Tag Archives: travel

Pueblo Museum

Well over 10 years ago, I was invited by a rail vehicle manufacturer to an industry event that they were holding to promote one of their vehicles.  It was held at the TTCI test facility outside Pueblo in Colorado.  Pueblo also has an aviation museum so it was inconceivable that I would go all that way and not check it out while I was there.

Most of the exhibits are outside in some pretty harsh sun so they are rather sun-bleached.  There is an interesting mix of old types on display while a few are indoors and look in better condition.  Helicopters and vintage fighters are always going to be good for me so hopefully there is something in here you like.

Evening on Embarcadero

Lockdown continues to be an opportunity to go back to previous photos and these come from our trip to San Francisco in January.  What a long time ago that now seems and how strange it is to think of a time when we freely traveled across the country.  On our first evening, we met up with friends for a drink and some food.  We met them down around Embarcadero.  At the end of the evening, before heading back to our hotel, I took some photos of the area.  The Ferry Building was nicely light as was the Bay Bridge.  It was a lovely evening to be out which I guess is indicative of the benefits of Northern California in the winter!

Pacific Coast Trail in Ucluelet

A while back I posted about the Amphitrite Lighthouse in Ucluelet on Vancouver Island.  We saw it while walking on the Pacific Coast Trail.  At the time of that post, I said I would post more from the rest of the trail.  I guess I have finally got around to doing so.  The beginning of the trail took us past the lighthouse but it was a bit backlit.  As we walked further around the coastline, the light came to be behind us more and the view of the various inlets and islands got to be very nice.

It was such a tranquil spot.  I suspect November is not the busiest time of year and the trails might be a lot more crowded in peak season but the sun was out and it was really lovely to be there.  The rocky coastline looks like it is something that you need to know your way around carefully if you are in a boat.  The presence of a lighthouse tells you that plenty have come to grief in the past.  On a day like the one we had, though, it couldn’t have seemed more appealing.

North Rim

Nancy and I took a trip to Arizona and Utah many years ago.  It proved to be a really excellent trip and we saw some amazing locations.  The first stop on the trip was the Grand Canyon.  While the majority of visitors go to the South Rim of the canyon, this trip took us to the North Rim.  The two locations are not far apart but to get from one to the other involves hours of driving.  Apparently, there is some canyon in the way!

The North Rim is accessible for a smaller part of the year because it gets snowed in and doesn’t clear out until late in spring.  The views are supposed to be similar on either side but the lack of people at the North Rim makes it a more peaceful place to visit apparently (I haven’t been to the South Rim so can’t speak with authority).  The scenery was definitely beautiful.  We had some cloudy times and some very clear weather.  At night you could look at an amazing night sky.

The problem with the Grand Canyon is that there is little you can do to convey the scale.  Images are really not able to provide an understanding of just how vast the place is.  You can see it is pretty, but the experience is not reproduced.  To be honest, even when I was there, I found it hard to appreciate the scale.  With so little to reference, you struggle to realize what is close and what is far away.  Occasionally, if you see a boat on the Colorado River, you realize just how immense it all is.  Awesome is a word that should be used when describing the Grand Canyon!

I haven’t looked at these pictures for years.  I realize that I took some of them as examples at the time and then focused on those.  I haven’t been through some of the others.  With newer processing techniques, there is plenty to be done with some of the shots I have overlooked.  I shall be playing with this for quite a while I think.

Lightning In Kansas

It’s been a while since my last visit to our friends in Kansas.  I need to get back and see them soon.  Our first visit there was a dramatic one.  We had gone to the movies to see War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise.  At the beginning of that, there is a scene of what looks like lightning striking but it repeatedly hits the same place.  In the film, that is noted as being unnatural.  As we left the theater and drove home, a storm started raging around us.  The lightning was striking frequently and seemed to be in the same places.  Uh oh!

We got home and stayed inside as the storm reached its peak.  I have always loved thunderstorms and this one was outstanding.  I watched the lightning striking around us constantly.  I decided to take some pictures.  Photographing lightning is normally tricky to do.  If it is dark, you can go for long exposures and hope to get the lightning in some of the shots.  If you have a lightning trigger, you can let it do the work.  In this case, you didn’t need either.  I just shot out of the window and the chances were that there would be some lightning in the shot.  It was crazy.  Here are a couple of shots looking out of a bedroom window!

Looking Down on SF Bay

As we left San Francisco after our brief visit in January, I was on the side of the plane looking down on the Bay as climbed out and headed north.  The usual departures of the 01s take you straight out over the bay and then you turn north as you head towards Oakland.  The lighting was a bit harsh on this day but it was a good view of the city as we made our way home.

Airport Birds

The viewing deck at Haneda is not a place I had gone to photograph wildlife.  However, despite the usual concerns about birds and planes not mixing well, there were a lot of small birds that seemed to be hanging out on the roof of the terminal buildings.  I imagine the number of visitors to the viewing decks means there will be crumbs of some sort for them to feed on.  They were pretty close to the people but just the other side of the fencing.  I guess they knew they were safe.

Legislative Building at Night

Continuing the theme of casting back into the past for shots of things that compensate for not going anywhere anymore, this one isn’t too long ago.  Our visit to Victoria in the run up to Christmas involved staying in a hotel alongside the harbor.  We had a view from our hotel room across to the legislative building which is nicely illuminated at night – not just for Christmas but all the time.  Here is the shot from the hotel window!

Tokyo Bay’s Industrial Background

For those that haven’t visited Tokyo before (and maybe for some that have), the image of the city is a dense metropolitan space with high rise buildings and grand structures.  There is also a lot of smaller building with offices and housing.  However, the city is also pretty industrial.  The bay has been a center for commerce for centuries and much heavy industry grew up along the waterfront and has continued to prosper.  Haneda Airport is a short ride from Tokyo’s heart and is very convenient.  It is also surrounded by industry.  When in the terminal and looking across the airfield, you get a clear idea of the amount of industry so close to the city.  This isn’t a one off either.  Head south out of the city and you lots of similar industrial spaces.

Video of Haneda in the Rain

I posted some shots of the jets at Haneda reversing thrust and throwing up a lot of spray in the process as a result of the rain that day.  Stills can be good for showing off spray but the motion of the spray in the reverser flows is more apparent in video.  Consequently, I shot a bunch of video that day.  Only recently have I caught up with my video editing backlog courtesy of the ample time I have at home as a result of not being able to go out anywhere.  Here is a sample of the airliner movements from that day.