Old Trestle at Whatcom Falls

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A railroad used to run through what is now Whatcom Falls Park.  While the tracks have now gone, a trestle bridge across the water still remains.  I may have lived in the US a long time now, the presence of trestle bridges still fascinates me.  They have a look of Victorian railroads about them but many have survived.  In the UK, old bridges are either iron or brick with multiple arches.  The trestles have a distinctly American feel to them.

There were some barriers around the end of the bridge while we were there.  Checking out some photos online, it looks like the rails used to be suspended across some of the space.  Maybe these have been removed to stop people getting up there.  Fortunately, the majority of the bridge is still intact.  I wonder what happened to the track bed.  The rails are visible up on the top with ties (sleepers) between them but no support which suggests. Train would have had a rough ride.  There must have been more there at some point.

The Bits That Are Allowed When On BFI’s Runway

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I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about walking along the runway at Boeing Field during the FOD walk that there were some limitations on what we were allowed to take photos of.  Fortunately, I was at the end of the runway that didn’t have any limitations.  Therefore, I could shoot anything that was on the Boeing civil ramp as well as the main terminal ramp for the airport.

There were 777Xs on the ramp, KC-46s and plenty of 737 Max jets.  The bizjets near the terminal was also in abundance.  Here are some of the planes I shot on that rather gloomy morning.

Bear Out in the Sun

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Woodland Park Zoo used to have a pair of grizzly bears.  They made an appearance on this blog when we went to a fundraiser there which had a food stand cooking fish next to their enclosure which certainly got their attention.  Sadly, since that visit, one of the bears has died.  The remaining bear is still in the enclosure on its own.  With the sun out during our visit, it was wandering around a lot of its space.  We had a really good view of it as it came towards us.

At one point, the bear climbed up on a rocky outcrop.  It was backlit where we were.  I didn’t realize that just around the corner from us was a spot that looked up at this outcrop.  Anyone standing that at the time would have had a really impressive view up at the bear.  Would have been a good shot but never mind.

Since we were there on a Friday, it wasn’t terribly busy.  It was strange to see how quickly people wandered away.  A few minutes patience rewarded us with some really nice time watching the bear exploring the enclosure for snacks hidden by the staff.

737 Rear Fuselage Design Evolution

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The 737 has gone through many design iterations.  With the introduction of the Max, the rear fuselage got quite a redesign.  The original 737 tailplane was redesigned for the NG family when it was widened.  This affected the rear fuselage a small amount.  However, there were clearly still issues with that part of the plane given the large number of vortex generators that were fitted.  These are always there to fix things that aren’t quite as they should be.

The Max has a totally reconfigured rear fuselage.  Boeing clearly decided to clean up the issues that they had been living with.  Any opportunity to reduce drag is needed when you are competing with the newest version of your opponent.  They have thinned the fuselage a lot and this is one of the easiest ways to spot that a jet is a Max rather than a previous version (the others being the engine size and the winglet type).  The APU inlet has also been relocated.

Misty Morning In Index

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During my time off, we made a trip across the Cascades.  It’s not uncommon to find it misty/foggy as we drive from home towards the mountains in the morning.  As you get a little higher, you come out of the mist but the clouds will still be hanging on the sides of the mountains.  We stopped off in the little town of Index for a quick break.  The town sits right under some large cliff faces making it a popular place to climb.

On this morning, climbing would have been a bit of a cold and damp affair but, as the day wore on, it would have been lovely I imagine.  I liked the morning, though, with the clouds swirling around the hillsides.  It looks at first as if the area is still with the mist hanging over everything but, if you pay attention, it is clear just how much the clouds are swirling around with ever changing areas exposed or covered.  It is quite entrancing.

Mistake with a Polarizer

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I have been using the polarizer a lot during the summer with my photos.  The high sun provides harsh lighting and a lot of contrast and I have been using the filter to cut down the light and to try and reduce glare from white aircraft fuselages.  It has mainly been used on my longer lens also helping to get shutter speed down to provide some motion blur in backgrounds.  However, I did put it on a wider lens when some planes were taxiing past me.

This proved to be a mistake.  It did take out some of the glare and make things a little more balanced from a contrast perspective but, when used on a wide angle lens, it did result in some unintended effects in the skies.  The polarizer effect is quite varied depending on your angle relative to the sun and this results in quite a dark sky in one part of the shot and a brighter sky in the other.  The result is an odd effect which distracts from the plane itself.  Consequently, I have avoided using this filter for these shots more recently.

Crazy Single Tree – I Think

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As we walked through the grounds of Chateau Ste. Michelle after the Avants car event, we came across this tree.  As we looked at it we concluded that it was a single tree that was coming out of the ground in various places.  However, we are not arborists so could be completely wrong.  It just looks like it springs from a single source under ground and breaks the surface in various places.  If you know about trees and more specifically this tree, let me know.

Finally I Have Avanti Success

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I posted about a trip to Paine Field one evening to photograph an Avanti which was unsuccessful because the plane diverted back to Sacramento.  A little while later, I got a notification that it was due in again.  The arrival time was about 6:40.  With sunset just after 7 at that time, it had the potential to be very nice.  Of course, any delay could make it a bust.  I figured it was worth a shot and Nancy was fine with waiting from me to get back before having dinner!

The evening light was looking really good.  I practiced panning with some of the local traffic while watching for the progress of the Avanti.  It was on its way but arrival time was slipping a little.  It should still be okay.  Meanwhile, I noticed the progress of the shadows of some of the trees where I was as they crept closer to the runway.  It was going to be tight.  We would make sunset without a problem and there was no low cloud to cause concern but it was a risk that the tree shadows would be on the plane.

Nothing I could do about any of this and, with the plane still airborne as it was due to pass me (assuming that they didn’t land near the threshold), the chances are things would be okay.  I kept my eyes peeled for the sight of the Avanti lining up on approach. Eventually it came in to view and zipped down the glide slope.  By now the light was low and the shadows were creeping on to the runway but it made the silver of the airframe positively glow.  I clicked away as it came by and then I was done.  Back home for dinner!

Hippo Excursion Out of the Water

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As goes large African animals, one of my favorites is the hippopotamus.  I’m not sure exactly what it is about them that appeals to me so much but I find them fascinating.  They can often be a bit disappointing at a zoo since they will spend long periods of time doing very little.  However, we have had some good luck over the years.  The one at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago once gave us an interesting moment and San Diego Zoo had a baby hippo swimming around during a visit there.

There are two hippos in Woodland Park Zoo and, when we arrived, they were both almost totally submerged in their pond taking it easy.  This does not make for much photo action.  Fortunately, a little patience paid off and one of them surfaced and proceeded (slowly) to exit the pond.  It wandered around for a short while before returning to the water and taking up its previous position.

This disturbance caused the other hippo to wake up for a while.  It didn’t exit the water but it did get its head above the surface and then it yawned a few times.  Hippos have amazing mouths and a yawn makes them look so dramatic.  I was absolutely delighted.  A couple of yawns and then it was back to submerged and napping.  I know they can be incredibly dangerous but they are still one of my favorite creatures.

S7 Max Both at Renton and BFI

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S7 is a Russian airline so not one that I normally get to see.  Tokyo is the only place I have seen their planes in operation.  They have a bunch of 737 Max jets on order.  I saw one of them in a Boeing test bay on the west side of Renton one evening when passing by.  The bright green colors are hard to miss.  Fortunately, it was not long after this that I was at Boeing Field in the evening when the jet came in from a test flight.  The light was pretty nice by that time of day but I don’t think it would have mattered with a color that vibrant!