Tag Archives: patterns

Convection Patterns in Boiling Water

This one is something I kept meaning to do on multiple occasions but never was ready when it occurred to me. Boiling a pan of water, I am always fixated on the patterns that show up as shadows on the bottom of the pan as the heat affects the water by differing amounts resulting in convection flows across the pan. This is the sort of thing that only oddballs like me find fascinating. I finally thought to have the camera close to hand when boiling some water and got some footage of the patterns as they swirled. I was quite pleasantly surprised that the lens didn’t steam up during this. No doubt Nancy looked at me with that puzzled expression that has appeared many times after decades of knowing me!

Wake Patterns in Clouds Over Edwards

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During the air show at Edwards AFB, there was a lot of maneuvering of aircraft high above the crowds. There was a little cloud at higher levels – not enough to stop it being almost uncomfortably hot, but enough to be visible – and the planes that flew through this level left their wakes through the cloud layers breaking them up and forming patterns where they had been. I thought this looked really cool and, because the show was backlit, the sun was coming through these patterns and the shadows made them appear more conspicuous. A C-17 flew across at one point which gives you some idea of the scale of these interesting patterns in the sky.

Airliner Vapor In To SEA

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If you were to ask people what characteristic Seattle would be known for, I suspect a fair few people would tell you it is rain. It is true that we have damp winters here but summers (while a little late in starting) are actually rather dry. However, we can still have some humid conditions which can be good for forming vapor and, if you watch the jets heading in to SEA, you will often see vortices streaming off the flaps and the occasional puffs of moisture above the wings.

Occasionally, the conditions are just right and you get a lot more vapor. Better still, if this happens in sunny conditions and the planes are slightly backlit, you can get some lovely rainbow effects showing up. I got lucky with one such day. Asiana had an A350 coming in at this time so I was treated to some interesting effects. A Lufthansa 747 and CargoLogic 777F also arrived but I decided to go with video on those to show off the fleeting nature of the vapor is it formed and dissipated.

Patterns In The Sand

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Another repeat of a previous theme. Water flowing over the sand on a beach creates some interesting patterns. The sand on Cannon Beach included a lot of very dark grains. These made the visualization of the movement of the sand easy to do. It also allowed you to see where the water was flowing deeper or shallower which helped when walking through the water running across the beach.

Unusual Patterns on an Old Log

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I was walking along the shore and saw a log that had clearly been in the water and then out of it for a long time. All sorts of things had happened to the wood. Some of it looked like it had worn away while other marks suggested that creatures had been chewing their way through. Some wildlife was still clearly living on the surface and in the nooks and crannies. It was such an unusual looking log I just couldn’t avoid taking some pictures.

Waves at Santa Cruz

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While watching the surfers at Santa Cruz, I also was watching the waves. Photographing waves is immensely frustrating. You see a wave do something really cool and want to get a picture of that. However, the waves never do the same thing twice so you are constantly frustrated. However, I did focus on two aspects of the waves while there. The sun angle was behind the waves so, as they started to break, the light would shine through from behind making a lovely green color light up the water. I find this really attractive and often look for it while watching the sea.

The other interesting aspect is the way the water runs off the sand after the wave has run its course. The gentle undulations in the surface cause the most interesting patterns to develop. The water is coming from multiple directions so the interaction of the flows results in some fascinating shapes. Looking down on these from above, they become quite abstract.

Vineyards

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Driving through Napa Valley with Mum, we were, of course, surrounded by vineyards. Mostly we just headed on up the road but once or twice we stopped to have a look. The prettier road through the valley is sadly a 55mph route so dawdling will not make you popular. However, you can always pull off and take a look without obstructing anyone. The patterns in the fields are very cool and that was what I was looking to get here. Of course, the middle of the day is not a great time to shoot but that’s when we were there so that will have to do.