Tag Archives: heavy

Granite Falls in Full Flow

In a previous post, I showed the waterfalls at Granite Falls, north of us.  At that time, the weather had been quite calm, and the falls were quite subdued.  At that time, I had suggested I would go back later in the winter.  We had a prolonged period of rain in the area, some of which was very heavy.  Knowing this had come through, I figured a return trip was in order to see just how much the falls would be transformed.  This was not a wasted effort!

Even as I got out of the car in the parking area up on the main road, I could hear the falls.  The flow through them was unrecognizable from my previous time there.  The water was the full width of the falls and was crashing across everything in its path.  The force of the water was quite intimidating and, while I was quite safe where I was on the walkways, I shuddered to think what would happen to anyone getting caught up in this torrent.

Video was clearly the thing to experiment with on this visit.  Sure, I was getting lots of shots.  I was seeing whether longer shutter speeds would give a good impression of the motion or whether a slightly shorter exposure might actually be more effective.  However, video is the tool that really allows someone to appreciate the intensity of the flow and the noise.  Consequently, I edited together the footage below to give you an idea of what it was like.

As I looked upriver, I saw vehicles crossing the river and realized that the road I had come in on, continued across the river on a bridge.  I had not noticed this on the previous visit so, once I had made my way back up to the road, I decided to check the bridge out.  This is a country road so I wondered if there would be a safe way to walk across.  Fortunately, there was a protected sidewalk on both sides of the bridge.  It was quite a drop down to the river but the mist over the water and between the trees provided a lovely shot, so I was glad to have diverted that way even if I was a little uncomfortable that high up!

Some Heavy Construction Equipment

In a previous post, I showed some construction work underway on a project I am involved with.  This involves building a long span concrete bridge and the first steps are drilling the shafts into which the concrete will be poured to form the base for the columns upon which the bridge will ultimately rest.  Watching this from a distance, you don’t quite get the scale of what is involved.  However, when on site, you really get close to the heavy machinery that is necessary for this type of project.  I thought I would share some shots of this serious gear since I was able to get access to it.

Snoqualmie Falls Is A Bit More Active Now

The recent months in the Pacific Northwest have been very wet.  It has felt like it was always raining and not just gentle rain but heavy rain on a regular basis.  This means that there is plenty of water in the mountains and the rivers coming out of the Cascades are heavy with flow.  I figured a trip up to Snoqualmie Falls was in order.  A few months back I had been up there when the flow over the falls was very low.

With the two power stations built in to the falls, the demands that they put on the water often mean that there is a lot less to go over the falls themselves.  Once the water levels get high, though, there is more than enough for everyone!  The falls were really raging.  The spray blowing up from the river was quite intense and, depending on which way the wind was blowing, you could either be quite dry or getting a deluge.

Since I made the visit, the weather hasn’t got any better.  I imagine that the falls have continued to be in full flow ever since.  Downstream, the river valleys have been in flood with the river levels all high.  Hopefully no one is suffering too much – those areas are prone to flooding anyway and they tend to be ready for it.

Head on Big Boys

wpid5269-AU0E2456.jpgMy day out shooting with Hayman was mainly an aviation themed event.  One of the things I was interested in was looking for something more head on as the heavier jets launch out of SFO.  Most aircraft depart off 01 and head out across the bay.  however, the heavier widebodies launch off 28 and climb out towards South San Francisco.  A head on shot of them coming off the runway is what i really want.

wpid5271-AU0E2481.jpgHayman had a location which was halfway to what we wanted.  You are a bit further from the airport and so they rise out of the surrounding landscape rather than seeing them come off the runway itself.  The location has a lot of promise.  Sadly, on this day the weather was not nice and, as the day was moving along, what light there was after the clouds had taken their share was fading fast.  however, it was rather fun to see the 747s and A380 climbing out over us.  Definitely something to try again some time.  As for the runway shot, we shall have to keep exploring to find the right spot for that!

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