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I have decided to suspend the use of this blog. Please check out my consolidated blog at Column Six.

September 3, 2011 - Vintage Aircraft Weekend

I attended an Air-to-Air photography class that was offered in conjunction with the Vintage Aircraft Weekend air show at Paine Field. The culmination of the class was a ride in a restored B-25D Mitchell medium bomber to photograph a World War II era fighter. The Vintage Aircraft Weekend is organized by the Historic Flight Foundation.

Here's a side view of the B-25 that shows the 2 window openings we were to shoot from. This North American B-25D Mitchell named "Grumpy" was originally built in 1943 and has been fully restored. It is now one of the beautiful vintage planes in the Historic Flight Foundation collection. More information about "Grumpy" can be found here.



Along with the photo mission our ride was the last flight of the Vintage Aircraft Weekend. After a few show passes over Paine Field we headed for Mount Baker.

The snows of Mount Baker in the background.



The Cascade mountain range in the background



Over the forests of Snohomish County



Banking over Puget Sound



There were four of us situated in the aft part of the plane. This compartment would have been the positions for the waist gunners and the top turret gunner. To allow for these types of flights the actual top turret mechanism has been removed. Although the plane is impressive on the ground it is surprising how little room there is. This photo is taken with a 17mm lens from the back of the compartment.




A view out the top turret



The pilot and co-pilot pose with another lucky passenger.



The F8F Bearcat was actually a last-minute substitute. The original subject plane was to be a P-51 Mustang.



A special plane that was at the show was a Boeing Model 40C that was originally built in 1925. It is the only one of it's kind.



Another beautifully restored vintage warbird.



One of the many formation fly-bys.

February 20, 2011 - Seattle from Kerry Park

I've been wanting to get back up to Kerry Park to capture the stereotypical Seattle sunset shot. The day started out promising with cold but clear weather. Unfortunately as the day wore on the clouds started creeping in. As we neared Seattle we could see that the distant clouds had already obscured Mount Rainier. While we couldn't get the perfect shot with the mountain in the background, it was still clear enough for a good cityscape.

As expected, the park was moderately crowded with obvious tourists, a few hardcore photographers, and not unexpectedly a wedding party. I had to hand it to the bride and the other women present for braving the bone-chilling cold. A bridal gown or semi-formal dress is certainly not the best choice for the conditions.

With an hour until sunset it was apparent that we weren't going to get the golden sunset light we had hoped for. Clouds were already masking the western horizon which would eventually block the sun as it set.

As long as we were there we had to make the best of it. Without the dramatic lighting or clear views of the mountains, I wasn't going to get the shots I had originally envisioned. This one was ok but nothing special.



One thing I had been wanting to experiment with was a technique known as High Dynamic Range (HDR). This technique has been used extensively and in some cases over-used and abused. I think this image was an improvement and didn't go over-the-top as some HDR images can.



Pushing things a bit more with this image.



Here's one with that definitive grungy, over-saturated HDR look.



Here's the obligatory night-time Space Needle image.



As if I couldn't already waste enough hours tweaking images to get them just right; now I have HDR as yet another time-sink to explore. Despite my initial wariness of HDR I am seeing the possibilities it opens up.

January 3, 2011 - Upper Skagit River

From late November until late February the upper Skagit River area is home to numerous Bald Eagles that migrate down from the North. Unfortunately that's also some of our rainiest and grayest periods of weather. While you can always see a number of these magnificent birds, the light and rain are not always conducive to photography. However if it's relatively dry I do try to make it up there.

On this trip up there were quite a few eagles along the river but they were usually too far off for decent photos. I had resigned myself to a few landscapes and headed back home. Along one stretch of the road I saw a couple of photographers with a large lenses. That's always a good sign. There's not a lot of places to pull over along that road but I managed to squeeze onto the shoulder and get my gear out.

Crossing the road, getting over the Jersey barrier and then scoping out the river below I saw an eagle feeding on a salmon carcass.






There were a number of seagulls hanging around hoping to snatch a morsel or two. Occassionally the eagle would vocalize ("screech", "caw", ???). These photos were taken from 95 yards away. (I know this because I picked up a laser rangefinder off of CraigsList.)



After a while a number of eagles appeared. Most of the newcomers seemed content to stand nearby and not approach.



Amazingly, a juvenile came up and snatched a large chunk of the salmon right out from under the first eagle. I was surprised that the first eagle didn't even attempt any resistance.



Watching the eagles landing gives you a unique perspective on the wingspan.



Here's a juvenile flaring out with talons in position.



I did capture two of the eagles scuffling. Actually not much of a tussle as the younger bird quickly submitted.






Another display of the eagle's wingspan.

Glacier National Park, Part 3

September 15, 2010

The morning was overcast but with promising breaks in clouds. Our first stop was to be Fish Creek. As we drove in a flash of red and gray darted across the road. While we didn't get a good look we convinced each other that it must have been a fox.

The skies made for very flat lighting but I did like this silhouette shot.



As we were heading back to the main road we saw what we assume was the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) we had seen earlier. Amazingly enough it was just sitting in the high grass just off the road. I stopped the car about 30 yards from him and we pondered what to do next. It turns out we had violated one of the prime rules in wildlife photography: always be ready. We had put our cameras away assuming we would slowly work our way up the Going to the Sun Road and focus on landscapes. As calmly as possible we grabbed cameras from the back seat. Unfortunately that was enough to spook the fox and all I got was this shot of him as he scampered off. Of course from that point on, we always had at least one camera at hand.



A bit disappointed that we had missed such a prime opportunity we continued on our way. But as the saying goes - sometimes a even blind pig finds an acorn. As we rounded a curve we spotted the fox again. Not wanting to spook him again I didn't want to get out of the car. Wendy was able to get some shots from her side but then was stopped dead when her memory card filled up. Of course her other cards were out of reach in the backseat. Having learned the hard way I always keep a couple of cards in my pants pocket. So she was able to continue shooting using one of my cards.











We proceeded up the Going to the Sun Road and found amazing landscapes at practically every turn. The clouds had dissipated even more allowing better light. Again we had to deal with a bit of haze over the distant views.



We stopped at the Lake McDonald Lodge and I grabbed this quick shot of a squirrel. It turns out there are at least 6 species of squirrels in the park. I have no idea which type this one was. Despite the technical issues with this shot I like it for some reason.



On the beach are these stacks of rocks. Why? We don't know and forgot to ask at the lodge.







More scenes on the Going to the Sun Road as we approached Logan Pass.







Coming down from Logan Pass and on the way to Rising Sun.



This is one of my favorite shots.



Somewhere in the next shot are some Mountain Goats. We had stopped because we had seen vehicles pulled over and people looking up-slope. We started talking to a couple that had set up a spotting scope. They said there were a number of goats but we certainly couldn't see them. They were nice enough to let us look through their scope and sure enough the goats were there. I have no idea how they were able to see those animals. Even with my large telephoto plus 1.4x tele-converter I couldn't get a decent shot of the goats.



In talking to the couple (who were from Texas) they said they had seen a number of goats, Bighorn Sheep and Grizzly Bears up in the Many Glacier area in the northeast part of the park. So after a quick lunch at Rising Sun we were off to Many Glacier.

To get to Many Glacier we had to leave the park at the St. Mary entrance and then re-enter at Many Glacier entrance by Lake Sherburne. We had just re-entered the park when we saw a number of cars parked on either side of the road. A few inquiries and we spotted a couple of Grizzlies (Ursus arctos horribilis). A sow and her cub were out away along the shore of the lake and at times venturing into the water.

Eventually they came inland and somewhat closer to us. I would guess that this cropped shot of the pair was taken with them about 200 yards away.



The pair worked it's way across the field and it was like watching any mother and her young. The cub was full of youthful exuberance and constantly "attacked" his mother. Here the cub looks like he's playing that age-old game of "I'm not touching you..."



It's easy to forget how powerful and dangerous these animals are when you watch them interacting like any mother and her offspring.



Nipping at her heels...



Further up the road was a moose (Alces alces) feeding in a pond. Once again I was amazed that anyone could have seen her so far away. She wasn't very cooperative and stayed mostly obscured.



We drove up to the Swift Current motel and Many Glacier Lodge but didn't get any notable photos. Returning back down the road we again stopped at where the moose had been. This time someone pointed out that there was a cow and her calf. Can you see the cow?



The calf was more in the open but always under the watchful eye of the cow.



We were soon back at the location where we had seen the grizzlies. As it was nearing dusk we thought we had a good chance to see more grizzlies or other animals feeding down by the waters edge. Eventually we saw some people looking not toward the lake but in the other direction. We were very surprised to see an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) perched in a dead tree. At it's feet was a fresh salmon kill.











Bouyed by our luck in capturing a variety of wildlife we decided to get up early the next day to try to catch animals feeding in the early morning.

It was still pitch black out when we opened the door of our cabin the next morning and were faced with a heavy downpour. Since we were up anyway we headed back to Many Glacier. The only wildlife we did see that morning were some White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We saw a couple bolt into some thick underbrush but they never showed themselves again. Ironically the best view of deer we had was a doe and a couple of fawns that were feeding in the campground. We were expecting that any second someone was going to pop out of a tent and we didn't know who was going to be more surprised.

Not having any further luck we settled for a hearty breakfast before heading back to Whitefish to catch our train back to Everett.



It was a bit of a whirlwind of a trip but we were very fortunate to have seen the number and variety of animals that we did. Just as impressive was the gorgeous scenery at every turn. I can easily see spending a lifetime trying to capture every angle and nuance of the park. Glacier National Park is definitely on our must see again list.