Fly Away

I’m fascinated by airplanes. It may be because I  love to travel, to fly away to someplace special, or it may be because it’s amazing how something so big and heavy can get off the ground. I don’t get to fly away very often, but I can visit the Boeing Museum of Flight by just driving to south Seattle, like Tanya and I went did week.

I hadn’t been in years, and it is bigger than I remember. The museum has five main exhibition areas:

• the Great Gallery, a 6-story exhibition hall which contains 39 full-size aircraft
• the Red Barn, the original Boeing building which features the Boeing story from 1916 to 1958
• the Personal Courage Wing, which present the story of fighter aviation in World War I and II
• the Space Gallery, which will soon house one of NASA’s space shuttle trainers, and
• the Airpark, an outside area with 6 large planes, including the Kennedy/Johnson Air Force One, the very first 747, and a Concorde

It’s a bit of challenge to photograph there. The contrast can be extreme, especially in the Great Gallery with it glass walls. But tripods are allowed, so I made use of HDR to handle the contrast on many shots (such as the featured image above, which shows the world’s sole remaining Boeing 80A-1 in the foreground and a DC3 above it – back in my college days, I rode several times in DC3s in Alaska). It’s a fun spot, well worth visiting. The museum does charge an admission fee, but is free on the first Thursday evening of each month.

The Lockheed Blackbird M-21, capable of a cruise speed of Mach 3 at an altitude of 85,000 feet (25,500 meters), topped with a D21B drone. This is another HDR image.

The Curtiss JN-4D Jenny circa 1917. HDR once again.

The Yakovlev Yak-9U, a Russian WW II fighter. Yes, this is HDR too.

The pilot’s seat from Air Force One. (Not HDR.)

There’s more than just planes at the museum. Here’s the Wyckoff Memorial Bridge, which connects two parts of the museum.

On the Beach

On April 15th and 22nd I traveled to Ocean Shores. Ocean Shores is a small beach town along the central Washington coast. It has the closest Pacific Ocean beach to the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. The purpose of my trip was to drop off, then pick up, several images I had in the Ocean Shores photography show. Though I usually enter this show every year, for the first time this year, the show was juried. I was proud to have four images accepted. My black and white skunk cabbage image (previously featured in this post) won an award of merit.

One can’t go to Ocean Shores the town without visiting Ocean Shores the beach. Truth be told, it’s not my favorite beach. I prefer vehicle-free beaches bordered by rocky headlands, with crashing waves and critter-filled tidepools. The beach at Ocean Shores is a broad, wide swath of sand backed by small dunes partly covered with sharp grasses. Plus, as far as Washington beaches go, it is fairly crowded with people, cars, mopeds, and horses. But it is a beach, after all, and cannot be passed up!

My first trip there last month, Carson was my companion. Carson and I walked on the beach for an hour or so, as I tried to get some shore birds shots. Getting close enough for a decent shot was tough, even using my 70-200mm zoom with 1.4x teleconverter. There is no place to hide as you approach the birds, and being trailed by a black dog the size of a small bear doesn’t help. Carson eventually got tired of following me around and just sat down. And the birds eventually got use to Carson and I and allowed me to get close enough for a few shots. They even started moving in around Carson, which I though funny since they kept flying off if he got remotely close before.

On the second trip, Tanya accompanied Carson and I. There were less shore birds about, but it was mostly sunny and the sky held some interesting clouds. I took out the camera, but only ended up taking a few images (including the sunny one below). Instead, the three of us just walked by the ocean, enjoying a nice spring day at the beach.

I hope you enjoy these images from the beach.

Carson takes a rest, and the birds move in behind him.

I like the big birds, but have no idea what kind the are. For that matter, I don't know what the small ones are either. Anyone out there know?

Sun and clouds at Ocean Shores

Moonrise on Seattle

If you’ve followed my posts lately, you know I recently took a day trip to Seattle. The earlier portions of the trip were described in my Cherries of the Dawgs and More from Seattleposts.

Space Needle about 30 minutes after sunset, but before moonrise. Note you can't tell if the horizon is clear or not.

One of the main goals of the trip was to photograph the full moon rising over the city. Using the program, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, I planned where I should shoot the moon as it rose. I calculated that the moon would rise close to the Space Needle if photographed from Ursula Judkins Viewpoint in the Magnolia area, just west of the Magnolia bridge. Early in the day I drove by this park to scout out where I should shoot from. I picked a spot by the parking lot that looked like it had the perfect view of the Space Needle.

As I photographed throughout Seattle that day, I worried whether the clouds would obscure the view of the rising moon. The eastern horizon never did look very clear. When the sun got low over the Olympic Mountains west of Puget Sound, I left the downtown waterfront, where I had been working, and headed back toward Magnolia.

I had selected the Parkmont Place viewpoint for a sunset shot. This long, narrow park along the Magnolia bluff top offers a number of viewpoints looking west over Puget Sound toward the Olympic Mountains. As I crossed the Magnolia Bridge heading toward Parkmont Place, I drove by the Ursula Judkins Viewpoint I had scouted earlier. There was one photographer there; he had a tripod set up in the exact spot I had earlier picked out.

The sunset was okay, not great; but I did get some nice shots of the ferry MV Wenatchee as it steamed from Bainbridge to Seattle and the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as it cruised northward on the Sound. The sun set around 7:45 p.m. A little before 8:00, I drove back to Ursula Judkins for  the moonrise at 8:18 p.m. The drive took about 3 minutes and the eastern sky was mostly cloudy. I couldn’t tell if it was clear on the horizon.

When I arrived at the viewpoint, the one other photographer had morphed into about 30 photographers! I was lucky to get the last parking spot in the park. The spot I had earlier picked out was now crowded with about 15 tripods. I set up at the car and then walked over there with my tripod. I had my small tripod with me, and it was not tall enough to get a clear view without other tripods and photographers in the way. I moved, and ended up back near my car, where with my 70-200 zoom lens I could isolate the Space Needle well.

I snapped a few frames of the Space Needle as darkness descended, still unsure if the moon would show through the clouds. Then an orange glow appeared in back of the Cascade Mountains. Soon, the moon was an orange ball shining through thin clouds immediately over the mountains. Minutes later, it rose further and was hidden by clouds. It made one more partial appearance, but then was again obscured. Most of the other photographers were still there when I left, hoping the moon would again show before it got too high in the sky. But I left, with the drive back to Tacoma in mind. I’m happy with the moonrise shot I did capture; I hope you agree.

The ferry Wenatchee steaming toward Seattle on Puget Sound.

The USS John C Stennis sailing north on Puget Sound at sunset. The Olympic Mountains are in the background.

More from Seattle

As I mentioned in my Cherries of the Dawgs post, I had two goals from my recent trip to Seattle: photographing the cherry trees at the University of Washington and shooting a full moon rising shot over the city. Since I was on UW campus in the morning and full moons don’t rise until evening, I had a lot of time on my hands after leaving the campus. I spent most of it at Seattle Center and the Olympic Sculpture Park down on the waterfront.

I’ve shot a few images at Seattle Center before, but not to the extent I’d wanted. I particularly wanted to shoot more abstract shots of the exterior of the Experience Music Project museum, also known as the EMP . This museum is truly unique, designed by Frank O.Gehry, it is formed of multiple, curvaceous sheets of colored metal.  It’s overall shape has been described as the same as a “smashed guitar.” Forbes magazine called it one of the 10 ugliest buildings in the world. But others love it as a fitting representation of rock music, in particular Seattle’s own Jimi Hendrix. Regardless, it is something that is uniquely Seattle, and its exterior makes wonderful images (as I’d hope you’ll agree from the samples shown here). Of course, I took some shots of the Space Needle as well. I had hoped to get some shots of the new Chihuly Garden and Glass at the base of the Space Needle, but it doesn’t open for about a month.

From there I headed down to the waterfront to a visit to the Olympic Sculpture Park, which I’d never managed to visit before. It was well worth a walk through, especially for the cost (free!). I also spent some time just walking down the waterfront, something I have done many times before, but there is always some good shots there.

From there, with the sun about to set, I headed over to Magnolia where I planned my sunset and moonrise shots, but more on that in my next post.

Experience Music Project closeup

Another EMP closeup

The Seattle monorail passes directly through the EMP museum.

Just a standard shot of the Space Needle. However, I processed in Lightroom to give it a retro look.

The Pacific Science Center courtyard at Seattle Center.

The International Fountain and Space Needle. This fountain is popular with kids of all ages, who try to run down and touch it without getting sprayed.

One of the sculptures at the Olympic Sculpture Park

The Space Needle framed by a sculpture in the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Seattle and Bell Harbor from Pier 66 on the waterfront.

1,000 Followers!

My blog has just surpassed 1,000 followers; now at 1,006 and counting. Thank you!!!

When I started this blog in January 2011, i was unsure if anyone would care. And now, I’m honored and amazed by all of you following my posts. I hope my photography and rambling musings keep you coming back for more. To illustrate this post, I give you Carson, our Newfoundland. He’d plant a big slobbery lick on all of you if he could!