Tag Archives: washington

Challenger 604 That Boeing Has Used For Other Things?

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This Challenger 604 taxied out at Boeing Field and I was slightly curious because it was in a grey paint job with a US flag on the fin.  I didn’t think it was a government owned machine but maybe there was something interesting about it.  When I got a good look at it, I could see that the airframe had some modifications.  There were ventral fins and a fairing on the underside that looked like it might have been used for mounting something else which was now absent.  A check on the registration shows it as registered to Boeing.  They had a development program a while back to make a maritime patrol aircraft from the Challenger.  Was this airframe part of that program originally?  Where is it going now?

Diablo Dam

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The dams along the Skagit River coming down from the Cascades are all pretty interesting but Diablo Dam is the easiest one to access so, when mum was visiting, we made the side trip to go across it.  I actually missed the turning for it when we were heading into the mountains but I made sure to remember where it was when we headed back down.  Driving across the top of the dam is pretty cool but it is a little narrow if you meet traffic coming the other way.  There was a good flow of water coming through one of the spillways while we were there and that looks impressive compared to when everything is calm.

The Sheriff Buzzes Juanita Bay

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I was down in Juanita Bay with mum during her visit when the sound of a helicopter came towards us.  I managed to switch a few of the settings to get things mostly write although not the exposure.  However, RAW is quite forgiving these days.  It was the King County Sheriff’s JetRanger that was making a tour of Juanita Bay for some reason.  They were pretty low as they buzzed by and then circled around to the north side of the bay and disappeared.  Not sure why they came that way – maybe they know someone there?

Dragonflies

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When I lived in the UK, I don’t remember seeing dragonflies at all.  They may well have been there but I didn’t notice them.  Moving to the US, there were dragonflies all of the place and I was immediately fascinated by them.  Of course, over time, I got used to them being everywhere so stopped paying attention.  However, when I have visitors from the UK, they are taken with them in the same way I originally was.

When mum was here, we went down to Juanita Bay to have a look around.  It was a lot hotter than it had been on any of my previous visits and it was also popular with bugs.  I got bitten a few times which has never happened there before.  I guess the bugs meant the dragonflies were happy and we saw plenty of them.  Here are a few shots I got of them when they landed.  I have yet to get anything useful of them while flying.  They are quite tricky to track!

Old School Power Provision

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Roche Harbor on San Juan Island is now a resort town with a marina, hotel, restaurants and accommodation.  However, it started out as a production facility for lime.  Some of the original elements of the town have been preserved and one part is the old power production site.  The original generator set was supplemented by a second as demands increased for power.  The images of them belching smoke as they worked didn’t make it look like a fun place to be back in those days.  Now, they are inactive and cleaned and painted but they are a reminder of how things used to be done.

Dark Gulfstream Day

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I do like shooting bizjets and they can provide a bit of variety amongst the regularity of the other aircraft around.  However, there is one thing that can disappoint and that is the unimaginative way in which they are usually painted.  Airlines have adopted the variations on white but the bizjets have been doing this for ages.  Consequently, when one shows up that is not basically white, I am really pleased.

Black painted bizjets look so much more interesting.  The engineer in my finds myself wondering how well they keep cool out in the sun on the ramp but, since I am not the customer, not a problem I need to worry about too much.  Instead, I can just be pleased to shoot a jet that looks a little out of the ordinary.

Is Watching An Eagle Take A Bath Creepy?

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There is a log in the water in Juanita Bay that is just above the surface.  It provides a good spot for the eagles to land when they want a drink and need to clean themselves.  It is a bit far from the viewing platforms but you still get a good look at them as they rest and sort themselves out.  Watching wildlife do things like this seems perfectly normal but, I think law enforcement might be involved if it were humans!

Alaska 737 Touchdown At KPAE

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I was up at Paine Field after work one day for the arrival of a DHL/Singapore Airlines 777F.  Before it was due in, an Alaska Airlines 737 was due in on one of the scheduled flights.  Alaska operations at Paine Field originally were just using the Embraers but, with the success of some of the routes, they have upgraded a number of the services to the 737.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to see whether the low shutter speed settings I was planning for the 777F would be okay.

I wasn’t going down to some crazy low shutter speed.  I wanted to make sure I got a good shot.  However, when you are close to the runway, as is the case at the windsock, you don’t need to be too low to get some blur.  I was only using the 24-105 at that range as things are very close.  The level of background blur I got was okay.  It would be good to get more but it was going to be fine for the 777F.  When playing with this approach, you know that a bunch of the shots will not be sharp enough.  Unfortunately, you never know whether the key moments will be the sharp ones.  Fortunately, one of the better shots was with a healthy dose of tire smoke as they touched down.  I was happy with the result.

Cormorant Nest On The Dolphin

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A recent post showed some of the closest shots I have yet got of cormorants.  What I didn’t originally realize when I was shooting them but which soon became apparent was that the structure was not just a place to hang out for them.  A pair of birds had built a nest within the metalwork.  At first, this was a little obscured from where I was and hard to see.  As the ferry moved out, though, I was able to get a good view of the nest.  The main area was shaded from the sun, understandably, but it was still possible to get some shots.