Tag Archives: light

PJC-2, What Are You?

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I went to Paine Field to get the Air Tahiti Nui 787 which I wrote about in this post.  As I walked up to Future of Flight, there was an unusual looking plane sitting at the hold running up the engine.  I grabbed some shots of it doing its engine run and then as it lined up and took off.  I couldn’t work out what it was.  I thought it might be a Bellanca but I was wrong.  A search when back at home tells me it is a Harlow PJC-2.

With lovely light, I was hoping to get it when it came back in.  Unfortunately, it timed its return such that it coincided with the arrival of the 787 so they went to the left runway instead of the right.  Never mind.

Sunset on the Mountain Tops

The view from our hotel in Whistler towards the mountains was really pretty but never more so than when the sun was setting.  A couple of evenings I thought I should get a shot but was either elsewhere or too slow.  I did manage to get out there one time though, although I was still a little late.  The shadows were creeping up the lower slopes of the mountains but I still had the nice color on the summits.  The warm, evening light was really appealing and mountains look good at the best of times so this was a great scene to see.

Making Use of the Camera’s Features

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One of the things that I was glad to get when I last changed camera bodies was the ability to have exposure compensation while shooting in manual mode.  You might wonder why this is a useful thing to have but I was shooting a couple of time recently when it was useful.  Sadly, the first time I didn’t think to use it.  The second I did though.  This is the result of shooting in dark conditions when the light levels are changing quite a bit.

The problem in the first case was that I was shooting in aperture priority mode.  The light was low, so I went to auto ISO to allow it to adjust.  The camera looks to get a shutter speed that is related to the focal length of the lens you are using.  I was shooting a landing aircraft and, when I was out at the full length of the zoom, it kept shutter reasonably high.  However, as the plane got closer and I zoomed out, the camera dropped the shutter speed down which meant the panning resulted in a lower keeper rate.  I should have foreseen this and I was annoyed with myself.

The next time, I thought through the issue a bit better.  A gray sky meant that I needed to have some positive exposure compensation.  I went to manual mode, set the shutter speed and aperture that I wanted but included the exposure compensation.  Then I set auto ISO.  Now I had the ISO adjusting to get the combination I wanted while including exposure comp.  On my old bodies, this was not possible.  The result was the exposure I wanted with ISO adjusting throughout the sequence.  When conditions are not great and changing quickly, this is an approach I can highly recommend.

BA 747 Formation with a Cessna?

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The path of jets into SeaTac from the north takes them right over Boeing Field.  Sometimes, when you are watching something on one path, something going into the other field gets in your field of view.  Either that or a British Airways Boeing 747-400 decided to sneak up on a Cessna.  Knowing some guys who fly for them, I wouldn’t rule it out.

Coolest Landing Light

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AE7I5266.jpgWhile walking along the ramp at Davis Monthan I was looking for different shots of the A-10s that were arriving for Hawgsmoke.  The lights on the nosewheel of the A-10s have been replaced with an LED based solution.  This is clearly not the original light.  It actually looked to me like it was a circuit board rather than a cluster of LEDs.  I didn’t see it lit up but I don’t doubt that it’s bright.  I just think it looks rather cool.

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Optica Flashback

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0701.jpgA few outlets have recently been covering the reemergence of the Edgley Optica.  In the 80s, his was an aircraft that was coming in to production.  Designed as an observation platform, it is a rather interesting looking airframe.  A bulbous fuselage sits ahead of the wing and the powerplant is mounted in the rear driving a ducted fan.  The unrestricted view is supposed to make the aircraft ideal for seeing what is going on below.  Supposedly, the ducted fan makes for a low noise signature which helps the “stealthiness” of the aircraft.

Scan 2-1603.jpgThe ownership of the design moved through a few entities and the program experienced some setbacks including a crash and a fire that destroyed a number of in production aircraft.  Ultimately, the whole thing sputtered to a stop.  A few airframes are still in use around the world but John Edgley, the original designer, has bought back the rights and is now trying to relaunch the project.  I saw the aircraft at Farnborough back at the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s.  These shots were taken then.  I really would quite like to track down some of the currently active airframes.

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Rainbow Fireboat

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AU0E4281.jpgDuring the Parade of Ships for San Francisco Fleet Week, the first warship was led by a fireboat from the City. It sprayed water from its hoses to provide a focal point to the parade. As it got closer to us, the angle of the light and the mist from the fire hoses resulted in a clear rainbow forming in front of the fireboat. It looked pretty cool and I am not sure the photos really do it justice. However, here is a shot to show you pretty much what we saw.

Interesting Landing Technique

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AU0E8322.jpgThis guy landed at Half Moon Bay while we were there.  I have to admit I thought I was taking pictures for the accident investigation at first.  However, he maintained this pose all along the runway until he turned off and apparently had done it earlier.  I guess he had a lot of elevator authority.  However, whether it is a good idea is a very different question.

Marsh Birds in SF Bay

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wpid9997-C59F2835.jpgI have photographed the birds on San Francisco Bay quite frequently. One image that I have seen many times there is hard to reproduce through still photography. That is the sight of a flock of birds wheeling around as one and catching the light on their wings as they do so. It is quite impressive to watch as the flock will flying in a direction for a moment with the light bouncing from their wings before turning suddenly and almost disappearing from view as the wings become shaded and angled away from the viewer.

wpid9995-C59F2830.jpgThe pictures here are a couple that show the difference between the two extremes. Sadly, without video, I cannot show exactly how it appears but the still make it clear just how much the visibility of the birds changes as the angle to the light varies.