Tag Archives: photo

Trumpeting Over the Sound of the Surf

Do you ever see an advertising image of someone doing something artistic outdoors and you think to yourself, “No-one ever does anything like that. It’s so contrived.” How about a guy standing on a rocky outcrop above the pounding surf playing the trumpet? That is exactly what we came across on the shore in Santa Cruz. This guy was just standing out there playing his trumpet. What a strange thing to see. It did sound pretty good though. He was a pretty decent player!

Weapons School F-35s

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The local Nellis traffic gets a bit restricted by the exercise traffic when Red Flag is underway. Get a mission in during the morning or wait for the gap between the afternoon and the evening evolutions to get airborne. For those of us outside, they provide some additional aircraft to shoot. They may also give some variety in types (although given how few types there are these days, not a lot). Before the F-35 becomes ubiquitous in service and replaces the multiple F-16 units that currently participate, it is something a bit different.

The Weapons School has a bunch of F-35A jets now. The first ones to arrive at Nellis were OT jets for operational test and evaluation. Now the Weapons School is using them to develop tactics and employment. The lines of the jets are a bit different from the Marine Corp F-35Bs that I shot at a previous exercise. Without the lift fan, the back of the airframe is smoother while the canopy is blended into the spine in a different way that enhances visibility and fits with the different profile. The jets were pretty active while I was there so I managed to get a few shots. I had seen them during previous visits but, when on base we had been barred from shooting them and, while off base, I had always managed to be in the wrong place to get them. While I am currently pleased to have got some shots, I will soon be used to seeing them around all over the place.

Roche Harbor

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Roche Harbor used to be a lime production site. A couple of the old lime kilns are still in place although no longer operational. However, now the focus has been on transforming it in to a tourist and residential destination. There is a hotel, shops and restaurants. Plots of land are being developed into residences and there is a large marina. The place is picturesque enough but it is a bit isolated from the rest of the island. It had a bit of a feel of the sort of town in which everything is controlled by one company and the rules must be followed. Maybe I am being unfair but that is how it seemed to me. We walked around a bit to see what was on offer but we were soon on our way again.

Late Gear Down for FedEx

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Oakland is a big hub for FedEx and they have a lot of aircraft movements through the airport on a normal day. While its use in passenger service is pretty much done, the MD-11 is still a regular on the freight circuit and FedEx is by far the largest operator. When walking along the shore in Hayward, I saw a couple of MD-11s come in. Normally, the jets are configured for landing by the time they come over you in Hayward. However, one MD-11 seemed to be coming in with a little more urgency. As it approached me, it had flaps deployed but no gear. Then, as it came over, the gear started to travel. There is a reasonable distance to go to the airport so I am not suggesting that the approach was not stabilized at the right time but it was a little late.

Devils Slide Exits the Fog

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When my mum was visiting, I thought it would be a good idea to take her to Devil’s Slide to walk along the coastal trail. We drove out there and, coming across the bay we went into some pretty thick fog. I was tempted to bail on the plan at that point but we decided to keep going and see how things were. Even as we were on Highway 1, it was still foggy. It really didn’t look like a good idea at all. The best bet for turning around was at the parking for the trail so we went there anyway. It still looked bad but we got out and decided to take a look. The sun felt like it was trying to poke through the overcast so we took a chance.

Turns out we were lucky. As we walked along the trail, the sun was burning through and the view was opening up beneath us. There was still a lot of cloud around but it seemed to be receding from us as we walked. Equally importantly, the conditions meant there was little wind unlike my previous visit when I felt like I could get blown off my feet at some times.

We walked most of the trail and then headed back. It was a great time to be up there and the waves crashing below us looked great. The whole time, I was only shooting with my phone. I hadn’t anticipated the walk working out so I had left the main camera in the car while we checked things out. Instead, we kept going. I was shooting in RAW for the first time on the phone and that will get a post of its own in due course. It turned out our timing was really good. Once we were back and driving up the coast, the cloud started to drift back in again. I think we got rather lucky.

100th Anniversary Boeing by Alaska

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Alaska Airlines makes a big deal about being an “All Boeing” airline (which I assume does not count the Horizon Q400s and the Skywest Embraers). With Boeing celebrating their 100^th anniversary, Alaska put some special markings on one of their jets. I was wondering where this jet was operating so I could shoot it but I lost track of it for a while. Then, imagine my surprise when it happened to be at SFO when I was there for something else. It lined up for departure early in the day when the light was best. Thanks Alaska!

Stormy Santa Cruz

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The Pacific Coast is picturesque at any time. Add into the mix a decent swell and things start to look really cool. We took a trip to Santa Cruz while my mum was staying and the waves were larger than we have seen on any of our previous visits. The waves were running up to the shore and crashing against the rocks in a very dramatic way. This wasn’t a stormy day. There was some wind but the sun was out and it was a very pleasant temperature. However, something out in the ocean was a bit more active and it had driven the big waves towards the shore.

Not only were the waves crashing into the rocks along the shore, they were also crashing into each other. As one wave hit the shore, it would reflect back out to see. There it would meet the next wave coming in. Waves go in phases with times of small waves interspersed with times of big waves. (An old Navy helicopter pilot friend of mine – used to landing on pitching decks – said they come in sevens. I don’t know whether this is accurate but it seems about right.) When a couple of big waves were together, the impact of the reflecting wave on the incoming wave was pretty dramatic with the water shooting vertically in the air. I can stand and watch waves all day without any trouble. Each one is slightly different and they are so full of power. They are mesmerizing.

Eric’s Clipper

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Eric Presten is a guy who spends his career photographing other people’s aircraft. He is not so often the subject of the photo. Dave Leininger was writing an article on Piper Clippers and wanted some shots of Eric’ aircraft to illustrate the piece along with some details of the modifications it has and how Eric uses it. I was up at Sonoma Skypark on the day that Dave was visiting and he kindly allowed me along on the photo flight. A Bonanza was the camera ship so I took the second spot shooting over Dave while he was seated on the floor.

Dave had a publication date for his feature so I embargoed these shots until his piece had gone live which it now has. It was late in the afternoon so the light was getting pretty good. The Clipper is a cool little plane and Eric is used to formation work so makes a great pilot for bringing the plane in close. In addition, his plane has a roof that is modified to include a transparency which means he has good visibility upwards. This makes some shots looking down on the plane possible since he can maintain visibility of the camera ship safely while below us.

Shooting air to air is so much fun. It is impossible to avoid stopping shooting every once in a while and just looking outside to see the other plane so close to you. Of course, you are there for a reason so don’t spend too much time staring out of the door. However, never lose the enjoyment of doing something cool.

Stanley Park Totem Poles

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The native heritage is strong in the Pacific Northwest. Stanley Park has an area at Brockton Point that displays a variety of totem poles. I am not sure of the age of these poles but they are kept in good condition and look great. I understand many are replicas as the originals have been sent for preservation but others are more recent additions to the park. Getting pictures of them is slightly tricky. Something tall and thin does not necessarily make for a dynamic picture. Instead, I focused on some of the details of the poles rather than the whole thing although getting a view of how many of them there were did seem to make sense.

Aside from the poles, there are portals to the park that welcome the visitors. These caught my eye quite a bit but seemed to get less attention from the other visitors. I guess the totem poles are iconic and so are likely to get the most interest. Supposedly this area is the most visited tourist attraction in British Columbia. I certainly have no reason to doubt that given how many people were there while we were.

Number Two is Cleaner

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This United 747 was flying over the Bay during the Fleet Week display as I posted about in this post. One thing that was very obvious as the aircraft was put through its paces by the crew was that the number two engine seemed to be burning a lot cleaner than the other three. You wouldn’t pay much attention to the exhaust of a jet except when there is a clear discrepancy and, in this case, the number two was so obviously less smoky, I noticed. Maybe it was fresh from overhaul.