Tag Archives: photo

Stellar Sea Lions Taking It Easy

Sealions are not small creatures when you get close to them. However, the ones you more normally come across have a larger relative. The Stellar Sealion is a big beast of a creature. The females are large and the males are huge. When we used to visit Ano Nuevo, you could see the Stellars out on the island. What looked like large rocks were actually the males. These things are big.

A colony of them was hanging out on some rocks we came across during our trip to go whale watching. They were basking on the rocks or swimming in the waters nearby. The boat was able to get quite close to the rocks so we could see the sealions out enjoying the sun. Seals and sealions seem to be very happy when they are dozing on the rocks in the sun. We weren’t close enough to disturb them but we were close enough to get a good look.

Alaska Livery A320s – Something’s Missing

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With Alaska Airlines taking over Virgin America, there is a lot of repainting to be done of the fleet. I have seen a few of the newer A321neos around in Alaska colors (mostly special schemes) but I hadn’t had any luck with the A320s in the traditional Alaska scheme. A visit to SFO was bound to change that given that this was the base for Virgin America. Sure enough I got to shoot a few of the jets in their new livery. I have to say, I think it looks quite good on the A320. Of course, there is something of the livery that is missing. None of the Airbus jets carries the “Proudly All Boeing” graphic. None of the Embraers do either although that might soon be something they can add before too long!

Refuge on Your Own Island

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There is an island out in Puget Sound which was once identified for development. Plots of land were sold to investors and the idea was for housing to be built. However, the whole thing fell apart. The reason for it not working out may have been related to the lack of a water supply or that the island is being eroded away and won’t last too long. Whatever the reasoning, the whole plan was shelved. However, one of the investors did not want to give up. He insisted on staying and legal proceedings ensued. He eventually won and now he lives on the island alone. His house sits up on the bluffs overlooking the water and it looks like quite a pleasant spot. A lonely spot I suspect but still pleasant. He has decorated the plot with some interesting things including a stormtrooper from Star Wars. He was out working on his land as we passed by.

Another FedEx Test Flight

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Our visit to the Boeing Factory Tour at Everett with our visitors not only included the escapees from the hurricane that I covered here but also included the ongoing production test flying activities. The 767 line is only producing freighters and tankers these days and the majority of the freighters have been going to FedEx. This one undertook a test flight while we were there. We saw it head out and, when it returned, it flew a missed approach before landing.

Dams

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Up in the Cascades, there are a bunch of dams. The rivers have been dammed to provide hydroelectric power. The lowest dam was not terribly cool looking but the dams higher up the pass looked a lot more like you would expect a dam to look. One of them was easy to see although it was deep in shade while the rest of the scene was very bright. HDR seemed to be the way to go. The last dam we passed was visible from the highway but it was hard to get a clear look at it without some vegetation getting in the way. Time to reach above your head while standing on a rock and using the Live View mode to try and see what you were shooting. Limited success but at least you could see something.

Three Planes per Shot?

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I haven’t shot at Fisherman’s Park before and I am glad Hayman suggested it. The location provides a slightly different perspective on the planes coming in to SFO. It also seems to be the right angle to get lots of planes in one shot. Parallel approaches will give you two but you can also get the aircraft departing off the 01s in the background too. Sadly, they were often in shade as they departed but it still provided some contrasting shots. Then it was just a question of whether you could get two arriving and two departing jets in the same shot or not. Sadly, not this time.

A Little SoCal Shoot As I Head Home

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Half an hour of spare time on my way back to John Wayne Airport so I figured a quick shoot of approaches was worth a shot. It wasn’t going to be the most productive of shoots but why waste an opportunity. There were some regional jets and some airliners while I was there but also a few biz jets showed up. The sun was getting lower so the light was a bit more appealing. Even so, just a few stock shots for possible future use. Two Alaska Embraers came in but they were from different operators, Skywest and Horizon. I know someone who has a preference there (David).

Electric Theme to a Park

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Newhalem’s role in generating power was reflected in the local park. It had a center section that had been designed to emphasize the position that electricity has in the town with the pillars supporting the roof frame and the frame itself having an electrical theme. The big insulators were most obvious but it wasn’t hard to spot other elements too. A rather individual bit of styling and one that appealed to me.

DFW

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Returning from a work trip to Dallas, I was flying out of DFW. I got to the airport in plenty of time so, with a bit of time to kill, I decided to take a ride on the train that runs between the terminals. It makes a loop of the whole airport in both directions. I decided to see what you could see from the train and did a whole loop of the airport.

First, it is not a great photo platform. Aside from shooting through the windows (which were actually not that bad), the stations are not well located for viewing the ramps and, when it has a clearer view, it is moving at speed and is a pretty unsteady base for shooting. There are always reflections too, of course.

DFW is an American hub and that is pretty obvious as you head around the terminals. No shortage of American jets including a few remaining MD-80s and one of the special scheme jets too. The longer view across the gates with the multiple fins was a shot you could get at a number of places. It wasn’t just American though. Obviously other airlines use the airport. It happened that a British Airways 747-400 had pushed as we got there and the train runs around the perimeter of that ramp so we saw it from almost all sides.

If you have a bit of spare time while waiting for a flight at DFW, I would definitely take a ride around the terminals. It is a lot more interesting than sitting waiting at a gate and the food options weren’t great either so take a ride and see what is going on and where people are going to and coming from.

A Stinking Rarity

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Some plants bloom frequently. Others bloom once a year. What is slightly more unusual is a plant that only blooms once every 7-10 years. The Titan Arum is one such plant and an example lives in the Amazon Spheres in Seattle. Purely by coincidence, we happened to visit the Spheres when it was blooming. We had actually missed the peak opening by a day and it was starting to close up again. It had also had a hole cut into the side to allow pollination artificially. But this was a small price to pay for seeing something so unusual.

One feature the plant is known for is a smell of rotting flesh when it is blooming. This is supposed to attract insects that then assist with pollination. There was a bit of an odor but, to be honest, I wasn’t conscious of it being too bad. Maybe there is a peak period of stinkiness and we missed it or maybe the story has been slightly overblown. Either way, it was very lucky that we happened to be there during the blooming process and now we might have to wait a few years before it happens again.