Museum of Flight – Again…

27. May 2016 · Write a comment · Categories: General, Photography · Tags:

I know I’ve been to the Museum of Flight a few times, and yes I know that I keep taking the same pictures.  But here’s the thing, I don’t care, I love the place 🙂

Last weekend we went back again as we had family in town and as usually it was fantastic.  Of course many of the plains remain the same and some don’t change position but it’s always to try and get a different perspective or a new shot.

As usual I turned up with a tripod (much to the frustration of other photographers who didn’t bother) and got some great shots.  In total I took 400 pictures (or just over) and out of those ended up with 50 I really like.  I won’t bore you with all 50 here :-), so I just picked 10 to share.

We also went to a new “Space” exhibit and went inside a space shuttle – which is huge!  Unfortunately they don’t let you go in the cabin (which would have been fun) but it’s still pretty impressive just how massive the thing is.  We also went into Air Force One, or at least the version of Air Force One that Kennedy used.  I always think it’s fun to check out where Jacky O took a crap 🙂

The cockpit image image is actually Air Force One and this came out well when you consider I shot this through a perspex screen.

They also have a great bridge that spans the major road by the Museum, that links some of the buildings together, and while on the bridge Abi did one of her cheer moves (called a Scorpion I think) so I shot that and like the image with the bridge disappearing behind her – so at least that’s a new pic.

There was also one pic where I lied on the floor looking straight up – people were walking past looking at me like I’m an idiot (which of course I am), but the image came out great – love that one too.

Another one I liked was a closeup of an Engine.  It’s a pretty old engine full of brass pipes and tubes but again came our really well.

Anyway a really nice few hours out, if you haven’t been I really recommend it.

Blackbird’s Bottom – Museum of Flight

05. July 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

Back on February 17th I posted a picture of the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane that was taken at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.  Here is a link to the posting SR-71 Blackbird.  The image I shot was the typical kind of picture you’d expect.  Taken from the front, just above the plane so you saw it in all its glory.

However while there, I saw another opportunity for an interesting picture. This time from the other end and underneath.  I stood behind the plane, got the tripod and shot the image below, of the planes underbelly.  There was a lot of orange light highlighting the plane and I hoped it would create a nice image.

When I composed the image there were a lot of people walking about and I really didn’t want any of them in the image.  So I decided to take lots of pictures and then splice them together in Photoshop using parts of images with no people and in them and then produce a clean people free photograph.

The end result came out (I think) really well.  The plane looks super cool and there are no people in shot.  The lights under the plane came our really well too and lit up the plane to create a great image.

Today the guys got hold of some sprinkled cookies.

 

Spitfire Mk IX – Museum of Flight

23. May 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

I haven’t posted a plane in a while so here you go (I looked back at my other aircraft postings and I say this every time – I’m clearly starting to repeat myself – sorry).  This shot was taken in the World War II exhibit at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.  If you haven’t visited this museum and you get the chance, go for it.  It’s a very cool place.  It’s located at Boeing Field (where they build the Boeing Jumbo Jets) and really is for all the family.

The museum has a number of different exhibit areas; there’s the main floor that has lots of commercial aircraft, a space exhibit area with information on space craft and the different NASA missions, a World War II area where you can see a number of old planes from the era and finally an outside exhibit area where you can view and walk in some old planes like JFK’s Air Force One jumbo (yes you can see where Jacky Onassis had a poo).  They used to have a Concord there and a Space Shuttle but I think they may have gone now.

So today’s plane is a 1944 Spitfire Mk IX.  When the Spitfire first came out in 1936 it was one of the fastest planes on the planet and four short years later held the German Luftwaffe (that’s the German Air Force) at bay in the Battle of Britain.  Ironically this plane probably stopped the invasion of the United Kingdom and arguably enabled the Allies to win the war.

The Museum’s Spitfire was built at Castle Bromwich in early 1944. Assigned to a fighting squadron by May, and was flown in support of the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944.  So this really is a piece of history.

Today Carter decided to do some painting, here he is just finishing his picture – pretty good eh?

Goodyear F2G-1 Super Corsair – Museum of Flight

02. April 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

It’s been a while since I posted a plane, so tonight I’m posting another shot from the Museum of Flight.  This is the Goodyear F2G-1 a really cool plane.  I remember going to the Museum a while ago with a friend and took a picture of this plane and it looked terrible.  At the time I hadn’t learnt how to photograph HDR so the image was blown out in some places and overly dark (under exposed in others).

When I went back in January and took this picture I’d perfected a lot of the process and was able to get a much nicer picture.

This plane is positioned in the corner of the main exhibit area and is surrounded by glass (as you can see) and this makes it quite hard to get a good shot.  But thanks to a tripod and some patience I think this came out really well.  The paint color is a deep green and the light through the window really brought that out.

Tonight our Halo hero’s decided to draw around each other – no, I have no idea why either!

Stephens Akro – Museum of Flight

08. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags:

It’s been a while since I posted a plane, so tonight my picture of the day is the Stephens Akro. This is a cool little plane that’s made of wood and was designed and built for aerobatics. Not sure I’d want to loop the loop in a wooden plane but in the late 1960’s this was what all the pilots were after.

I took this shot as the plane is hanging on its side by a balcony overlooking the main exhibit area in the Museum of Flight. From the balcony you get a great shot of the Akro from the top. Anyway I think it’s a cool image.

Looks like we have some nice weather here right now so this weekend I’m heading out with my camera to get some pictures.

I had hoped that my new Nikon D4 would be here by now but they haven’t even shipped it yet, so I have no idea when it will arrive. In the interim I’ll just have to struggle through with my current gear. But when that camera arrives I will tell you all about it.

Lisa went out this evening so I had to provide dinner.   So we had pizza.   I turned my back for five minutes and Carter and Master Chief got in there.

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