Tag Archives: california

The Fun of Finding Old Shots

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I was recently searching for a shot for a project and was having a hard time finding it.  I knew roughly when it should have been as it was when shooting at SFO during a visit.  I scrolled through to the day and found the shoot and realized that I hadn’t keyworded the photos from that trip.  Consequently, the search had failed to run them up.  I therefore spent a little while running through everything and adding keywords.

This proved to be way more fun than key wording usually is.  I hadn’t looked through these shots after taking them and, while it was a pretty standard sort of collection that a day at SFO would provide, it was all new stuff.  I was enjoying looking st stuff I had forgotten I had taken.  These shots are just a few from that day out.

United Retro Jet

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I once got to shoot the United retro colors on the A320 while I was at SFO up the tower but I had not got a decent shot of it actually flying.  When it showed up on approach to SFO, I was pretty pleased.  Sadly, the cloud cover was not cooperating terribly well.  Only when it had got past me did it pop into better conditions.  It was okay when further out on final but neither of these were too helpful.  One day!

Chino Backlot

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The Planes of Fame museum at Chino is a fantastic place to visit for any aviation enthusiast.  Many hangars are open and they are filled with all sorts of interesting aircraft, restored either to static or flying condition.  However, they are not all that is there.  There is a backlot in which other aircraft are stored awaiting either their own restoration or for them to provide parts for the restoration of something else.  Some great looking vintage aircraft here including jets that it would be so good to see back in the air.  I decided to dedicate this post to some shots of these less glamorous residents.

Thomas Cook A330

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The Thomas Cook A330s do come in to Seattle and I got some distant shots of one once – it was actually one of the Voyagers that is leased out by Air Tanker – but they were not much use.  SFO proved to be a better hunting ground and the light even played ball.  This is not a Voyager – just a standard A330 – but the Thomas Cook colors popped a bit better this time around.

Asiana A350

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During the summer season, Asiana was flying their new A350s in to SeaTac.  I did get some more distant shots but nothing of significance.  With the introduction of the winter schedule, they changed to a lower capacity type.  However, while I was at SFO, I was able to shoot one of the A350s as they continue to run there in the off season.  The light was quite nice as it came in so I was pleased to get a shot.  They will soon be pretty common but, for now, it was a nice catch.

Nice Light on Korean 777

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Korean Air 777s are hardly a rarity so would not normally warrant a blog post.  However, this one arrived at a time when the light seemed to be particularly appealing and I was pleasantly surprised by the shot.  I figured it could have a blog post on what is probably a cold and rainy winter’s day.

Virgin Atlantic Multiple Crosses at SFO

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My last time shooting at SFO, I got shots of a Virgin Atlantic 787 arriving.  Crossing shots are not unusual at SFO as the jets on approach will often have departing jets in the background.  The Virgin jet had this.  It also had a second crossing shot a little earlier on the approach.  A jet heading over the bay to pick up the approach further down was directly behind the 787 just after it passed Coyote Point.

Terminal View from the Shuttle

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I was in San Francisco for a work visit a little while back.  I was picking up a rental car so took the shuttle that runs around the terminal areas and then out to the rental car facility.  This trip gives you a view of the apron areas by each terminal.  As you drop away from the central terminal area, you get a good view back across the ramp area predominantly used by United but also other Star Alliance carriers.  I grabbed some shots from the shuttle to give an overview of this area that is otherwise obscured from view.

Pelican Formations

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When we lived in the Bay Area, I got used to the pelicans being around. Only when you move away do they suddenly become interesting again. I used to enjoy the formations of pelicans touring the bay and to see a bunch of them heading towards us at Fisherman’s Park was fun. They approached us head on before curving around the shoreline and away. Their low level flying is so effortless, I become jealous of their ability to float around the bay with freedom.