Category Archives: Pacific Northwest

The Conflict of Sharpness and Prop Vortices

Damp days can make for great prop vortices on takeoff.  However, I have been feeling less than satisfied with my results recently.  As I was going through some shots, I made a discovery that should probably have been something I worked out before.  I like to have a good amount of prop blur so drop the shutter speed down when I can.  I go with a high frame rate with the aim of getting a good sharp shot amongst the more blurry examples.

As I go through the shots, the sharp ones have okay prop vortices but not great.  Then I will come across some really nice vortices but the shot is otherwise not sharp.  It seems that, in panning with the plane to get a sharp shot, the trailing vortex gets blurred out.  If I am not panning well, the vortex can be the thing I have tracked better and it shows up well.  I have seen shots from others with the props almost frozen with a high shutter speed and the vortices easily seen.

Consequently, I am going to have to make a decision in future.  How much prop blur do I want versus the ability to see the vortices well.  A little trial and error will be involved.  At least it is fall/winter so the Pacific Northwest will probably provide me plenty of damp days on which to experiment!

Never Heard of 21Air Before

One Saturday morning, I was scanning what was moving around the Seattle area and saw a Boeing 767-200 coming to SeaTac, operated by 21Air.  I had never heard of this operator before and the picture online made the jet look like it was painted more interestingly than the average freighter.  I figured I would pop down to get some shots, even though the conditions were not great.  The light actually perked up a bit when the jet arrived so the results were better than I hoped.  I asked a buddy about the operator and he, having never seen them before, was actually looking at two of their jets in LA.  I wonder why they are suddenly on the west coast.

Seattle Public Library

The visit of friends seems to provide us with ever more new things to learn about Seattle.  Mark and Rosie were in town and Rosie told us about Seattle Public Library being worth a visit.  I had never been to the library and was totally unaware of it.  I must have been within a couple of blocks of it many times but never saw it.  As we got close to it when walking up the street, we were all taken by the external architecture.

The outside was great but the inside was just as worthwhile.  Each floor seemed to have a different style to it.  There was a lot of open space within the building and you could go to the top floor which gave you a high view outside the building as well as a view straight down throughout the whole of the building to the first level.  As someone with little love for heights, I took a look down but didn’t spend too much time up there.  It was a long way down!

Gastown Steam Clock

One of the tourist attractions in Gastown in Vancouver is the Steam Clock.  Sitting on a street corner, this looks like a giant grandfather clock with steam whistles on the top of it.  It was surrounded by tourists and the number of selfies being taken was substantial.  We were there close to the top of the hour so we waited around to see what happened.  Below is some video of the lock striking the hour if striking is the right word.

Sunrise on Stored KC-46s

Boeing is now delivering KC-46s to the Air Force at a rate that is a bit of an improvement.  There are still plenty of issues with the project (with some only recently discovered) but at least jets are now making their way to the customer, even if they are not flying them too much!  However, there are still a lot of the jets parked at Paine Field.  The early morning sun provides some nice light on the line of aircraft.  It is a rather cluttered view with plenty of airfield material in the shot but the light makes it a bit more appealing.

Dreamlifter in the Early Mist

My buddy Paul was visiting so we had a day out looking for some interesting shot opportunities.  We started off the day at Paine Field before the sun was really up.  A Dreamlifter was due in and we figured we would give it a try.  However, as we drove towards Everett, the fog was pretty thick.  The field is on the top of the hill so we thought it might be clear, but things did not look promising as we got closer.  The low cloud was also blocking off the sun that was just above the horizon which, given that it would have been backlighting the jet, might have been a bonus.

The Dreamlifter came out of the cloud very late on the approach and I was able to grab a few shots of it as it emerged.  It was a rather ethereal look as it came into view.  The dampness of the air meant that the plane was pulling vortices as it floated across the threshold and in to the touchdown zone.  Conditions might not have been the sort of thing that sounded good, but the result was a really cool shot opportunity.  As the plane taxied in to park, we got more shots of it although there was one that would have been fantastic, but Paul only spotted it when it was too late and I didn’t see it at all.  I won’t say what it was but maybe there will be another chance in which case you will see it here!

How Has Seattle Changed?

I have taken a lot of photos of Seattle since we moved here.  The city has a lot of development which shows itself clearly in both the downtown area and the South Lake Union area.  The downtown core is not massively different but the spread out from the center is noticeable, as is the change in stadiums.  My first visit to Seattle was in 1992.  Things were very different then.  I recently took a look at some photos I scanned from that trip including a view from the top of the Space Needle.  I also have some shots from the mid 2000s in the mix.

The following shots are combinations of shots from 92 and current shots along with some taken from one of our trips here in around 2005 when I had a work visit that we extended to include some time in the city.  The city already had some big towers in 92 but there has been a lot of development since then.  South Lake Union is a different story.  During my first visit, there was not a lot going on in the area.  Now things are heavily in the area with Amazon having led the investment but the Gates Foundation also having a big site.  Things have really changed a lot!

Boeing’s T-38 Finally Comes Out in the Sun

I have struggled to get shots of the Boeing chase aircraft in decent light.  Whether it is the T-33s or the T-38s, my encounters have generally been on overcast days.  Finally my luck changed and one of the T-38s came in to Paine Field for a couple of approaches on a sunny day.  It was the middle of the day so the light angles weren’t great but it was certainly a step up.  A couple of passes and then they headed to Boeing Field.

Stored 777Xs (777-9)

Boeing has many internal issues with its planes currently but, when it comes to the 777X program, GE is the one that is causing the problems.  The lack of engines for the test program means the jets are on the ground.  Meanwhile, the production line continues to turn out the airframes at the rate original scheduled.  Consequently, there are stored jets around Paine Field.  The first two jets were turned out in house colors and have appeared on the blog.  Meanwhile, a couple of white jets have appeared and they are stored on the flight line.

The latest two jets I have seen are not even painted.  They are in the protective film the airframe is built in which looks a bit like primer.  Stored on the airfield, they will get engines at some point and then go to the paint shop.  In the interim, they have ballast attached to the engine mounts.  The first time I saw one, I thought it was another KC-46 being stored until the fin caught my eye and I realized it was a 777X.

Heavy Lifter

In a visit we made to Seattle in the mid 2000s, we took a boat tour around Elliott Bay.  One of the more impressive ships in the harbor was one that is designed to lift heavy loads and carry them long distances.  It will sink to allow the load to be floated on to the hull and then it will lift back up and leave the load on the deck.  You can see the markings for sinking the hull on the superstructure.

The most impressive view of the ship was from the front as we passed ahead of it.  The beam was something special to see.  It had a very muscular look to it.  These are the sort of ships that have been used to moved smaller ships when they have suffered damage.  The Royal Navy had a destroyer that hit a reef in the South Pacific once that was moved this way.  Quite an impressive capability.