Tired Trekkers

Today Dar, Ryan, and I went up to Lynn Canyon with the cameras. I had my a99 out and was taking lots of trail photos, trying HDR and the like. I had the little walkabout though and just approaching this bridge I saw this photo.

Fun, Flash, and Frivolity

I am posting these photos here because this was the camera I got to use. So I went and stood right at the front. As I looked about I figured I was safe because people wouldn't dance too wild for fear of knocking over the old guy. Luckily I was right. I recently discovered Lindsey Stirling when a video of hers was posted on Facebook. I really enjoyed it and when I found out she was coming to Vancouver I had to go. I definitely wasn't disappointed. She is a great musician, fantastic dancer, and of course cute as button. I think the Vogue was a great venue for her. Her show was big, loud, and flashy yet she was able to keep it up close and personal with her audience. I hope she never loses that.

I wasn't permitted to take my big camera in (Mustang Sally). Fair enough, it's their show. Fortunately I had my little camera (Mr Ed) in my pocket. The RX100II got a little finicky at times and I would find myself changing settings that I didn't want to. Other than that it performed a lot better than I expected. Just as a side note I could see some folks taking video with their phone/cameras. Looking over their shoulders I was pretty amazed at some of the quality they were getting.

Walking About Dreaming About Flying About

I can't remember if it was a model my brother built or maybe just a picture but when I was a boy and saw the sharks mouth on the P-40 Warhawk (or Kittyhawk) to me it was just the best thing ever. I went on the spur of the moment to the Seatlle Museum of Flight. I was down at Pike Place wondering what else I might want to see and a little green sign on the freeway saying "Flight Museum" came to mind. I wasn't even sure what I was in for but had always wanted to go.





Curtiss P-40N Warhawk

"Curse you Red Baron!" If you ever watched or read the cartoon Peanuts you will know what I am talking about. The Fokker Triplane was favoured by Manfred Von Richtofen in which he racked up 19 of his 21 combat victories. I am not sure how many of those were Snoopy in his Sopwith Camel. There are no surviving original Fokker Triplanes. Apparently the last one which was flown by Richtofen was destroyed in WWII by allied bombing in a museum in Berlin. This reproduction was built between 1958 and 1972 then crashed and later rebuilt in 1990.                                                                                                            

             Fokker DR.1 Triplane (reproduction)

Here is a very unique airplane (click the link).Too bad it was on loan to Science City at Union Station in Kansas City. It would really be something to , um, not see.

They have a lot of displays about space right from a Mercury space capsule (I thought it was a 1/2 or 1/4 scale model, so tiny) to a space shuttle full scale mock up. That was huge.  Above the shuttle is the Hubble telescope. Actually both of them are.

One of the display buildings is the original Boeing factory building called The Red Barn. It was moved from it's original site to the museum on a barge by river. There are displays of the beginnings of flight and what the workshop may have looked like with it's tools and partially built airplanes.  In there I found this radial engine. I have always felt these were mechanical works of art in their own right.

Not quite sure the purpose of this was. I think it was designed to fly quiet. Thought it was cool though so I took a photo. I am afraid I started a bit late in the day so I was trying to rush through and see the planes and couldn't get much reading done.

"P51! Cadillac of the skies!" Christian Bale playing a young boy in a Japanese internment camp in World War Two as 3 P51 Mustangs tear up the airfield there. The movie is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by J. G. Ballard. The shot of the pilot waving to the boy actually happened. The airplanes in this museum do have ropes around them but they are low and right up to the airplanes so you can get close enough to touch them.







North American P-51D Mustang

Looking down at the cockpit and ammunition bay.




















I always thought the Navy Corsair was a graceful looking airplane with its gull wing. The wing was designed this way so it wouldn't need long landing gear struts for carrier landings. As you can see the wings were folding to save space on those aircraft carriers. 












 Goodyear FG-1D Corsair

Most of the facts in this blog post I gleaned from the museums web site. The site is worth a visit too but definitely go see the museum and take several hours which is what I will do next time. 

Faded Flowers

Late last year there was a fellow killed in a motorcycle accident at the intersection next to my home. After the accident his friends put up a sidewalk memorial with flowers and photos. They also held a couple vigils at the corner. I walk by there almost every day and at first I would stop often just to look. As time went on and the flowers faded I looked less and less. I had thought about this and other sidewalk memorials how they slowly disappear as people get on with their lives. One day I stopped and took some photos. I kept them on the computer with the intent of coming back a while later to work on them to try convey what this was and how it made me feel. Last night I did that and came up with this. I still wasn't sure I wanted to show it because to me it has a feeling of melancholy and I usually try to keep my posts light. Interestingly I went by today and noticed the pole the flowers were taped to had been cleaned up and these had been replaced with several bouquets of fresh flowers. Sad as this is it was nice to see.

 

Sidewalk Posers

Taking a picture was a lot easier than thinking of something interesting to say about them. I mean after all, they're pigeons. Guess it's a good thing this is a photography blog.
 

 

Interesting Angles

I noticed this on the sidewalk one day. I spent a few moments pondering what it was and why it was there. Now every time I go by I stop and wonder for a moment. It is one of those lifes little (Ok very little) mysteries. In the meantime I thought I could make a picture of it. 

 

Takin' It To The Street

As soon as I discovered street photography I knew it was a genre I loved. The immediacy of it, the intimacy, the spontanaety. I discovered it some time ago I've admired the photography I've seen since. I thought, "Ok I'm going to go out and do it". It isn't just that easy. It's taken me some time to cross the little barrier of getting photos of people who aren't expecting it. I've studied it, read how other photographers do it. I've tried to memorize their do's and don'ts but in the end I just had to get out the camera and walk up the street. Now here is another thing. I want to give myself experience with black and white photography. It's a different way of doing things so I will be shooting for b&w for a while.  Here are some examples.

 

  

  

  

  

 

I hope you enjoy these. It is new to me and I have to admit I am liking the process. So far.