadium Construction Update

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A previous post showed the start of construction of the new stadium in LA.  When I was on that trip, my arriving flight had passed right by the construction site but I didn’t have a camera to hand at the time.  I made another LA trip more recently and, this time, I had a camera at hand as we made our final approach.  Obviously the construction process has moved on a bit but there is still plenty to be done.  Maybe I will make some more trips and get further updates in the future.

Don’t Float Too Long, I’m Using the Big Lens!

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Mark had pointed me to a good spot at Vancouver for evening arrivals when the summer sun has come around more to the north.  I trudged to the top of the “hill” lugging my gear with me as I didn’t know exactly what to expect and what lenses would work.  Consequently, I brought a selection with me.  It turned out that the 500 was good for a lot of shots but, once the jets got closer to me, it was too much.  For a wide-body, it was definitely too much but a narrow-body was okay until after touchdown – usually!  An Air Canada A321 in the new colors came down the approach but he flared a little high and floated. He was getting closer and closer and the viewfinder was rapidly filling.  The touchdown of the wheels happened just before bits of the airframe were cut off.  This shot is exactly as it came out of the camera.  Good lesson for some of the later arrivals.

Space Needle Rehabilitation

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At some point last year I was driving downtown in Seattle and I realized that the Space Needle had changed.  A scaffolding arrangement had gone up around the saucer at the top of the needle and it seemed to be fully enclosed.  I figured that a rehab program was underway but I guess I don’t see enough of the local news to have found out how much they were updating.  With my mum coming to visit, I was hoping that they would have concluded the project before she came since a Space Needle visit was going to be on the cards.

Memorial Day must have been the target for getting things ready because, shortly before she arrived, things started getting opened up around the top.  Part of the scaffolding was still there but it was getting a lot more open.  I thought we would be in good shape.  It turns out we were but they are certainly not yet finished.  The wire fencing at the deck level has been replaced with glass screens.  These lean out so you can look straight down.  There are glass benches which means you can lean back on the glass – something that certainly seems to upset a few visitors.

Meanwhile, construction work continues.  The level inside the viewing deck is still undergoing a lot of work.  The restaurant downstairs is not yet open but I assume these will all get sorted out as summer progresses.  I was a little worried that the glass screens would impede photography.  The old wire fence provided clear access.  However, there are gaps between the panels that you can shoot through.  A big lens might not fit but my mirrorless did fine.  We shall have more visitors so I will get to see how the whole thing looks when it is finished I suspect.