A Brief Visit to Spokane

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The beginning of our vacation involved a decent drive, and our route took us right by Spokane.  We may have lived here for over seven years, but we haven’t been to Spokane in that time. In fact, we have been there before but only to the airport which we staged through for a trip we made back when we lived in Chicago. A hotel airport doesn’t really count as visiting a city. Since we had built some time into our schedule, we made a diversion into the center of the city to have a look around.

I had heard about the falls in the middle of the city and that there was some nice development along the river, so we headed for that area. Turned out to be a really nice afternoon to be walking around the river so we had got quite lucky. There are some other parts of our visit that will justify their own posts in due course so I shall just start with some shots of the falls and some of the buildings in the areas that we saw. I shall add more of the sights in due course.

Great Access for the Takeoff and Recovery

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I didn’t get to see the F-15s when they did the flyover for the Huskies game, but the Sunday gave me a chance to head out and see what might be possible to shoot.  I bumped into my friend, Jeff, at the spot I was hoping to try, and it was immediately clear it would not work because a bunch of spare 737s had been parked in the line of sight.  With the weather being overcast, we both decided to head across to the terminal to see what our options were.

Then Jeff found out his friend, Clint, was working on the field that day and was happy to give us a ride.  The F-15s had already fired up so we were a bit concerned whether we could meet up with him in time or not.  However, it is always a long time between engine start and taxiing and Clint came and got us with plenty of time to spare.  We stopped at one location to photograph the jets taxiing towards us but a bizjet pulled out in front of them, so we made tracks to the other side of the field.

We picked a spot which we thought would be good for them having already rotated and then waited.  They were lined up behind the bizjet and it was waiting for its airways release so, eventually the tower had them taxi across the runway to make space for the F-15s to launch.  They then lined up and were blasting past us.  I hadn’t brought any hearing protection and things were a touch loud, but it was brief.  I was a little foolish playing with some low shutter speeds but a few of the shots worked out well.  The second jet kept things nice and low so the photographers further down the field would have been very happy.

Before they would return, Clint had some tasks to perform so he took us along while he sorted out what needed to be done.  We kept the football commentary on the radio so we would know when the flyover had taken place.  Then the jets came back into sight stopping across the lower end of the city before they lined up for landing.  We picked a spot close to where we expected touchdown and, again, got lucky.  The second jet even obliged with the speedbrake – a bit like their original arrival.

What a fantastic bit of luck and thanks to Clint and Jeff for allowing me to tag along.  There is nothing quite like seeing these jets at close quarter.

Bee Feet Details

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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.

An Aurora Is a Bit of a Rarity These Days

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For many years, the majority of maritime patrol operators have been using P-3 aircraft.  However, with the advent of the P-8 Poseidon, the number of P-3s is rapidly reducing.  Canada operates its own version of the family called the CP-140 Aurora.  With their continued operation, that are now becoming a bit of a treat to see.  I had hardly ever seen one in action before so, when they were displaying at the show at Comox, I was really pleased to get a chance to get some photos of one.

As with all military jets these days (or so it seems), grey is the order of the day.  Not the most exciting paint job but a different version of grey is definitely good.  They threw the plane around with plenty of energy in the display so the photo opportunities were good including a pass with the weapons bay open.  The replacement of the Aurora is currently being pursued so they won’t be around for much longer so good to get them now while the opportunity presents itself.  Funny how little I was interested in P-3s when I was younger and now I am hunting them down!

Later Than Planned, But Hawaii Mars Gets Airborne

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In a previous post, I shared images of Hawaii Mars as it was moored up on Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island.  Our plan had been to get it while it was taxiing out and taking off.  Our understanding of previous flights was that they had gone a long way up the lake before turning around and taking off back towards their starting point.  We had limitations on how far we were allowed to take the boat and also the time we had to get back to our drop off point.

The understanding was that they would fire up just after 5pm and be airborne at 5:30.  With our rental ending at 6:00, this gave us a bit of a narrow margin for racing back.  However, it should be able to work.  However, that relied on them hitting those times.  That wasn’t happening.  We got a message that they were going to start just after 6:00.  Now what to do.  With no sign of movement, we headed back to the drop off to see if anyone else was renting the boat after us.  No, they were shutting down for the day.  We begged with the guy who told us he was due to end shift.  However, he had a couple of things to close out so told us we could have half an hour tops.

We thanked him profusely and headed back out.  We wouldn’t have the time for the original plan so, instead, we headed down towards the narrows that we anticipated they would have to come through and waited.  We finally saw engines start cranking.  With all running, they taxied away from us to the end of the lake.  Then they turned and started back our way.  As we watched, the spray on the fuselage grew larger and it became apparent that they weren’t going to be taxing past us but were actually taking off.

As they motored towards us and got larger and larger in the viewfinder, the question was how low a shutter speed was acceptable when shooting a moving plane from a boat bobbing around on a lake.  Caution was appropriate plus a high frame rate.  They roared past with gorgeous light on the airframe.  A helicopter was filming them and also came in to frame which was a nice addition.  A little beyond our location and they were airborne.  What a result.  We then high tailed it back to the dock where our excellent person was waiting for us.  It could hardly have gone better.

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.

Super Fast Frame Rate

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One of the features that was added to the Canon EOS R3 via a firmware update was a ridiculously high frame rate mode.  The fastest frame rate in normal shooting is 30fps (which is clearly ridiculous itself for anyone that has been photographing for a long time).  The extra mode comes with limitations.  Once you start shooting, autofocus and exposure monitoring are suspended so you get a lot of shots with the same settings.  However, this does allow you to get 194fps!!!  Yes, that is not a typo.  It will only do this for a maximum of 50 frames but that is raw capture – not a jpeg.  You get to select how many frames are taken which I have to admit I didn’t realize until recently.  I was shooting with a limit of 10 frames for quite a while and wondering why.  I’ve fixed that now.

There are relatively few times when this mode is actually useful.  The viewfinder does black out when you use it so, if you are tracking something, a little bit of predictive guesswork is in order.  If you were shooting a baseball pitch being hit, this could be pretty handy.  I decided to use it on the Blue Angels pair crossing during Seafair to see how things work out.  The answer is pretty good.  I include a sequence of shots so you can see what even this frame rate gives you for two fast jets head on to each other.  A limited tool but one that could be utilized.  I have also been using it for very lower shutter speed experimentation but that will be another post.

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.