Concorde

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Few would argue that Concorde is an elegant aircraft design.  It may have had commercial limitations, but it never failed to be a head turner.  Getting good shots of it when it was flying was not too difficult.  One the ground it can still be a good subject but having it confined in a tight space does make things a little more tricky.  The Museum of Flight’s example is in their covered annex across the street from the main museum.  The annex has a great selection of aircraft but they are right up against each other.

I decided, after getting some shots on an initial visit, that I would try something a bit different and took a fisheye the next time I went.  Concorde already has some interesting curves and a fisheye can either help of ruin them so some careful framing was required.  I combined that with a 70-200 to crop in close and avoid the surrounding clutter.  It was a fun experiment to see what you could achieve in a constrained environment.

Bridge Perspectives

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Walking under the bridges along the Riverwalk in Chicago provides a very different perspective that that which you get from above.  Some of the bridges have solid deck and others have gridded metal decks which allow light through (and anything else someone might drop).  The lattice structures under the deck are ornate yet grubby.  They are obscured from most views and get covered in the grime that washes down from above.  I am not making this sound very appealing but I find them very cool to look at.  The noise of the traffic above is there but slightly isolated which adds to the atmosphere for me.  They do put a curved stainless-steel cover over the walkway itself so you are not vulnerable to anything from above ending up on your head which is something I am grateful for.

Night Arrival Over Seattle

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A trip away included a late arrival back into Seattle.  I hadn’t thought about which approach we might make to SeaTac so my seat selection was accidental, but I ended up on the side of the plane that was overlooking downtown Seattle as we made our final approach.  Having the M6 provided me with a bit more flexibility on shooting than would be the case with the phone and something far more maneuverable than if I was using one of the SLRs. It handled the low light levels surprisingly well.

I also think the smaller lens elements of the EF-M are better able to handle the distortion of windows.  The distorted bits could cover more of the field of view of course but you have more of a chance of getting between the worst bits.  With the big lenses, it is almost impossible to get a good clear patch for the whole lens when you zoom in to check the details.

Nozzle Details on Titan IV

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The missile display at Evergreen Aerospace Museum is impressive.  They have sourced a lot of different types and they have a Titan IV section lying on its side.  You can get up close to the nozzle of the rocket motor and it is a cool thing to see in detail.  Looking from a distance, they look very simple but, once you are close up, the complexity of the structure and the cooling structure to stop the plume from burning right through the nozzle are really impressive.  The shaping of the nozzle itself, in contrast, is very simple.  The expansion ratios are calculated carefully and the profile is a smooth transition to minimize the losses.  Quite the contrast.

Storms Over LAX

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When you first think of Los Angeles, you think of sun and warm weather.  It is true that a lot of the time, this will be what you get in Southern California, but it is not always the case.  On the first day of my trip down to LA, I had intended to get some flying in.  The weather had other ideas.  The cloud base was low and waves of rain were coming through the area.  Just when the sun came out and you thought it was okay, another bunch of clouds would roll in and, if you didn’t get under cover quickly, you would get drenched by some torrential rain. This does, of course, provide for a shot of LAX that you don’t normally get!

Lyon Air Museum

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A weekend in Southern California for work was not my idea of fun but I did have a few hours free on the Sunday morning so I headed down to Santa Anna to the Lyon Air Museum.  It is located on the opposite side of John Wayne Airport from the main terminal building and is not terribly obvious unless you look hard.  Even the entrance road is a bit obscure and could be easily missed.  However, once there, it was definitely worth the time.

The museum is in a modern structure and has an impressive collection.  Supposedly the planes are all airworthy and they have some interesting ones there.  Some of the collection will get their own posts.  For now, here is an overlook of the museum and a few of the side exhibits that don’t get their own story.

Riverwalk – I Wish This Had Been Here Before

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When we were getting ready to leave Chicago, the city was in the process of extending the river walk.  This had originally gone along the river up to Michigan Avenue.  The first phase extended the walk to State Street and this was in place by the time we left.  The plan was to take it all the way to the branching of the river.  A few years have now passed and the plan is now a reality.  To get from my hotel to my meetings took me along the river so I checked the walk out.

This proved to be a bit more tricky than I expected as it had snowed the night before and the surface alternated between clear, crunchy with frozen snow and slick with ice.  Just what you want when walking close to a river!  On the way back, things were warmer and a lot more relaxing.  It is too early in the year for all of the businesses to be in place but you can see what will be there.  One wine bar was open though with clear plastic igloos to give you some privacy and, more importantly, warmth.

You can now walk from the lake all the way to Lake Street.  This is a great improvement and is a lot nicer than walking along Wacker and having to cross the streets at each bridge.  Now I just need to find a reason to be back during the summer so I can hang out down there when it is warm!

Frontiers of Flight Museum

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A work trip to Dallas wrapped up a few hours prior to my flight home.  I was flying out of Love Field so figured a quick detour to the Frontiers of Flight Museum just across the field from the terminal was in order.  What I hadn’t appreciated was that tons of school parties had the same idea.  The place was heaving with kids and being kids, they were doing everything at high speed and high volume.  The inside of the 737 exhibit was not a great place to be!

Southwest has a big influence on the museum including a whole 737 and the front fuselage from another.  They don’t dominate things though and there are plenty of other airframes both inside and out.  I shall pick on a few favorites in due course but here is a sample of what was there.  It was a brief visit but a fun one.

Edmonds Museum

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Downtown Edmonds proved to be a great place to wander around.  Having enjoyed the waterfront, we walked into the town itself to check out the shops and with a lunch place in mind.  There is an interchange with a roundabout in it that has interesting streets heading off in each direction.  One of them takes you to the Edmonds Historical Museum.  As we walked up to it, it seemed like a pretty familiar structure and there was a good reason.

The building dates back to 1910 and it is a Carnegie Library.  We have come across a few of these over the years.  While the needs of libraries have outgrown the buildings, they have often found new uses and museums are a popular second life.  We didn’t go inside on this occasion.  We thought it might be worth a visit another time and we have a visitor coming for whom something like this might be right up their alley.