Tag Archives: light

Death of a Lamppost

Back to our old neighbourhood in Woodinville for today’s post. Our house was along a small branch off the road. There was a small curve on this branch, and it was known to cause confusion for delivery drivers when they tried backing up. There was a lamppost which was off the hard surface but aligned with the majority of the branch. Consequently, vehicles would back into it. Usually, they noticed quickly but the post had a lean to it for a while after some contacts.

Then, one of the delivery drivers had a go at it with a bit more vigour. The van backed into it hard, and the post was not able to take the punishment. The driver decided not to hang around – no way did they not know what they had done. The utility company had to come out promptly to remove the post and make everything safe. By the time we left, there still had not been a replacement, so things were a bit dim in the evenings.

Woodinville Cruisers Car Club Christmas Light Parade

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The run up to Christmas brings with it the annual Woodinville Cruisers Car Club Christmas Light Parade in our town. This might be an annual event but it isn’t something we had been to before. The evening was looking dry so we decided to pay it a visit. We didn’t have any idea what to expect but, as we drove down towards the town center, one of the cars for the parade was ahead of us. It wasn’t hard to know where it was going given how many lights were on the outside of the car. (We did spot it in the parade later.)

We went in plenty of time because we didn’t know how crowded it was going to be. This proved to be unnecessarily cautious as the town was still pretty quiet when we arrived – a Sunday night is not hopping in Woodinville – particularly when there is a Seahawks game on TV. We killed a bit of time but as it got close to the 6pm start time for the parade, plenty of people started to show up and, once the cars started rolling, lots of spectators were out.

A firetruck from the local fire department started things off. Then the cars came rolling through. We had no idea how many there would be so we were curious as to whether we would soon be back at home. We needn’t have worried. There were loads of vehicles coming through. Some were vintage vehicles that were interesting in their own rights. Others were modern cars but adorned with tons of lights. Some looked like they had barely bothered to prepare! I was surprised how willing some of the owners were to tape a ton of lights to their paintwork!

I would say that the parade took about half an hour to roll through. There was plenty of pausing as things backed up but there were definitely a ton of different vehicles. Local businesses also took part with their trucks decorated or, in the case of the local balloon pleasure flight business, they had a basket on a trailer with the burners providing a blast of heat and light on a regular basis. A local Facebook group had someone questioning whether there was a fire downtown!

The whole thing was a fun time and we were really pleased to have made the trip out. It far exceeded what we had anticipated and everyone seemed to be having a good time – particularly the kids grabbing the candy thrown from a bunch of the vehicles. There didn’t seem to be any left where we were. Thanks to everyone that took part for making it such an enjoyable event and congratulations to the organizers.

A Brief Moment with Great Light

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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.

Shooting Just Before Sunset at SEA

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With some nice autumnal light and a northerly flow at SEA, I was going to stay around to see what jets were heading out as the light was starting to be at its best just before it disappeared completely. At that time of year, there would be a number of widebodies heading out to Europe and the Middle East that would be close to sunset. In the weeks afterwards, they would all be after sunset! I decided to see what I could catch.

The light got better and better, so it was pretty straightforward to catch some really nice images of the big jets (and some smaller ones) as they climbed out of SEA on their way back to home base. Just looking through the viewfinder, I knew that I was going to be very happy with the results. Then, the sun set, and the light changed dramatically. However, some of the shots I got after this time will justify their own post.

Sunset Overflight Contrails

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I was out and about one evening when I saw an airliner flying high overhead pulling contrails behind it. The sun was getting low in the sky with the result that the light on the plane and its residual moisture was illuminated with some really nice warm color. It is definitely true that light is everything I photography. This would have been nothing without this light.

Evening Cloudscapes

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As the sun starts to set, the clouds that are a regular feature of the Pacific Northwest start to have a benefit. They can be lit in all sorts of interesting ways and it is slightly lazy but still worthwhile to get shots of them. The levels of contrast in the shot are fine with the naked eye but a bit of a stretch for a camera sensor. It can do a decent enough job but it is the sort of thing where bracketing for HDR might give you more to work with so I did give that a go.

Sunlight Through the Mist

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Moran State Park was a damp and shady place for a hike. As we got closer to Cascades Lake, we got to an area that was a bit misty. With the sun peaking through the trees, the moisture in the air picked up the shafts of sunlight picking through the branches. I had not photographed this before and I was interested how to expose to get the effect to show up properly.

I wasn’t sure whether to underexpose or go with the base settings so I played around with it a bit. Since it was the mirrorless M6 I was using, you get a bit of a preview in the viewfinder of what you will get but my experience of that camera is that the viewfinder can be a little off compared to what you get when working on the desktop. A little tweaking and I was pretty pleased with the results. I did also try some HDR just in case but I don’t think it was necessary.

Experimenting With Night Shots of Ferries

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With the ferries coming and going to the terminal at Orcas, I was able to have plenty of chances to take photos. I did get standard shots of the boats in low light conditions. They are not easy to shoot since they are constantly moving. No long exposures at low ISOs are possible so it is high ISO and the associated noise. However, I did decide to experiment with some long exposures and blending of shots. The boats make a curving approach to the terminal. I thought this might make a nice long exposure. It worked okay but the curve is a bit disguised by being too low down to really appreciate it. However, it was fun to try.

Evening Cessnas on Floats

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Another jump back to just before things got locked down and a visit to Log Boom Park in Kenmore. I was hoping for either some interesting wildlife or some Kenmore Air activities. The only floatplanes I ended up with were a couple of Cessnas. However, the light was nice and the evening was calm so this actually proved to be a good alternative. They may not be as neat as a de Havilland Canada beast but they are still fun to shoot.

Posts in the Water – Are They for the Carrier?

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I have made countless trips between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight over the course of my life. Things change but most of the landmarks are remarkably consistent. I was therefore quite surprised to see some very large posts that had appeared in the approaches to Portsmouth Harbour. I knew that there had been dredging work undertaken to allow the new carriers (see this post) to enter the naval base. I suspected that these new large posts might be connected with the same project. Sure enough, some research after our returned confirmed that navigation lights have been installed to allow the carriers to navigate their way in. These light are mounted on top of large posts sunk into the seabed. They aren’t the most attractive things but I guess they do the job.