Tag Archives: civil

More Starlux

Seattle Tacoma International has been adding a few new airlines in recent times and one of those is Starlux. A Taiwanese carrier, Starlux is not operating to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle with its new A350-900s. It’s already a plane I like to photograph and the Starlux livery is a cool looking one too. I have seen their planes coming in a few times since they first started service (which had its own post) and usually on nicer days which helps make the images a bit better. It’s always an interesting question when new airlines show up as to how well they will do. We shall see whether Starlux has the business model worked out well or not in due course.

Reusing an Old E170

Leave a Reply

An Embraer E170 might not sound like the sort of plane that would be worth a special trip. Would that trip be more likely on a rainy Saturday afternoon? You might think not but this one seems to have found a second life after an airline career by joining a bizjet charter company. Best Jets International has a fleet of corporate jets but it includes two E170s fitted out in a low-density configuration. One came to Seattle on a charter and, since I wasn’t doing anything else on that rainy day, I figured I would go see if it was marked up in any special way.

The answer to that question was, kind of but not really. A fin that had some markings but otherwise a rather anonymous looking jet. It arrived from Oregon in some gloomy conditions which just make it so easy to get a nice shot. They headed to the FBO where a coach was already there with whoever the passengers were for the onward trip to St Paul MN. While everything was loaded, they fueled up and then it was taxi time for departure. I was hoping they would have to cross the runway to taxiway bravo but apparently the 170 is not too large for the alpha taxiway.

There was a Citation Sovereign ahead of them for departure, but they were soon lined up and rolling. The damp day meant there was a lot of spray as they accelerated and, since they were going a fair distance, the takeoff run was not short so I could get a reasonable shot of rotation. Then they climbed away and were gone. I wonder if we shall see this operator back here again soon. I probably won’t rush back out but it might be nice to get the jet in better conditions.

Wrong Lens for Night Photography

Leave a Reply

I had a trip that took me to Los Angeles and, while it wasn’t a photography trip, I did take a camera in case I had the chance to get some images. I took the 200-800 as my one lens since I didn’t know what my shooting options would be so wanted maximum flexibility. The only downside to this choice was that this is a slow lens with small maximum apertures. As it turned out, I got to my hotel at the airport in the evening and the roof terrace was open so I had a chance to get some shots of the planes arriving to the norther complex.

Having a slow lens when doing night photography is not the ideal plan. However, you work with what you have. Also, since I know the R3 can produce some good results at silly high ISOs, I figured I would see what I could get. Even at the the max ISO of 51200, the shutter speeds were very low. While I wasn’t always at the full extent of the lens, this was not going to make things easy. There were areas where the ambient light provided more illumination for the planes, but I still went with high frame rates to see if I could get a few sharp results.

Surprisingly, things worked out pretty well. There was definitely a very low hit rate but the fact that I was getting sharp shots at all was very pleasing. The Enhance AI noise reduction in Lightroom could then do its thing provided the shot was basically sharp to start with. This combination gave me results I was very happy with. If I were to be back at this spot another time, I would definitely bring other lenses along that would provide better light gathering capabilities. Even so, knowing that this can work was a pleasant surprise.

A Brief Moment with Great Light

Leave a Reply

I was swinging past SEA one morning and, as I got closer, the sun was not much above the horizon and still below a solid cloud layer. I could see that departing planes were catching the light really well and diverted off my planned route to see if I could get a couple of shots. Things immediately went wrong as I got in a turning lane at the lights behind a coach. Two long cycles of the lights without our filter arrow turning green ate a ton of time up. I eventually pulled out and turned right instead of left before making a U turn and coming back the way I originally wanted. By this time, I had missed a few interesting departures. I did get one Alaska 737 as it climbed out but, by the time it was level with me, it was in shadow. The next departure was almost totally shaded. The sun had risen enough to go behind the cloud bank. I went on my way, but I could have had some gorgeous light if the signals hadn’t screwed things up.

Do Whales Look Better in the Rain?

Leave a Reply

A rainy weekend and not much going on but I saw that Alaska Airlines’ West Coast Wonders jet was coming into Paine Field and, with nothing else going on, I figured I would swing by. The weather was far worse than I expected. It was pouring as the jet was on approach. I had gone so might as well try. At the last moment, I wondered whether I should have gone with video but too late. The jet’s lights were appearing out of the gloom. Streaming vortices from the flaps, it was soon by me and touching down. I was pessimistic but, as Nancy pointed out, the dark blue of the paint kind of suits a gloomy day and it didn’t look so bad!

Philippine Mars Awaits Its Turn

Leave a Reply

By the time this post goes live, Philippine Mars will probably have made its final trip from Vancouver Island to Arizona where it is joining the Pima museum collection. Whether I have got to see it on that journey or not, I don’t know when I am writing this. It is supposed to make a couple of stops en route but will I be there? During the visit to see the Hawaii Mars prepare for its last flight, Philippine was sitting on the ramp at Sproat Lake being prepared for its move. From the water we could get a reasonable view of it up on the slipway. Fingers crossed I get to see it fly but who knows.

Low shutter speed SEA shots

Leave a Reply

A recent post was focused on some shots from BFI when I was dropping the shutter speed. I had also been playing with this one gloomy morning at Seattle Tacoma International a while back. I was waiting for a specific movement but was passing time with some of the more regular movements. Since they weren’t the most exciting subjects, I tried dropping the shutter speed down to make the motion more apparent. They were really dramatic shutter speeds, but it made a slightly more interesting shot than would other have been the case.

Departures Off the Parallel

Leave a Reply

Having made the FOD Walk at Boeing Field before, I missed it the next year but did it again this year. I saw a few of the local aircraft operating from the short runway while the long runway was closed for us. Since I was on the south end this year, I wasn’t as close to the runway as last time, but I still got a good view of the passing planes as they climbed out.

Gloomy Day for a National Arrival

Leave a Reply

It was a wet and gloomy weekend morning up in Everett and so might not have been worth heading out. However, National Airlines was bringing a 747-400 into the Boeing facility and that was worth a trip. The plane emerged from the gloom as it came down the approach and, as it came across the threshold, the vortices could be seen streaming off the flaps. A grey jet on a gloomy day is always a tough one but I think this was definitely a result.

Nothing to Say Other Than It’s an Avanti

Leave a Reply

No shock to any regular reader that I found a way to photograph another Avanti. Just some good fortune about when it showed up at Boeing Field and that the light was playing ball when it had been rainy for a good portion of the time. I was able to be there to catch it and would have loved to have been there for departure too, but you take what you can get.