Author Archives: Rob

Crabs Getting Feisty

Nancy and I were walking along the shore on Lopez Island one Sunday on a trail alongside some marshy areas. We were discussing whether the water was connected to the sea all of the time or only at high tide when I noticed something moving in the shallow water. When I looked closer, I realized that, not only was it a crab, but that there were tons of them. The water was full of them, and they were pretty aggravated.

It didn’t seem to matter what size they were; they were all picking fights with each other. Some of these were brief hit and run type efforts but others seemed to be engaged in battles that were going on for a while. Most were in the water but occasionally they would come out onto the land. One walked right up to my shoe. Spaces under rocks or wood seemed like prime spots with smaller crabs trying to get under there while the larger inhabitants fended them off. It was hilarious to watch once you could see that they were there. I could have spent ages watching them but that wasn’t the purpose of visiting the island, so I left them to their battles.

Black Gulfstreams in the Rain

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Previous posts have shown that I like a bizjet that isn’t painted like all of the others and being painted black is even better. It won’t surprise regular readers, therefore, that when I got to see not one but two black Gulfstreams on one afternoon at Boeing Field, I was quite a happy chappy. The weather was not great, though. It was raining pretty steadily which doesn’t make for ideal conditions. However, it isn’t all bad. Sunny days with black jets can produce some harsh contrast conditions while overcast light is more even and soft so it might not be all bad.

Rain in the shots is still going to be an issue though. Depending on the shutter speed you choose, you may well end up with the raindrops being visible in the images. A bit of tweaking of the settings when processing can boost the contrast a little, but those raindrops are not disappearing. Still, the subject is an interesting one to me and that’s what counts.

Amazon’s Rivian Delivery Trucks

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Amazon became an investor in Rivian, the electric vehicle manufacturer. Part of this investment resulted in Rivian creating a new delivery vehicle for Amazon that is electric. I first became aware of it when watching a Doug DeMuro video but it wasn’t long before they started showing up around here. We do have Amazon’s headquarters here so it shouldn’t be a surprise. I have seen them on the roads a lot but have not been able to get a shot of one because I was driving. Then one showed up at work, so I took a few pictures from my window before it headed off. It took me back to the unusual FedEx delivery vehicles I saw when we lived in Chicago but, of which, I have seen nothing since.

Sabreliner Duo Passing Through

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The large exercise that was taking place in Alaska attracted a lot of unusual types and I have posted about the Hunters and the Northrop Grumman testbed heading up there already. They weren’t the only ones, though. Paine Field had a couple of transients too with a pair of Sabreliner jets heading north. This vintage bizjet is a pretty agile type and Clay Lacy used to display one on the air show circuit. These two had an interesting pod mounted under the front fuselage – presumably for some sort of electronic warfare role. I was able to head up to Paine Field that weekend to get them as they arrived. I didn’t have the time to get them departing although they weren’t around for long – just getting some fuel and then heading onwards.

They did route back through Paine Field when the exercise was done so I was able to get a second go at shooting them then but the conditions were much as before, so the shots are not too different. I did take a bit of a chance with my shots by dropping the shutter speed down pretty low to try and get some good motion blur – always a risk when shooting something new!

Mukilteo From the Sea

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I spent a lot of time covering the construction of the new Mukilteo terminal for Washington State Ferries. The only limitation was that the best angle on the terminal was from the water and I didn’t have a good view on that. Since it is north facing, the best time to get a photo of it is in the summer late in the day. We were coming home from Whidbey on a Saturday evening, so I took the chance to finally get some photos of the terminal from the water. The artwork can be seen from this angle which is not so easy from other places.

Sometimes Missing Sunset Is Not a Problem

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The last 747 to be built was conducting test flights from Everett in advance of being delivered to Atlas. It was due to get back from a test flight one evening and the timing looked good for a landing just before sunset. Along with plenty of other photographers, I headed up to Paine Field to await its return. As we tracked the flight, it was looking more and more like they would not get back before sunset. A few people decided that this wasn’t worth the wait and headed off. I figured I had made the effort so I was going to get a shot, even if the conditions weren’t any good. I was there, after all.

Sure enough, the sun went down while we waited and a little while later, the familiar shape of the 747 appeared in the distance. However, luck was going to be on my side this time around. While the sun had now set, the higher-level clouds off to the west were now being illuminated from below turning them a warm red color. The light from these clouds was now what was landing where we were and, as the 747 came down the approach, it had a warm and soft glow to it from the remnants of the day’s light. Far from being a disappointment, this was actually really attractive. What a lucky break for me and those that remained.

St Nicolas Church

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Walk right to the end of the village of Longparish and you come to St Nicolas Church. You know you are going to find a church because the clue is in the name of the village and, besides, what village in the UK doesn’t have an old church in it? As you drive in to the village from the south, the church is the first thing you see and it looks pretty quintessentially English. Near the end of our stay, we did walk down to have a look inside. The churchyard was not too large and there is a newer graveyard across the road. Inside, it is a simple but pleasant little church. No idea how popular it is but it seemed in good shape. I did take a stroll down the lane to get a shot of it from the south, only to discover that the house in front of it tends to be more intrusive in the shot than appeared to be the case when driving along the road.

Hunter Surprise

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The number of times I have just missed something or didn’t even know it was close by I cannot count. However, sometimes I can get lucky, and I had one day when things just clicked. The result will be several posts. I was at Boeing Field to catch a test jet from Gulfstream (which I did and will appear here soon). I was waiting for it to show up on approach and was scanning FlightRadar24 when I saw an odd registration appear turning in to the approach. I tapped on it, and it showed as a Hawker Hunter.

Needless to say, this was quite a surprise. Then, another one appeared. The two came down the approach in trail. I got shots of both of them being a little brave/reckless with my shutter speed. Even as this was happening, a third and a fourth popped on screen and it was not long before the second pair had made it into my viewfinder.

They taxied to the ramp at Modern and shut down. Sadly, I wasn’t able to be there when they made the next leg of their trip to Alaska. One was delayed by engine issues and my friend was able to get some shots of it testing. I was hoping to catch them during their return but that took place while I was up in the Islands. However, I had got them once and that was a lucky break I am grateful for.

Two Old Esprits

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My soft spot for the Lotus Esprit has shown itself with various posts over the years with historic shots or more recent images of preserved examples. Most of these have been of the later versions of the Esprit when the styling was slightly more curved, and the bigger engines were installed such as the Turbo SE or the V8. The Classics Day at Exotics@RTC provided two of the original versions of the Esprit. They were parked in the prime spots in Redmond Town Center and garnered plenty of attention.

Yellow and red are two colors that will definitely get attention for a sports car and there were lots of people checking them out. The red one had the tartan interior which really tells you the era when this car was produced. I bet you weren’t seeing that sort of finish in the late 80s! I had got there early so did okay getting shots without too many people in the way but as the morning wore on and more people showed up, the shots got harder to make. A little Photoshop effort would be needed.

Lucky Encounters With NG’s Testbed

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This is a continuation of my string of good luck. I was back at Boeing Field awaiting the G700 movements. I had headed down to the south end of the field and was glancing at FlightRadar24 when I saw a CRJ700 on the display making a track that looked like it was coming to BFI. Normally, aircraft like that show up with a call sign/flight number rather than just as a CRJ. For some reason, I thought this might be an unusual CRJ and my mind jumped to the Northrop Grumman testbeds.

I had missed them once at BFI before when one took off while I was over at the museum. Having seen the BAC-111 testbed many years ago, I wanted to catch this one. I decided to try and get to the other end to see what it was just in case. The road along the airfield is not well suited to swift travel but I was patient as I figured there was just enough time. I made it to the other end and grabbed the camera quickly. Barely any time passed and then there it was. It was indeed one of the NG testbeds. Result!

I hung out for a while before deciding to head back to the other end. Nothing interesting was due in so I figured I’d see what was departing. When I got back, I pulled up FR24 just to see what was moving on the field and, lo and behold, the CRJ was up at the hold, ready to go. Rapidly out of the car, grab camera and, just as I am ready, here it comes. This was a continuation of my string of good luck. It’s all going well. Then I see that some Sabreliners are heading north. The streak continues!