Category Archives: photo

A380 Gear Sequence

The jets approaching SFO have their gear down long before they reach Coyote Point. However, if you look into the distance, you can see them lower the gear somewhere around the San Mateo Bridge. The A380 has a gear sequence that involves the outer gear coming down first followed by the body gear. I figured I would shoot at long range and then animate the sequence. Heat haze was not great but I think it shows the way things work. Maybe in the winter I will try this again and see if I can get a cleaner image.

Camera Profiling

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For all of my previous cameras I have created profiles. When I got the new cameras I decided not to bother and to go with the profiles that are built in to Camera Raw/Lightroom. This was working okay for a while but there were some shots where I felt like the adjustments were having slightly odd effects. It was almost like the files had less adjustability than my old Mark IV files. This didn’t seem likely. I figured I would have a go at creating profiles and see whether that made any difference.

The profiles are relatively easy to create. I have a color card that has twelve different color squares. You take a shot of it in RAW mode. Then comes the slightly annoying step. You have to cover it to a DNG file. Not sure why, since this is all Adobe software, they can’t combine the steps but never mind. Then you open the profiling software. Pull up the DNG file, align the four color dots with the corner color squares and let it do its thing. Choose a name and the profile is saved on your computer where the Adobe software can see it.

It does make a difference. The thing I found most interesting was that the profiles for the two cameras were quite different. It shows up most in the blues for my bodies which, given I shoot aircraft a lot, is no small deal. The shots here are versions of the same images with the default profiles and the new profiles for comparison. Everything else is the same so the difference is purely profile related.

San Jose – The New Way to Europe

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When you live in the Bay Area, all of the flights to interesting overseas destinations go from SFO. However, there is a lot of demand for these flights and SFO is not the most convenient airport for everyone. Oakland has flights from London and Oslo. The other airport that is fighting for business is San Jose. They have recently added flight by Lufthansa and British Airways. This was enough to drag me down there to see what is moving.

San Jose is not a bad airport to shoot at. There are a few locations which give you good options for getting shots of the jets either arriving or departing. On the day I went, Lufthansa were using their A340 in Star Alliance colors. I have to admit I was a touch disappointed because I wanted a Lufthansa jet in house colors. However, there will be another time. I got there later in the day so didn’t see it arrive. However, I was there for departure.

After it had gone, I headed down to the arrival end. There was going to be a fair bit of time before the BA jet arrived so I would see what showed up. That will probably be another post. Eventually, the BA jet showed up on approach. It came down from the coast side so I could see it from a long way out. It turned on approach and then I got. A bunch of shots of it as it came down the approach. The 787-9 is a better proportioned jet than the 787-8. I think both jets are bigger than they appear. Having not tried either out yet, I don’t know what they are like to fly in. However, the BA colors look nice on it. I got the shot I was after and then headed off. At some point, I shall go for the departure shot too. I should do that before the light gets too low!

Swallows are Tricky Little Things

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Plenty of birds have made their way onto the blog over the years. One species that is not a regular feature, though, is the swallow. They have shown up once or twice but the lack of appearances is because they are bloody difficult to photograph when in flight. They are phenomenal flyers. The speed and maneuverability is just amazing but that does make them a touch more difficult to photograph. Also, they are tiny so you need a long lens to get a reasonable shot. That makes tracking them as the zip around even harder.

Along the shoreline in Hayward, there are some channels of water that can be very busy with swallows. I guess the bug population is good so they are able to feed comfortably. They make runs up and down the channel catching anything they can. The repetitive flightpaths make you think it will be easier to get a shot. It is easier – however, easier than impossible is not easy! I did waster some time trying though. I relied on the autofocus a little to see if it would let me take a shot if there was something focused. I did end up getting a few images. None of them are as clear and sharp as I would like but, after the time and number of shots involved, I was actually rather pleased to have ended up with what I had.

Apache over Pinal

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Have you ever been excited to have a lucky break and then felt disappointed by the same thing afterwards? If so, you are like me and you really need help. I was up at Pinal Air Park in the evening after our time on the range at Hawgsmoke. An Apache helicopter was flying around the pattern. I was impressed that it was flying while I was there and grabbed some shots. The Singaporean forces have some Apaches there that they train on. When I looked at the shots, I was hoping that was what I had got. Sadly, it was just a normal US Apache. Why was I so disappointed? No good reason. It was still cool to see one in the nice evening light but you often focus on what might have been. Not healthy!

Biggest Tern I’ve Ever Seen

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Terns are a pretty regular sight when hanging out by the sea. They are prodigious fishers with a seemingly unending appetite. They drift across the water looking down for the next snack. Then they spot something and tuck back the wings as they hit the water hard. I am amazed how often they will dive. They either miss a lot or they can fly when very full. Normally, they don’t appear to be the biggest birds around. While I was out with Roger at Linda Mar, a tern was flying round just below us. This was by far the largest tern I have seen. It was a really big bird. I am not a bird expert so this may not be unusual but we both commented on it. A photo won’t give much impression of size sadly. However, I assure you this thing was big. Maybe he has been eating extra portions of fish!

Sunset Shooting at SFO

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A holiday weekend combined with an early closure of the office meant I had a bit of time to experiment with some things I wanted to try on the new cameras. Normally I don’t want to blow out a whole evening at a weekend but, with a bit of extra time, I decided to see what I could do with shooting aircraft in sunset and really low light conditions. There will be some other posts that look a how the cameras do in very low light/night conditions. However, to get there, I also got some sunset to play with.

At this time of year, sunset is not as good as it will be later. The sun goes too far north late in the day so, instead of getting good light on the jets, you end up with some backlighting. Even so, there are some good chances to get some more delicate light on the planes. You do get a bit too much contrast as the remaining light is on the nose and the fuselage sides are pretty shady but you can get some reasonable results.

I was interested to see how the camera dealt with the light. The use of exposure compensation becomes a bit variable in these conditions. The light starts to get nicely balanced but then you can end up with more brightness in the background with less on the subject. This can make things go a little dark. I found myself playing with the settings quite a bit as I explored how the camera reacted.

Sailing Across the Bay on a Windy Day

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Plenty of my times alongside San Francisco Bay are airplane or wildlife related. You do get to see lots of other things on the bay, though, and on a windy day the sailing is definitely worth a look. Having grown up in a sailing town, I do love to watch sailing, even if I never got into sailing myself. A lot of boats were out on this day. I don’t know whether they were racing officially or just were out testing each other but they were certainly getting some speed on. Watching the sails full of air with the boat healing over dramatically and making good speed is really cool.

Generations of Gulfstreams

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When I am shooting at a major airport, I am always pleased to get some corporate jets. A steady stream of airliners – often from the same airline – is okay but variety spices things up and corporate jets can do that. (NetJets and FlexJet do undermine that variety a little but not too much.) On this occasion, I was treated to a selection of Savannah’s finest products. They didn’t arrival in age related order but I will forgive that.

The first to show up was a G650. Top of the line for Gulfstream, this is a cool looking jet. It is a totally clean sheet design for Gulfstream who have tended to tweak previous jets to bring new capabilities. It looks different and has great performance. (It is also spawning a new generation of smaller – relatively – jets that I look forward to seeing.)

Next were some G450s. A previous generation but still a good performer and something that sells well. The fuselage is clearly Gulfstream but the wings and engines and significant steps forward from their predecessors. Not cutting edge but still something the Gulfstream thinks has appeal.

The last was a G-III. This is really going back a bit. Not a G-IISP but not far off. The fuselage is familiar, the wing similar but the engines are the old Speys and they have none too subtle hushkits fitted to them in order to meet current noise regulations. This is certainly a vintage jet by corporate standards and I was pretty pleased to see one still flying. These are often found now lurking at airports with the signs of lack of use clear to see. Shame we didn’t have an original Gulfstream turboprop but they are rare beasts these days.

Little Lizard – Glad I Didn’t Stand on You

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You do need to watch where you are walking. I was heading along a trail at Hayward Regional Park when I saw something move out of the corner of me eye. Turns out it was a tiny little lizard. Despite having nearly been squashed by me, he didn’t seem too perplexed. I decided to get done on his level for some shots when he didn’t run away. He still hung around. I guess he liked having his photo taken. I decided to leave him alone and continue with my walk.