Tag Archives: lake

Husky on Floats

Renton may be home to the 737 and to plenty of other aircraft but it also has a floatplane dock at the north end. A Husky was dragged over to the ramp during my Sunday morning stroll and dropped into the water. The pilot powered up and proceeded to water taxi around for quite a while, presumably while the engine was coming up to temperature. Finally he was ready to go and given acknowledgement from the tower that he could go if he wanted. A surge of power, up on to the step and then airborne and climbing away. No two ways about it, flying floatplanes is definitely cool.

Gardens by Day and Night

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The hotel I have used on my recent visits to Tokyo is one of a group of hotels in one location. Between each of the buildings is a garden. It is a peaceful place to hang out (even when it was as hot and humid as it was when I was first there) and it has temples, bells, a lake and lots of places to rest and contemplate. In the evening, it is subtly illuminated providing a very different feel compared to how it is during the day.

On some occasions, music was piped in. One evening there was a guy playing some sort of flute as he wandered around the garden. I assume he was hired to do so rather than just showing up and playing but you never know. He was fighting the noise of the cicadas when it was hot!

Tranquil Park Space in a Busy City

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Cities are bustling places but old cities tend to have an advantage over newer ones and that is decent park spaces. When modern cities develop, all the land is valuable and there is a problem with preserving space. Older cities dealt with the preservation of space a long time ago and Tokyo is no exception. I got off the train at Shibuya and was walking up to Shinjuku. I went past some of the buildings from the ’64 Olympics and in to Yoyogi Park. On a Sunday morning, it was a really pleasant place to be.

In common with most of my trip, even first thing in the morning it was very hot and humid. Being close to the ponds and fountains provided a bit of relief although only a bit. Walking through the trees at least kept me out of the sun and that was a welcome break from the warmth. There were trails around the park that were getting plenty of use, some of the open spaces were being used for exercises by groups and individuals and some people were just sleeping.

I had hoped to walk all the way through the park up to Shinjuku but the area where the National Olympic Youth Center and the Meiji Jingu Shrine were meant the top area was blocked off the way I went so I had to divert out on to the street to continue my trek.

Another Go at Stitching iPhone Raw Shots

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As I posted a while ago, I have been experimenting with stitching shots from my phone. Since I am shooting in raw on the phone, I have some latitude to play with the shots in post that wasn’t there before. This time, though, I thought about it a bit more and put the camera into manual mode to fix the exposure. This should make the stitching and blending easier than when it changed between shots (although, to give the Lightroom team credit, it did a pretty good job anyway). I allowed plenty of overlap and the merge seemed to go pretty well. Since it outputs a dng file, you still have the chance to edit more aggressively than would be possible with a jpeg. Meanwhile, you get a higher resolution shot than with the internal pano mode. This may be my go to method from now on.

Lyme Park

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The drive from the Lake District to Derbyshire provided an opportunity to check out a place that Nancy was interesting in visiting. Lyme Park is a country house not far from Stockport. It is a lovely looking estate but the reason is it well known is that it was used in the filming of Pride and Prejudice. The lake from which a damp Colin Firth emerged in the production is now even named on their map as Darcy’s Lake!

The area around the house has some beautifully landscaped areas and an impressive glasshouse. There is a lake in front of the house and a structured garden area to boot. Outside the house area is a far larger estate that covers much of the local area. Deer roam through much of this part of the property. We did our usual thing of checking out the outside area but skipping the interiors. Our National Trust membership got us wherever we want to go but the interiors usually leave me less inspired than the exteriors. We also had to keep an eye on the time.

It was a slightly overcast day – maybe not a huge surprise for the outskirts of Manchester – which made the stone of the buildings look a little subdued. Stone buildings with grey skies are a touch trickier to work with. However, sometimes excluding the sky is the way to go to try and make the building stand out more. Nice looking place and worth a visit if you are in the area.

Lake Windermere

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Water speed records need two important elements. A long, straight section of water on which to get up to speed (and stop again) and calm conditions to avoid getting out of control. Windermere is a body of water that fits these criteria and that is why Sir Henry Segrave chose it as the location for his record runs. (Later runs would be carried out by other on Ullswater and Coniston Water.) First thing in the morning, Windermere has the appearance of total tranquility if the weather is nice. While the coast in the UK is publicly accessible by law, lakes are not similarly restricted so the majority of the shore is privately held and not terribly accessible. However, there are some spots where you can visit and we checked the water out as we were heading south. You can also take the ferry across the lake if you want a far closer view!

Del Valle Regional Park

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Head south from Livermore and you get into some hilly territory beyond the vineyards. Climb over one of the ridges and you drop down into a valley flooded by a reservoir. The water is surrounded by a park that has lots of options for hiking, biking, boating and just hanging out. This is Del Valle Regional Park. We were keen to try and get some hiking in before the temperatures got too high so planned out a route that would take us up around the hills and back down to the lake.

While the park is very popular and a lot of people were along the water having picnics and swimming, it didn’t take long to get well away from everyone. To be fair, it wasn’t hard to see why. The route we took involved a very steep climb to start things off. Without having warmed up much, we were both suddenly very aware of how quickly (or not) we were going up. However, once we had reached the high point, we then had a far more relaxing path to take along the ridge. The view was fantastic and we were almost totally alone for the entire route.

Finally we dropped down to the water and had a gentle stroll back to our starting point. Meanwhile, plenty of people were enjoying the water. Kayaks and powered boats were all over the water. The edge of the water had a lot of people fishing. All in all, it seemed the image of relaxed sunny day.

Donner Pass

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A work trip was tacked on the end of a photo project since I was in the vicinity – if a two and a half hour drive counts as the vicinity! I found myself driving over the Donner Pass twice in one day. The first trip was early in the morning. Everything looked great in the early light but I had a place to be and so hanging around was not possible. However, on the return leg, I wasn’t under pressure to be anywhere (except the airport the following morning) so I was able to stop when I got to the area of Donner Lake. The sun was already going down and the moon coming up. Took me a short while to work that out since I was initially hoping the moon would stay up long enough for me to get there, only to realize which direction I was facing and it was only getting higher in the sky! Doh!

I did manage to get to see the lake with some light still on it as the shadows started to stretch across. A very pretty location although not one I think I did justice too. Another time perhaps. I suspect I will get to make that trip again before too long.

Bridge Lifts and Boat Passage

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The movement of boats to Lake Michigan is a spring event with the bridges along the Chicago River being opened to allow the boats to get by without having to remove their masts. It happens every spring and they all return each fall. After many years in Chicago, you would think I had got bored with this but I still find it a really cool thing to watch. They move on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I often don’t realize it is happening until I look out of the window and see the bridges up. I decided this year I wanted to see a little more of it.

I got out to the river when the boats were at the join between the north and south branches. This section of the river has a bunch of bridges but they seem to have a pattern of opening them in quick succession with multiple bridges open at once. As they get up to Michigan Avenue, they do each bridge one at a time to minimize the traffic disruption since the cars get backed up while the bridges are open. A Saturday often results in a few more boats and this was no exception.

I am actually cheating a bit here since, when I first started putting together this post, I had been out to watch a run of the boats. Before it is finished, though, another week had passed and another run of the boats took place. The weather was also slightly better. I decided to go out with the fish-eye this time to get something a little different to add to the collection so now the shots are a little more diverse and, hopefully, a little more interesting.

Pre-Dawn Over Tahoe

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Some work commitments meant I was unable to get out of Sacramento on Friday evening as I had originally planned. Instead I had to come home on the Saturday morning. A direct flight was available at 6:30am which, while it meant an early start, did mean I had a good chunk of the day left when I got home. It was still dark when we took off and headed east. The route home takes you just south of Lake Tahoe.

As we flew by, the sun had still not come up on the lake. One of the features of being at altitude is that you get sunrise before the ground below you. However, we did have some pre-dawn light on the lake and I managed to get some shots of it. It wouldn’t have been too long before the hardier skiers were out and about no doubt!