Thunderbirds

I live in Northern Virginia, close enough to Joint Base Andrews to easily visit for the biannual air show. I like photographic challenges and airplanes, so this is a good event for me.

I’ve done this enough times to know most of their routine, what to look for so I’m ready to shoot, and what kind of shots I like. Here are some of my favorites from the 2025 show.

Mirror Image Pass

Unusual To See #7 in the Formation

Vapor Trails

Head to Head

#5 Is Frequently Inverted

Head to Head

Calypso Pass

It was a very bright sunny day, making it really difficult to get good exposures of the white airplanes. I had to shoot everything really underexposed just to keep from blowing the whites out. There was also a lot of heat haze. And the wind blew the smoke back toward the crowd area to my right so most of my shots to the right were smoky. I keep trying, and failing, to get sharp shots of the head-to-head passes. When I see the solos converging from opposite ends of the runway, I pick one to follow and spray the shutter when they get close, usually getting both of them in one frame, but the one that I’m not following is always blurry, even at 1/3000 second shutter speed.

So, not my best work, but I got some keepers.

Civil War Century Ride

GPS Track of My Civil War Century Ride

Elevation Profile

That was hard!

I’ve liked riding bikes all my life. When I was raising my family, I would get out of the habit of riding, restart for a few years, then fall back out of the habit. Now that my children are gone, I’ve gotten back to cycling, riding more than ever. I’ve come to know some things about myself: I find long hours in the saddle to be very therapeutic - my mind wanders, and I enjoy a hard challenge - it gives me something for which to train. Without a goal, I don’t push myself to get fitter.

I’ve wondered for years whether I could actually complete the annual Civil War Century Ride. This event happens every September, starts and ends in Thurmont Maryland, wanders through mountains, and visits Gettysburg and Antietam, hence the name. And the route features 7000+ feet of climbing. I’ve done century rides before, but they were flat. I knew this would be a stretch goalwhen I decided last year to do this ride, and I trained all winter and spring. My training slacked some this summer, with two trips that interrupted my routine.

The route has a 1000 foot climb over 7 miles right at the start. I was afraid this would be too hard for me. I shouldn’t have worried. It was strenuous, but when I reached the top of the climb I was surprised, thinking, well that wasn’t so hard. But of course I did that climb with fresh legs and cool temperatures.

Then I had the first of many descents during which I reached speeds in the 30s. There were a few descents during which I reached the 40s. I would bend down into a sloppy aero position to try to preserve kinetic energy to coast at least a little up the next climb. During every descent, I was in the drops, hands on the brakes, ready to slow down, busy checking for hazards ahead and thinking, “Now I’m going to have to climb again.”

So it was up, down, up, down, all day. I was doing OK until the climb at mile 60. That one was grueling. The climb actually started at about mile 48, with a long, but relatively gentle ascent of about 300 feet to about mile 59. Then there was a brief ride through Smithsburg, a right turn onto Raven Rock Road, left onto Ritchie Road, all during a relentless climb of about 800 feet, with all of it steep, parts more than 10%. Coming as it did when it was hot and I had just climbed 300 feet and with 60 miles in my legs, I was pretty tired at the top.

Then came the relatively flat part of the route, about 30 miles with only 500 feet of climbing. The brief ride through the Gettysburg battlefield was cool. I rode right past Little Round Top, thinking about how close the Confederates came to winning at that spot, and how brutal the fighting was. And then it was just a long slog back to Thurmont. I reached the end, really tired, and glad to be off my bike.

It’s good that I downloaded the course GPX file and installed it on my cycling computer. The route was marked with spray-painted signs on the road to indicate turns. But it was very easy to miss them, especially when the turn came on a descent. It’s hard to see a small bit of green paint on the road when I’m descending at 30mph. I spent most of the day constantly looking at the computer to verify that I was still on course. This route had a lot of turns and I couldn’t trust that the riders ahead of me were doing the same course (there were shorter options) or that they were even on the course that they wanted.

The rest stops were just OK. There were lots of bananas and sliced peaches on offer. But there was also plenty of water and Gatorade.

The weather was OK. I would have liked for it to be a little cooler, but I can’t complain. The temperature at the start was about 70 and it was overcast and the wind was very light, but it cleared up after a couple of hours. It also warmed up and the direct sun made for some hot stretches. With about 20 miles to go I was worried that it might rain as clouds rolled in, but the rain seems to have passed to the east, and it got sunny and hot again, and the wind picked up. It was sunny and windy as I finished. The ice cream at the start/finish was wonderful.

This was a real challenge - a hard stretch goal; I’m glad I did it; I doubt I’ll ever sign up again for that kind of ride with so many climbs.

Final numbers: 103.6 miles, 7667 feet climbed, maximum speed: 49.9mph.

Six Pillars Century Ride 2025

GPS Track of Six Pillars Century Ride

It was windy!

Totals: 102 miles, 780 feet of elevation gained.

I’ve wanted to do this ride for several years in a row as an early season organized event, but had to cancel, either because of bad weather or, one year, I had just had major surgery. This year the weather was cool and clear, but very windy.

I drove to Cambridge early in the morning, claimed my rider packet, and started riding around 7AM. This was not a closed course, but traffic was very light. I and about 100 riders did the 100-mile course. The rest stops had limited selections of snacks, but plenty of water and Gatorade.

I spent the whole ride in brutal headwinds and gusting side winds and merciful tailwinds. The scenery varied among typical Delmarva pine forests, wetlands, and brief coastal views. I had never seen this part of the Maryland Eastern Shore; it was a nice exploration. There was very little shade. I was glad I was mostly covered. I ended up nearly sunburned on my wrists where my sun sleeves left a gap with my gloves: now I have weird dark stripes on my wrists.

It was a long slog and I finally got back to Cambridge. I missed the turn before the airport near mile 90 and, by the time I figured that out, I just looked at my phone to figure out the best route back to the course. It added maybe a mile to the ride.

Instrument error was obvious through the entire ride: my Garmin 530 bike computer regularly showed my elevation was below zero.

This was my third century ride, but the slowest. I’m glad I finally got to do it. I doubt I’ll volunteer for this windfest again.

Conowingo Dam

Every Thanksgiving weekend I go to Conowingo Dam to photograph bald eagles. But not this year: it was warmer than usual and I think the eagles weren’t migrating yet. But the Facebook group that I watch was showing a lot of activity at the dam, so I decided to go today.

One advantage of this later-than-usual trip is that the crowd was smaller. Not small, but smaller. I arrived at about 6:30 and the parking lot was half-empty. I went to my favorite spot on the rocks by the water. There were several gates open and a turbine was running all day. The wind was light and the temperature was near freezing. But the water was in a continuous wave action, splashing against the rocks much more than any time I can remember. The sky was initially cloudless, with a light overcast moving in later in the morning.

Bottom line: there was very little fishing activity. There was a handful of flyovers. There were a few chase events. And I shot one fight over a fish. So, not much to show.

It’s a bit early to be working on the nest…

Oops

One of several flyovers

Fighting over a fish

Red-tailed hawk

Sea Gull Century Ride 2022

On October 8, I rode in the Sea Gull Century cycling event that started and ended on the Salisbury University campus in Maryland. This was my second century ride of the year, and also my second ever.

Overall, this was a well-run event. The course was well-marked. The roads were in very good condition. The course is a circle, east of the city of Salisbury, on very flat terrain. The rest stops were well stocked with food and drinks. This is a popular event with clubs coming from far away to participate. The event was sold out.

The weather at the 7AM start was chilly and overcast and breezy. I wore a helmet liner, arm warmers, base layer, jersey, and gilet. I was especially glad for the gilet when it started raining after about mile 42. The rain lasted only a few minutes and the roads dried out over the next hour. The sun came out at about 11AM. I was finally able to take the arm warmers and gilet and helmet liner off at the last rest stop at mile 82.

Shortly after I made the last turn onto the road to Assateague Island, I was passed by two ambulances with sirens on. I soon arrived at the scene of the accident to which they were responding. I’m not one to linger and stare at an accident so I didn’t see much, but I did notice several bikes in the ditch and EMTs working on people who were out of sight. They were all gone by the time I came back past the same spot. This was the only accident of which I’m aware.

Speaking of Assateague, this was my first visit to the Maryland part of this island. The bridge climb was short and steep and easily the most prominent “terrain” feature of the ride. There were no horses around, probably because there were so many people, but there was a lot of horse shit. This was my favorite of the rest stops, with lots of room and food, right there next to the Atlantic Ocean.

I finished the ride under sunny skies and in gusting wind, riding through the tunnel, emerging to ride through a sparse crowd and cheerleaders cheering. I was really tired and ready to be done.

I was careful to take a few days off the bike before the event so I could start rested. Unfortunately, I hardly slept the night before, just turning over and over in bed. I had a COVID booster vaccination on Wednesday and, while I’ve had no serious reaction, my shoulder has been sore, my armpit is swollen, and my resting heart rate has been elevated ever since. I have no idea whether this contributed to my poor sleep, but I was not 100% when I started the ride.

I loaded up on calories the day before, and I ate before the ride. I wasn’t hungry but ate at each rest stop: I’ve never before had so many bananas in one day. I was especially fond of the Fig Newtons at the last rest stop. Because it was so cool, I didn’t sweat much and wasn’t thirsty, but I drank at the rest stops.

This was my second century ride, but my first was not a typical century. My first century, during RAGBRAI 2022, was a west to east ride with a near direct tail wind nearly the whole day. Also, there weren’t many pace lines in my first century, and the ones that were there were small. The Seagull Century is a circuit. And there are lots of club pace lines. I think the first one that passed me had 200 riders. The ones that followed were more like 20-50 riders. The rest stops were also different. During RAGBRAI, there were no designated rest stops, only pass-through towns where I could buy food and refill my bottles. The Seagull rest stops had bananas, bagels, cookies, and other snack food. So I stopped at each rest stop, as compared with RAGBRAI, during which I stopped when I wanted to. Now obviously I could have stopped anywhere I wanted during the Sea Gull, but I didn’t.

I was hoping to finish faster, but, given the wind, my lack of sleep, and the lingering effects of my COVID shot, I think I did OK. My final results: 101.0 miles, 1,004 feet of climb, 6:08 hours of moving time, 2,874 active calories.

Seagull Century Route

After the ride, I drove home and relaxed for the rest of the day. I laid down for a nap, but wound up sleeping for 12 hours.

Conowingo Dam

It's November. It's Thanksgiving Day weekend. It's time to visit Conowingo Dam.

Sadly the weather did not cooperate. The forecast called for cloudy skies, clearing about dawn, cool temperatures, and breezy conditions starting late morning. They got it right, except the wind picked up early. The uncomfortable conditions and rough water (preventing much fishing) led to my earliest exit ever in the many years that I've made the trip.

The parking lot was unusually empty, only about half full. The number of photographers was way down from almost every visit I've ever made to the dam.

I picked my favorite spot on the rocks near the water and there were hardly any other photographers or fishermen nearby. The rocks were especially slippery because they were covered by a thin layer of dirt turned to mud by the overnight rain.

I got very few shots because there really wasn't much close action. There were lots of eagles flying around the far shore, even some interesting eagle chases, but nothing close enough to photograph. Nevertheless, I did get a few keepers.

Bald Eagle in Sunlight with Dark Background

Bald Eagle with a Fish

Juvenile Flyover Before Sunrise

Conowingo Dam

It's November; it's time to go to the dam. The Facebook groups have lots of really good shots lately so I decided to go to the dam today. The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly getting worse so Exelon is not running shuttle service. Get a spot to park, or leave. I arrived at 5:30AM and there were only a few spots left. All of the spots on the concrete balcony were taken. All of the spots along the fence that were unobstructed by trees were taken. Even my preferred spot on the rocks by the water was lined with fishermen and photographers. At 5:30AM! I grabbed my gear and carefully scrambled on the rocks in the dark and found a spot. And I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the sun started to rise. I had a beautiful look at a mid-air eagle fish fight. It was really close. But it was still dim and in the direction of the sun; there was no way to shoot it. Overall, it was a pretty slow day. There were lots of eagles in the trees behind the parking lot, and a few dozen on the rocks on the far side of the river. But most of the action was the constant black vulture flying. Even the cormorants were reduced in numbers. However, I did get some keepers. I was glad that the last sequence before I left for the day resulted in some usable shots where an adult eagle caught a fish and a juvenile was on his tail to steal it before the fish was even out of the water.

Conowingo Dam

Yesterday I made my first trip of the year to Conowingo. I timed my arrival to be about 6:15AM, thinking that was overkill and I would arrive WAY early. I got one of the final few parking spots. I dressed with four layers and a cap and gloves to keep warm. I should have brought a balaclava. OK, even after this many trips I was underprepared.

Last year was a bust because of high water levels. I've been watching the water discharge reports and the water level is way down. So I went to my favorite spot at the water's edge. I like this spot because it's less crowded, provides unobstructed views of the water and fishing action, and it's a great low perspective on eagles as they catch fish. I was there only an hour or so before the alarms sounded and the water started rising, inundating my spot. I had to retreat up onto the rocks. This left my tripod unusable because, even though I could set it up, there was no room to move behind it to follow action. I spent the rest of the day shooting handheld. Which meant my hands got cold, even with gloves on. About 10:30, the wind picked way up, raising a chop on the water and making me even more cold. Choppy water means less fishing. I went home.

Overall, I'm not happy with my results. Here are a few photos from the day.

Lens Coat is Popular

Along the Fence

Low Pass

Staring at Me

Contrast against the Rocks on the Island

Lessons from the day:

• Take more warm clothing. I can always take it off if I'm hot but I'll shiver (like yesterday) if it's colder than expected.
• Check exposure settings more frequently. I had a timer set to remind me very 20-30 minutes, but I failed to think about ISO when I checked, so I wound up blowing the best shots out.

Joint Base Andrews Air Show 2019

It was bad weather for the air show this weekend. So bad that they cancelled the Sunday flying on Saturday. I knew the skies would be overcast, getting darker as the day progressed, and photography would be a challenge. But hey, I didn't get a new camera to sit at home. I didn't want to miss a chance to see the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels on the same day.

I arrived in time to see the Thunderbirds taxi out and take off. They did the high show, and disappeared into the clouds a few times. My photos are not my best capture of this team. I should have learned last time that 1/1600 is too slow to freeze the close passes. I saw the maneuver developing, tracked one plane, then fired away when they were about to pass each other. Note to self: read the previous blog post for this event next time to refresh my memory about lessons learned.

Head On Pass

 I was pleased with the new camera. Several times I fired away on continuous high. It tracked focus very well and never filled the buffer.

Mirror Image

 Of course number 5 spends a lot of time upside down.

Number 5

 After the Thunderbirds, there were a few other acts, of which the Mustang show was my favorite.

P-51 Mustang

When I was in high school, I lived near an Air Force Base that had a wing of A-7 Corsair aircraft. I saw them flying around all the time. Then the Air Force switched that wing's aircraft to the A-10. I recall the first time I saw one: it's really ugly. And slow. And did I mention ugly? Well, over time I began to appreciate it. It's relatively quiet. It flies gracefully and is highly maneuverable. And several times I was able to witness it firing the Gatling gun during demonstrations or just target practice. Now decades later, I saw it again, this time flying at the air show. It's not like the F-22 and F-15 demonstrations that I've seen in previous years at the show. It doesn't have the raw speed and noise that I can feel in my chest. There are no afterburners to kick its acceleration. In contrast, it flew quietly, mostly stayed right over the field, and made lots of close passes. And it's still ugly.

A-10 Warthog

Finally, the Blue Angels closed the flying out. I haven't seen them in a very long time and it was worth the wait for them at the end of the day's flying. I was disappointed that Fat Albert did not fly. But the jets put on a great show.

Blue Angel Solos Take Off

Note to self: higher shutter speed for the head on passes.

Head-On Pass

There were a few chances at an afterburner shot; sadly it seems I always had to shoot through the trailing heat haze.

Afterburner Photographed through Heat Haze

 And here's my favorite formation shot of the show.

In Tight

Mist forms in the low pressure above the lifting surfaces.

Vapor Forms Above the Wings

 And finally, here's an awful shot, but it shows the engines on afterburner. For many of their maneuvers, they turned smoke on, and with the light breeze it settled at ground level and I had to pass on many shots just because there was too much smoke to shoot through. I did take this one, shot through a thick cloud of air show smoke as they trailed their own smoky exhaust and exited on afterburner.

Afterburners Lit

It was a good show, even though they did the low show. Hoping for better skies next time.

One More Trip to Conowingo

Once again I had Friday off from work and the weather was good and I went to the dam. Parking this time of year is scarce there, so I left home really early and arrived at 6:20 and got one of the few remaining parking spots. More importantly the spot I wanted by the fence to shoot from was already crowded. I had to settle for the concrete balcony.

I wore 3 layers of shirts and my army Goretex field jacket and was still cold. The temperature was only about 35F but the wind and proximity to water made it uncomfortable.

I've never seen so many eagles before. They weren't in the trees by the parking lot or on the electrical towers, but they were everywhere on the far shore. At times there were swarms of eagles flying around. All day long there were eagle fishing events and attempted fish thefts. And they were all way too far away for good shots. But I got some keepers in spite of the distance, and here are a few of them.

Sadly I did a poor job with the fish fights. Most of them happened quite far away with busy backgrounds. Keeping them in focus and well-exposed at that distance was a job that I had trouble with.

Neither Bird Gets the Fish

Seagull Chases Eagle

 The seagull-eagle chase was a first for me. The eagle snatched the fish moments before this shot and as the eagle climbed to go find a place to eat, this gull chased it around in a few circles.

Fish Fight

Fish Fight

There were frequent eagle frenzies on the opposite shore. I think most of them happened when an eagle dropped a fish on the rocks, resulting in dozens of other eagles converging.

And this one wins the prize for the biggest fish that I saw all day.

Quite a Big Fish

This Year's Crowd Shot

In summary, I clearly need to work on my technique. I came away with way too many out-of-focus and over-exposed shots. I've been shooting in manual exposure mode since I got the new lens over the summer. I'm convinced it's the right way to go and I'm committed to sticking with it, but I get a little forgetful about checking exposure frequently as the light changes. The lens has trouble tracking focus with a busy background; I have to get better at recognizing when I can get away with acquiring focus and then LET GO of the button because the action is far away and the birds aren't necessarily leaving the plane of focus. I'm also still getting used to shooting from a tripod, and that's a challenge when the action is close and moving fast.