Category Archives: photo

Popping Wheelies – On Purpose and Inadvertently

Back to my time shooting bike racing at Shelton for this post. Today I am focusing on wheelies. Powerful bikes are able to pull wheelies without any trouble but, while racing, that is not something that people try to do. However, while accelerating away from the start or from a slow corner, it is not unusual for the riders to get the front wheel off the ground. It is usually pretty brief so you aim to get it quickly.

When the races are over, it is a different story. As the riders run a final lap after the checkered flag, if they see you watching or holding a camera, it is not unusual for them to pull the front wheel up for an extended period. It makes for a cool shot if you are ready. These shots are a selection of wheelies O got during my (exceedingly hot) day out shooting the racing.

Kalitta Charter Falcon 20

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A Falcon 20 making an arrival on a Saturday morning when the sun is out is not something to be missed if possible. We were heading out that day but I just had time to make the run over to BFI to get the Kalitta Charter Falcon 20 as it arrived. The timing could hardly have been worse with the sun directly down the runway so right on the nose. (I suppose it could have been right on the tail if the winds were the other way around so maybe not the worst situation possible.) I was able to get a couple of previous arrivals to make sure I had a good angle since I rarely shoot from that location. Then it was get the Falcon and back in the car to do what we had planned for the day. Not a bad result.

Drilling a Shaft

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I was doing a visit to one of the construction sites that our team at work is managing currently. There is a lot of elevated guideway as part of this project and that involves drilling shafts for the elevated structures. The drilling was not underway at the location we stopped off at so I could see some of the drilling equipment. Not only was the auger like drill on site but also the cylinders with cutting heads mounted on the edge which are rotated in place by the other tool next to the drill. The crews can drill these holes at quite a rate when they are going and the result is that the structures are springing up across the project at this point. Nice to be part of something that will be soon serving the communities in the south part of King County.

Another Encounter with Sue

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I was sitting at Boeing Field having had a relaxing time getting some shots on a sunny afternoon when I got a notification that the A-26, Sexy Sue, was up again from Renton. It is just over 10 minutes to get over there so I figured I would have plenty of time to get across once my next arrival was in. The trip across to Renton was not an issue and I was there in plenty of time for their return from the San Juans.

They took some really long winded route to the south of the field before doubling back on themselves, all specifically to avoid the best of the light at the field. Things had clouded over a little by the time they arrived but I still was okay with the shots. I then headed down to the parking area at the entrance to the airport to be in position for them to taxi in. I got there just in time and they taxied in towards me and shut down.

I waited for them to put the plane away. I am not sure why they spent such a long time thinking about it. Part of me wondered whether they were waiting for me to get lost but finally they started to move her back in to the hangar. Having a look at some of the shots afterwards, I saw the BOAC Speedbird logo on one side of the fuselage along with a lot of names of individuals. If you know the story behind this, please let me know.

Inquisitive Crow

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This crow landed on a street light near me. It caught my attention because it seemed to be fascinated by something under the light. It would lean right over the edge to try and get its head underneath – presumably because there was something edible there. It even tried flying up from the underside but that didn’t go so well. I’m not sure if it got what it wanted or just gave up.

A Pair of P-8s Testing Together

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P-8 production is really moving along at the moment. Aside from the US Navy aircraft, there are planes destined for the Royal Air Force, the Indian Navy and the Royal Norwegian Air Force in production and on test. One afternoon I got both an Indian and an RAF jet arriving in close succession. The nice thing about arrivals from the south when they are military jets is that they then taxi back past you as they head to the military ramp.

Whatcom Falls Park

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We took a trip up to Bellingham to walk around Whatcom Falls Park. Nancy had come across some trails described in something she was reading so we figured walking somewhere new would be fun. With a mild and sunny day, we lucked out. The park was a lovely place to stroll which, despite plenty of other people being around, never felt crowded.

The start of the trails is very close to the falls themselves. At this time of year, the water level is pretty low. The falls still looked nice but it wasn’t hard to see the wear patterns in the rocks from where the water can flow when things are a lot more energetic.

Aside from the falls, there are nice water features throughout the park. You walk through tree lined trails and then get an opening up on the lake. It is a very pleasant spot on a sunny afternoon.

Heritage Flight Museum Fly Day

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Thanks to my friends, Bob and David, I became aware one Saturday morning that a fly day was underway that day up in Skagit County. The Heritage Flight Museum was going to have a few planes flying so I made a quick change of plans and headed up there. The conditions were a bit overcast so not ideal but it was still worth a look. There were a few of the regulars up there too so it was a chance to see some people I hadn’t seen for a while.

Of the various warbirds that they had flying that day, the A-1 Skyraider was the one that was of most interest for me. It was the only one I hadn’t seen at previous events so I was keen to get a chance to photograph it. On takeoff, it seemed to be trailing a fair bit of smoke. Since it was recently off overhaul, this concerned me a bit but it seemed to clean up as they flew for a while so everything seemed to be fine.

There were straight passes across the field from various formations followed by some arcing turns over the museum ramp individually. I backed up the road a bit to try and get a bit more of an angle on the planes as they ran across. It would certainly have been nicer to have a bit more light on them but it was still good fun to be shooting something different. I’m very grateful to the guys for giving me the heads up.

Renault 5 Turbo 2

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Exotics@RTC provides cars of many vintages but I always find myself drawn to cars from the 80s. Since I was a teenager in that decade, they were the cars that I was paying attention to – assuming they were available in Europe at the time. US cars of that vintage are generally a mystery to me. The appearance of a Renault 5 Turbo 2 was a really nice surprise. The Renault 5 was not a particularly wonderful car. I drove one for a while and, while it could go quite quickly in a straight line, it didn’t have great grip.

However, the similarities between that car and the Turbo version were basically the name and nothing else. The Turbo was a monster of a vehicle in comparison. It went like stink and it was so wide, it was basically a different car. There wasn’t even a back seat because the engine had been put there instead. The owner happened to open up the engine cover while I was walking by which was a lucky break. It showed up again at a following meet so I was able to get a few shots of it from various angles. I was back to being a teenager dreaming of a hot hatch.

UPS But Not The Best One

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The shot you didn’t get. How many of those do we have. It’s easy to get blasé about something and decide not to bother. Of course, many times, this will be just fine, otherwise we wouldn’t be blasé in the first place. A couple of UPS jets had arrived. One was an MD-11 and one was a 767. A second 767 was on approach and I figured why bother. As it touched down abreast my location, something looked decidedly odd about the radome.

I talked to Nick, who had been next to me and had photographed it and asked him to take a look at his shots. Sure enough, the radome was a complete mess. Presumably a bird strike had smashed it during the flight although whether it was early on or during the approach we couldn’t know. It was quite the scene of destruction and I didn’t get a photo of it. 99 times out of a 100, it wouldn’t have been anything but this time… Oh well.