Tag Archives: washington

Bee Feet Details

In my quest for more bee photographs, I was set up in our back garden by some plants that were proving to be very popular with the bees. My hope had been to get different types of bee to compare their colors but I was actually getting mainly the same type. Still, it was a chance to get more images of these amazing little insects. As I was going through the images afterwards, I was aiming to weed out the ones that weren’t in focus or were focused on the wrong thing.

As I was working through them, I came to some images where the head of the bee was not so sharp but the feet were very clear. I had imagined that bee feet were just a single extension of the leg but apparently that isn’t the case. They seem to be more of a claw type of foot. I guess this makes grabbing on to things a lot easier. I had no idea their feet were this complex. Hope you find it interesting too.

On and Off the Ferries

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While mum was visiting, we took a trip across to Bainbridge Island. We went across from Seattle to Bainbridge and then returned via Kingston to Edmonds. For now obvious reason, I decided it might be interesting to video the boarding and unloading process from the ferries as we drove the car on and off. I thought the Insta360 would be a good idea for this since it would record a full sphere and I could decide on the editing afterwards without having to worry about which direction the camera was facing while I drove the car. I opened the sunroof of the car and had mum hold it out of the roof.

A little editing back at home to pan and zoom around and the video below was the result. Not exactly a thrill a minute video but more something to have to remember the ferries by should we move away at some time. I have taken more than my fair share of photos of the ferries along with the occasional video so this can go with the larger collection.

Swallows Over the Grassland

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These shots are not going to win any awards but they are an example of trying a lot of goes to maybe get something that works. While waiting for the arrival of some interesting jets, I was standing near some grassland south of Tacoma. The sun was out and I guess that there were plenty of bugs in the air. This had attracted a lot of swallows. I love watching swallows fly because they are so fast and agile. They are amazing aviators. I never see the bugs that they are catching but clearly they know what they are up to. Of course, the targeting of the bugs means that they are always changing course. Since they are so small, a long lens is necessary but tracking a rapidly weaving small bird with a long lens is a tough call. At least modern autofocus can give you a fighting chance of getting a shot. Will it be razor sharp? Probably not but here are some of the results that weren’t total failures.

My First Encounter with a Kodiak 900

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We get a lot of Kodiak 100s in the Seattle area. Both Boeing Field and Renton have them based or passing through. With the factory across the mountains in Idaho, we aren’t that far from their origin. Recently, Daher announced the creation of the Kodiak 900. This is a larger airframe that has been cleaned up to improve performance. I don’t know whether it retains the short and rough field capabilities of the 100 or not but it is still a rugged looking type.

I had not seen one until we got a visit from one at Boeing Field. Others have been through but I had not caught them. When I saw this one was on its way, I was looking forward to comparing it to the original aircraft. I saw a picture of the airframe online which suggested it was plane white which was not great but you can’t have everything can you? Well, I guess I was lucky as they had painted the aircraft up in a type of faded camo look. They seem to be aiming it at some sort of surveillance role judging by the markings on it. They will probably become very common before too long as have the 100s but, for now, it was a nice thing to get a chance to shoot.

A Fluffy Caterpillar

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No deep insight, equipment review or technique experimentation for this one. I was out in the back yard and a caterpillar was in the grass. The black and orange coloration combined with the hairy coat it had just seemed like it deserved to be photographed. A quick grab of the camera with a macro lens and a few shots and then I left it to do whatever it was doing.

A Hot Day at Concrete

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The Concrete Fly In this year was a little different. Our friend Bob couldn’t make the trip because he was not in good shape. Little did we know it at the time, but Bob was going downhill and would not pull out. Knowing this now makes the visit to Concrete without him feel very different. However, on the day, it was a lot of fun. Plenty of interesting planes, some rather hot weather, finding spots in the shade to take it easy, watching the usual bunch of slightly awkward approaches and landings alongside plenty of perfectly normal ones. There is nothing quite like being able to be so close to a runway while planes come and go with everyone happy to be there. If you haven’t gone, do try and get there at some point.

F-15s Arriving for the Flyovers

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Seattle was hosting two football games in one weekend. The Seahawks had their season opener on Sunday and the Huskies were playing on Saturday. The 142^nd FW from Portland sent up three jets to undertake flyovers for both games. Each flyover involved two jets so the third was a spare should one be needed. After all, these jets aren’t young. Indeed, with the wing taking delivery of F-15EX jets, it won’t be long before the Charlie models are gone.

They showed up at the end of the day which made it easier to be there to catch them. Since there were three of them, I decided to use a relatively high shutter speed for the first jet, a slower shutter speed for the second and then lower still for the last jet. That way I should get a result on the early jets and hopefully would get something more dynamic on the last one if I was lucky. Things turned out well enough and the last jet even popped the speedbrake on touchdown which was welcome. The skies were a bit red as a result of the smoke in the are from wildfires but that might have softened the light a little.

One of BFIs Firetrucks

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I have posted a few photos of the fire trucks at Boeing Field over the years (including one quite recently!). While awaiting the movements of the F-15s, we were alongside one of the taxiways when one of the fire trucks drove towards us. There was no way I wasn’t going to grab a picture of the truck. It was quite interesting when looking at the images on my computer to see the various tools on the machine including the perforated spike that can punch a hole in the side of a burning plane to spray water inside. Probably a little scary but very welcome!

A Better Perspective at BFI

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Oh how good it is to know people that know people. My friend, Annie, called to ask a favor. In return, she would be able to get me on the tower at Boeing Field on the Sunday of Seafair. Her friend, Reed, was king enough to allow me to tag along and the lift Annie needed hardly seemed that much of an effort when compared with getting to spend an afternoon on the tower walkways! I have photographed at many locations around and on Boeing Field over the years but the tower just provides a better view of things.

The arrivals and departures of the performers are obviously the high points of being there but it is also great to get a different perspective on the airfield as a whole. The stockpile of Boeing jets either in production flight test or stored awaiting a customer delivery is great to see from there. Looking across the various ramps and hangar areas is also cool. Even looking at the locations I might otherwise be occupying was fun. Was I looking down on the other photographers? Literally, yes. Metaphorically, well probably yes too!!

I will post a variety of shots of specific performers in future entries but, in the meantime, here are some shots of a more general nature. The team from the tower were very welcoming. I spent quite a while chatting with the boss and hearing about the various things that they do. I would love to go back and see the operations rather than just to photograph (although let’s not kid ourselves, photography from there is definitely welcome!).

The Hummers Are a Quick Test for the New Lens

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One of the things that I knew would be a limitation of the RF 200-800 was the aperture which is a lot smaller than for really expensive lenses (yes, it is also expensive but not in the tens of thousands type of expensive). In low light, this is going to be an issue and it would be interesting to see how things worked out. When I got home with it, I was sitting on the deck when some hummingbirds started feeding on the flowers in one of our beds. This area is in shade a lot of the time so light was limited. I was rather pleased with the effectiveness of the focus, the sharpness at full zoom and the relatively limited noise related issues from the R3. This is a combination that looks like it could be quite useful for a wide variety of occasions. Not the solution for everything but definitely versatile.