Tag Archives: photo

Island Sheriffs Clearly Need Fast Boats

The ferry terminal at Orcas isn’t the only dock available and it is the home of a boat used by the local Sheriff’s department. We didn’t often see them out and about while we were staying there but they did come by a couple of times. The boat is clearly capable of a good speed. No doubt, if you are the sheriff, you don’t want to be outrun by people that easily and you also need to be able to get to places promptly. That means power in the form of some chunky outboards. I suspect it is quite a fun boat to drive.

T-38 Up Close

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After a very lean start, I have done a lot better in recent times with getting shots of the Boeing chase T-38s at Boeing Field. I have shot them airborne and in good light so nothing to be unhappy about. However, the one thing that I haven’t had in the past is a good close up shot of them while on the ground. They have either been landing when on a northerly flow or coming from the other direction and so they haven’t taxied close to me.

Finally managed to break that one not long ago. Some tankers were heading out – one appeared to be a production test flight for an Air Force example while the other was one of the Boeing development airframes. The T-38 followed it out – presumably their flights were connected but I don’t know for sure. It taxied right passed me so I got a good look at it on the ground for a change. It took off, of course, so a little extra chance to get some shots with a cluttered background!

Minor League Baseball at Victory Field

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Having looked through the catalog of images after finding the elevated view of Victory Field, I came across the shots I took when I went with some work colleagues to a minor league game there. It was a lot of fun although I have no idea how the game was. Watching baseball at a stadium is an enjoyable experience that happens alongside a baseball game as far as I am concerned.

The sun was setting as the game got underway and we had some nice light in the sky. I took some HDR and panoramic shots which I have been able to reprocess using the latest versions of Lightroom as opposed to the one available at that time. I also got a few shots of the players at work and had a wander around the perimeter of the field to see how it looked from different angles. Looks like I was using a rather wide angle lens at some point too.

Kenmore Air’s 75th Anniversary

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2021 is the 75^th anniversary of Kenmore Air. Since we moved to the Pacific Northwest, I have been grateful to Kenmore for providing plenty of floatplanes for me to see and some convenient locations to photograph them. I have also had a fun flight with them. When they announced that they were holding a public celebration I was in for that. It was a free event at their Kenmore Harbor headquarters and it was a lot of fun.

I put together an article for Global Aviation Resource that describes the event in more detail so, rather than repeat all of that here, the link to the article is https://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2021/09/07/aviation-event-kenmore-airs-75th-anniversary/. I will pop a few of the images of the event here as well and will cover some details of the proceedings in future blog posts.

Pileated Woodpecker or Pterodactyl?

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I was riding down along the west side of Lake Washington approaching Renton when I saw something large on a dead tree trunk alongside the road. With the number of bald eagles and ospreys that I see down there, I was assuming it would be one of them. However, it was a woodpecker. I have heard of the pileated woodpecker but had never seen one for real. It was pulling the trunk apart with abandon and it was huge. Combine the size with the crest and it looked just like a pterodactyl. The thing was massive when compared to any other woodpeckers I see. My phone was not ideal for photos but it did a pretty good job of getting some video.

Strolling Down a 10,000’ Runway

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King County International Airport held a public event in the guise of a FOD walk. You could sign up for free for the opportunity to take a stroll along their main 10,000’ runway one Saturday morning. Since I wasn’t planning on anything else, this seemed like a good chance to be somewhere that I normally wouldn’t get to be. I showed up just before 8am on the Saturday to see how it was. Weather was overcast but it was not raining which was a relief.

We had a briefing from the airport team and the fire chief prior to heading out. They made it clear that they do take care of the runway so we were hopefully not expecting to find much but we would see. They last did a runway walk ten years ago and that was for staff so this was a new thing to try with anyone from the community taking part. We could take cameras with us but they limited what we could have. Also, photographing the Boeing military ramp was not allowed.

They split the group into two with two buses taking us out. The buses went to opposite thresholds with the intent that we walk to the middle where we would meet up and take some photos. Fortunately, I was in the bus going to the north end which is the one I wanted. Driving past the Boeing civil ramp with its 737s, KC-46s and 777Xs was pretty interesting. They set up the illuminated X at the threshold prior to us starting (which was a relief). We then spread out across the runway and walked down. The smaller runway remained in use while we were walking but there had been a bit of a mad dash of planes getting out before we started.

The runway was clean as you’d expect. For those that were walking along the edge and in to the grass a bit, there was more to find including some quite large items. I guess the session did have a practical benefit. We made it to the mid point of the runway where everyone gathered in front of the fire trucks and we had some group photos. Then it was back on the bus and a close out with some prize drawings. It’s not often you get to stand in the middle of a runway that serves everything up to wide body jets so I am glad I took the time to go out. I hope that they do it again.

Off Road Style

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More from Exotics@RTC with this one, a Pinzgauer. This was a beast of a vehicle. Looking at it the idea of Paris-Dakar sprang to mind. It looked like it would be capable of taking on any number of adventures. It’s entirely possible that the owner doesn’t go further afield than local car meets but maybe they really do put it to the test. Either way, it was quite a cool looking vehicle. From what I understand, this is an early generation of the vehicle and, while they were sold to militaries around the world, they were also sold to the civilian market. A newer generation came along but this is the older version. Production has stopped at this point.

Citation X With Winglets

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This post is for Pete. He is a big fan of the Citation X so I might have posted it anyway but it is a special one. Most Citation Xs were built without winglets but a few were retrofitted and I think Cessna even built a few with them from the factory towards the end of the production run. I think they are a pretty nice looking winglet design so, Pete, this one is for you.

Stalking the Rabbits

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We get a lot of rabbits in the back garden. They are a bit of a nuisance, but our yard is not good enough to justify the effort to do battle with them getting in. Instead, I accept their presence and consider them a photographic subject instead. Getting photos of them usually means subdued light. During the brighter parts of the day, they stay out of the sun and then follow the shadows across the grass as they eat.

I have tried to stalk them to get shots from a lower angle where possible. They are clearly a twitchy bunch and quite unwilling to hang around while I am moving about unless I stay far enough away. Therefore, some cautious movements and picking a spot and hoping them come to you is in order. Here are some more shots of the visitors.

Sun Country Pumpkin Scheme

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Sun Country changed their livery design a while back going with an orange based scheme known as the pumpkin livery. I hadn’t shot one before – I’ve got their older colors and also the Transavia hybrid on leased jets – but it was due in shortly before the National A330 I had gone out for so I was happy to get the bonus. It’s a garish livery, for sure, but it makes a change from the steady stream of stuff we see normally.