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Hard at work preparing for the 3rd annual Wings and Wheels Festival at Downsview Airport in Toronto. Presented by the Toronto Aerospace Museum and Parc Downsview Park,the festival doesn’t open to the public until Saturday but I’ve already spent 2 days helping to get everything set up.
Today was media day and the professional photographers wanted a shot that explains what Wings and Wheels is all about. Luckily,I got to tag along behind them. (Nikon D80 f11 1/800 second) A term that I’ve seen used in books and on photographer’s forums is “Tack Sharp”. It refers to a photo that is so well focused that it is,well,sharp as a tack. I have significant difficulty getting clear focus when working in manual mode but I know that this is the best way to get it right. Automatic focus is close but never 100% right. Wearing bifocals doesn’t help and moving targets make the job that much harder. Once in a while I get it right.
This swan was gliding across Rapperswil harbour last Friday and I just happened to have the 70-200 lens on the D80. I managed to get the correct aperture,shutter speed and (most important) focus before he turned. (Nikon D80 f5.6 1/4000 sec 200mm Photoshop:minor level correction)
(Nikon D80 f5.6 1/200 second) Just finished watching a program on the History Channel called “The Immortal Beaver”. It centered around the reconstruction of a DeHavilland Beaver that was built for the US government back in the 60′s and had lain in the Arizona desert for decades. As the project progressed,I realized that I saw this actual aircraft last year at the 60th anniversary celebration for the Beaver during the Wings and Wheels Festival at Downsview Airport. Here’s “Olivia”after her rebirth as a Turbo Beaver performed by Viking Air of British Columbia. She’s a beauty! This year’s festival runs this weekend (May 24-25) and I’ll be there as a volunteer for the Toronto Aerospace Museum which is housed in the very facility where Olivia was born. For comparison,here’s what she looked like when they found her.
(image by Hugh Mullen)
Of course today’s pick would come from Switzerland
The sun sets on Lake Zurich. Taken in the scenic town of Rapperswil on a warm May evening. (Nikon D80 f11 1/1000 sec) Slept in my own bed last night. Long,long trip home from Switzerland with a couple of opportunities to do some planespotting.
(Nikon D80 f5 1/800 sec) Had almost 3 hours to kill at Heathrow Airport in London so out came the camera. Unfortunately,the weather was lousy with washed out light caused by the constant rain. Here’s a British Midlands Airbus A319 climbing out. Couldn’t actually see the runway so I only had a couple of seconds to grab shots as it accelerated out. The weather was much better in Zurich as seen by this shot of a Swiss Airlines A320 as it lifts off.
(Nikon D80 f4.5 1/1600 sec) Aviation photography is very challenging. Security restrictions make taking decent photos more a product of good luck than anything else. To get this one,I had to find a window in the departures area that had decent sightlines without glare from the terminal lights. The camera was set to continuous shooting and this was the best result from 5 shots. Lots of looks from other passengers as well as the evil eye from a passing security guard.
I had lots of time to kill so I opted to take a ferry up Lake Zurich instead of the usual train trip. We were blessed with perfect weather all week and today was no different. After the horrid winter we went through,to be able to sit on a boat in short sleeves was pretty close to heaven. The entire trip,including a number of stops,takes about 2 hours and costs no more than the train. The Swiss transportation system should be the model for North America. If you build it,they will come. Here we’re pulling into the town of Stafa. An open air bistro is right at the dock and can just be seen at the far left.
I’ve been uploading pictures all week to Flickr. They’re untouched and still need some work but I think they convey the beauty of Switzerland quite well.
(Nikon D80 f4.5 1/250 second) The meetings are being held at our offices high above Lake Zurich. During a break yesterday,I took a few photos like this. The town across the lake on the right side is Rapperswil where we’re staying.
This quaint cottage is actually the location where our meetings are taking place. It’s been converted to offices and we’re in the basement that has been converted into office space. (Nikon D80 f3.5 1/50 second)
Hello from the shores of Lake Zurich. Rapperswil is a beautiful town. I’ve already taken over a 100 shots. Just a quick one to show that there’s still snow in the mountains. In just over 8 hours,British Airways will carry me on the long trip to Zurich. This is my 11th trip to Switzerland and it’s a beautiful country. There’s a couple of hundred pictures on my Flickr pages and there will probably be at least another hundred added by the time I get back. Yes I’ve got pictures of cows. Yes I’ve got pictures of mountains. Who knows,I might even take more. This time,we’re staying in the old town of Rapperswil which is located at the far end of the lake from the city of Zurich. Supposedly it has a castle and an old wooden bridge. I’m staying in an old hotel it must be because the rooms don’t have bathrooms,each floor shares a communal commode. I’ll try to update a few pictures each day but if you’re really interested,you can see all my Swiss pictures here and here. Had to make a quick day trip to Montreal today on business. Leaving this evening to return home,I saw this beautiful KLM MD-11 starting it’s trip to Amsterdam. I usually forget that my Blackberry phone has a camera but I came to my senses in time to catch this gorgeous aircraft bathed in late afternoon sun.
(Research In Motion (RIM) Blackberry 8310 camera phone) | |||||
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