Tag Archives: airplane

Mistake with a Polarizer

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.

Finally I Have Avanti Success

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!

S7 Max Both at Renton and BFI

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!

French Global 7500

Bombardier recently completed their 100th Global 7500.  It is an impressive machine with excellent capabilities.  If I was minded to buy a bizjet, it would definitely be the one I got but I just don’t feel like it at the moment.  I haven’t seen too many of them yet so catching one is a nice surprise.  This one was departing Seattle.  I’m not sure how far it was going but, given that it is registered in France, I assume they were actually making good use of its range unlike so many of the owners of such jets.  It seemed to have a nice fade in the paint scheme too.  Maybe I will put something like that on mine when I get it.

Arlington Evening Flying Display

After my afternoon out up in Skagit for the fly day there, I migrated with the guys down to Arlington.  They were having an evening flying display that would include the Ryan I previously posted about.  An overcast evening did not make for great light for photographing the aircraft.  There were only a few displays to see so it wasn’t too much of an event but it was still nice to be out shooting planes again.  Rene Price put on a good display in his Sukhoi and the Yak-18 display was a great example of what the plane can do.  Interestingly, there was the occasional hint of sunlight from the horizon while it flew which would glint off the white airframe since it was high enough to see the light we weren’t getting.

Grumpy, the B-25, flew a bunch of passes having come across from Skagit.  I guess with not much else flying, they were allowed to fly as many passes as they wanted.  Other than that, it was a pretty low key affair.

Sneak a Turbo Beaver While I Can

While walking along the main runway at BFI, the shorter runway remained in use.  Since I was at the north end, that meant walking parallel to some of the movements.  A Turbo Beaver was one of the planes to use the runway while I walked alongside so it would have been rude not to grab a few shots as it went by.  I was using the M6 which is not my usual camera for action work but you go with what you have!

End of Lufthansa’s MD-11F Ops

October brings the end of MD-11 operations for Lufthansa.  When the MD-11 rapidly fell out of favor with the passenger operations, it became a bit of a favorite for freight operations.  New build MD-11Fs were joined by conversions of displaced passenger jets.  Lufthansa had bought some new jets and added more to their fleet.  In recent years, the introduction of Boeing 777Fs had gradually displaced the MD-11s from operations.  Now the last one is being retired.  FedEx is still using a ton of them so no likelihood of the type going away soon.  I only saw them a few times in Lufthansa colors and won’t any more!

Evening at Paine Field As A Consolation

I saw a notification that an Avanti was heading to Paine Field and due to arrive later in the evening and not long before sunset.  This seemed like an ideal opportunity.  I waited to see it depart from Mather Field in Sacramento and then got stuff ready to head up after dinner.  I made good time getting up there and the light was looking great.  Everything was on a northerly flow which was not what I had hoped for but never mind.  However, a quick check on my phone showed no sign of the Avanti.

Eventually I discovered that it had diverted back to Mather.  I don’t know the reasoning but it was on the ground down there and not close to arriving near me.  I was rather annoyed I hadn’t checked this out just before leaving because it would already have been back on the ground by then.  However, I was there and the light was nice so why not make the best of things.  A variety of planes were making the most of the conditions including a nice Stinson, some bizjets and a Horizon jet so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip.

Gulfstream’s GIII Is A Nice Surprise

Vintage business jets are a nice thing to come across and, while the modern generation of Gulfstreams are a common sight around the US, the G-III is now something of a rare beast.  Seeing one at Boeing Field parked on the Modern ramp was a nice surprise so I was just hoping for it to depart while I was there.  Fortunately, I was in luck.  It eventually powered up and taxied for departure.  The hush kits on the old Spey engines are a bit of a giveaway but they aren’t that effective.  The noise on takeoff was definitely a sign of something from a previous generation.

Kalitta Charter Falcon 20

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.