PC-12s are a common aircraft in the North American aviation scene so this one is nothing special. Seeing one on approach, albeit in nice light, is not cause for much celebration. However, it does mean that, with the light on the nose and a prop spinning up front, it is worth dropping the shutter speed and getting some prop blur. If I try and fail, I haven’t lost a shot of something that I wanted desperately to get and, if it works, it’s a bonus.
Down by the water in Port Townsend there is a boathouse for the local rowers and scullers. It is a relatively modern building with a nice look to it although for some reason I didn’t photograph the outside. It also includes a lot of window space which means you can see all of the shells stored within. (Like how in I am with rowing terminology and know to call them shells???). Avoiding reflections from the windows when taking shots of the inside was a touch tricky but it was manageable. The designs of these boats is pretty impressive since they are created to be light but they have to be very strong since a huge amount of load goes through very small areas when the crews are pulling hard.
The Global 7500 has been around for a while now but I have only shot one in flight. I did see one on a ramp but I was keen to see another in motion. Fortunately, one evening, an example was coming in to Seattle before heading off across the Pacific. Since these jets have incredible range, I assume it was picking someone up or dropping them off since it could easily have made the trip in one step.
This one was slightly better than average because the owner had decided to paint it in a scheme other than plain white. It had a couple of brown swoops along the side. Makes for something a little more interesting. I went with a relatively low shutter speed but, since I was keen to get the shot, I wasn’t quite as brave as I had been with less interesting jets. I kind of wish I had taken it a bit lower. Maybe next time.
After our aborted trip on the Edmonds ferry, I figured that the morning light would be good on the ferries as they arrived and departed. Rather than bore Nancy that day, I figured an early morning visit would make more sense – assuming that the weather was nice. We had a steady stream of nice weather for a week so, early one morning, I headed back to Edmonds.
At this time of year, the sun is a little further north than appropriate to get light on the side of the ferry while it is in the terminal. However, as soon as it leaves, it turns to the south slightly to head across to Kingston. The light soon gets on to the right side of the boat. It is nice to still have a bit of snow on the top of Olympics which provides a bit of a more interesting background.
You can see across to Kingston from Edmonds and the morning light made the view across pretty clear. I was surprised how well you could see the ferry departing the other terminal as well as the stored ferry on that side. As they crossed in the middle, it was easy to get the two of them in one shot. The morning light also brings out some texture on the side of the ferries but that is going to get its own post.
There was a call sign of an inbound flight at Boeing Field that caught my attention. It was Aspen. This is a call sign that the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB has used since the days of the SR-71. I have seen their T-38s show up at Boeing Field before so thought there was a good chance it could be another one. Sure enough, when they called up on approach, I could see a T-38 inbound. However, it was coming in at the same time as something else and it was actually aligned with the short runway.
They put the power on when crossing the airfield boundary and pulled up into the downwind for a second approach. The first approach had made the jet look pretty small in the viewfinder – I hadn’t realized that they were further away than the main runway – so I went with the 500mm when they came back. This made for a tighter shot than expected. However, I managed to get a few shots of the jet as it turned final – a long way away – and then as it was on short final. A nice treat.
After a visit to a shop in Renton, I stopped by the airport to see what was going on. I was taking a walk along the trail alongside the Cedar River that runs parallel to the runway. As I headed back to the car, I heard a noisy bird making its presence felt. Looking up at a power line across the water, there was an osprey a short distance away. I didn’t have anything other than my phone with me so went back to the car to grab a long lens and to see if it would wait around for me.
Sadly, it didn’t appreciate the situation and had gone by the time I returned. However, the river was not empty. Tons of swallows were swooping along its length feasting on the bugs above the water. Looking along the river towards the bridge from the Boeing ramp, you could see loads of them at work. Getting photos of swallows is not easy. They move very fast and do not hold course for long so getting a track on them with a long lens and keeping it is tough. The 500mm is a challenge for this but it is what I had.
There were tons of failures but you don’t get to see these. I was surprised how often I managed to track one and that the camera did a really great job of getting a focus. There was a little predictability of the flight paths which did help but, even so, I was rather pleased with the results. Also, given that these are still heavily cropped, to get this sharp was quite a result.
When planes are on a southerly flow into the Seattle airports, the traffic comes over our house all the time. The SeaTac traffic is always a bit higher but the Boeing Field traffic can be lower and visible from the window. If I notice something is coming, I can grab the camera and take some shots of the jets passing overhead. This includes the 777X test aircraft. On a clear day, things are pretty straightforward but a bit of cloud can really make for more interesting shots.
Just south of our house is a street which is home to one of my favorite trees. I have probably blogged about it before. It is a low and wide tree with a second, smaller tree in front of it that looks like a thicker trunk than it really has. When I worked in Bothell, I used to drive passed it every morning. Now I only see it occasionally when I am driving into Woodinville or riding my bike. I saw it was in bloom and decided to go by early one morning to get some nice light on it. I do love the look of this tree.
I took this a long time ago but just came across it again. I was under the approach path for SeaTac and one of the many Q400s that come in and out every day was setting up on final approach. Since it was nothing special, I figured a low shutter speed was in order. With the light on the front of the plane, this should show up the prop disc nicely. It worked out pretty well.
Another post for the rail fans out there. My visit to Steilacoom has yielded posts about the ferry and McNeil Island but it would be remiss to not discuss the rail line that runs along the waterfront. The weekend day I was there, there seemed to be a lot of traffic. This is the BNSF line along the coast but it is also currently used by Amtrak services. That was due to have stopped a while back with the Point Defiance Bypass having opened but, with an accident on the opening run, trains have continued to use the old route. That will transition at some point this year, though.
A bunch of trains came through while I was there. Most of these were freight services but one was an Amtrak Cascades train. It was being operated with a Talgo Series 8 train owned by Oregon DOT and on which I have done a bunch of work over recent years. Since only one train is running per day in each direction as a result of the pandemic, it was a lucky coincidence that I was there when it came through. I did get a nice wave from the engineer.
