Ride of the Patriots 2019

Memorial Day weekend in DC means Rolling Thunder. I've been seeing lots of motorcycles for several days leading up to the event. I made my plans to set up on a bridge over Interstate 66 to photograph the Ride of the Patriots, which is a group of riders who line up in Fairfax and who then ride to the Pentagon to join the Rolling Thunder riders. Well, I botched it:

1. I got there too late; the best spots on the bridge were taken and I had an obstructed view of the road as a result.
2. I somehow managed to get my camera into single focus mode and couldn't figure out how to get it into continuous focus mode. It's not obviously marked on the camera. No problem, I thought, I'll just look at the manual...
3. But I had left my phone in the car, and I'd lose my (bad) spot if I left to get my phone, on which I could read the camera manual.

OK, I had to improvise. I basically picked a spot on the road, then focused on that spot, then waited for motorcycles to enter the frame. I managed to get some keepers after all.

Nice Shirt

The ride is dominated by men. Almost all of the women in the ride were hanging on to a male rider. At least that's the way it has been in previous years, and this year was no exception. But, surprisingly large numbers of women rode this time. With thousands of bikes going by, I look for a few things that stand out to be worth shooting. Beards, tattoos, facial expressions, gestures, children, helmets, the rare female rider, ...

What a Beard!

Of course the cops were busy providing traffic control. So I guess you could say they were in the ride too.

Fairfax County's Finest

There are so many back seat riders using their phones, I wonder how many phones get dropped on the road during the ride...

Selfie?

Another theme this year was the number of smokers. There were lots of cigars, and a few cigarettes.

Got a light?

This guy's working on a painful sunburn. Maybe he burned his face riding to Fairfax the day before?

Red Face

This kid is hanging on to the flag and his rider, maybe his/her father? I saw lots of women riding as passengers, and a few children, and even a dog.

Hold on Tight!

I guess makeup was important for this rider. It seems most of the women riders show more skin than the men. Talk about skin abrasion if she falls.

Lipstick

And finally, here's a nice smile to end the series of photos:

Smile!

This year the riders did a poor job of keeping a consistent distance from the bike ahead, and consequently large gaps opened up. Toward the end of the ride, the motorcycles were going by really fast to close the gaps and it became hard to get good shots as they whizzed by. I eventually just put my camera down and watched the show.

The organization that organizes Rolling Thunder announced that this was the last one; they're not doing this anymore. Well, we'll see. Maybe the local chapters will figure out how to keep it going, maybe with smaller groups of riders. Or maybe the national chapter will settle their grievance with the Pentagon over costs and perceived sleights. But maybe this was my last chance to shoot these people and to hear the deep rumble of thousands of bikes.

One last bit about my camera... In spite of my issue with getting it into the right mode to follow objects while maintaining focus (and I've since read the manual and fixed that setting), I'm loving my new camera. I'm stunned by the high quality of the photographs, the ability to do aggressive cropping and still have a nice, sharp photo, and the fact that I've had it for a few months now and still haven't filled the buffer.

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.

Cherry Blossoms

Well, it's that time of year again. The cherry blossoms at the tidal basin are blooming. I hustled over after work one afternoon and got caught up in the crowds.

Cherry Blossoms and Crowds

 It was overcast all day, but some sunshine came through at times.

Washington Monument and Cherry Blossoms

 The Jefferson Memorial still looks pretty bad. The dark stuff is still growing on the roof and the area in the photo below where the people are walking regularly floods, leaving muddy pools to walk through even on the sidewalks.

Jefferson Memorial

 The blossoms were at peak, with most of the flowers in the white stage, and only a few trees into the pink phase.

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

 Back into the gloomy overcast, I got a hint of dramatic skies.

Washington Monument and Cherry Blossoms

There was a steady stream of helicopters flying over. I think every pilot wanted to buzz the basin. When I heard them coming, I quickly switched to a slower shutter speed to get a shot with blurred rotors. Marine One flew over twice, although I think it was a training flight, not a flight with the president aboard. So I guess it wasn't actually Marine One, but a VH-3D Sea King configured for the president's use.

VH-3D Sea King, Sometimes Called Marine One

 And here's another helicopter, this time a Blackhawk, also buzzing the crowd.

VH-60N Whitehawk

I wanted to go at dawn, but between work and driving my son around to his events and cloudy skies, I wasn't able to get the cool golden hour shots that I like. Maybe next year.

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge with New Camera

The weather has lined up to mostly prevent me from going to the refuge to shoot. Cold doesn't bother me; rain and gray clouds to. It seems every weekend this year has been wet and gloomy.

I have good camera gear, but one annoyance persisted: the buffer capacity on my camera is too small. Too many times I've had a bird approaching, where I take a few shots to at least get something, and then the shot keeps getting better, and better, and as I'm firing away, the buffer fills up and my shot rate drops from several frames per second to only about one or two while the camera writes images to the card. I miss the best part of the sequence because the buffer is full. Then I find myself trying to budget my shots to keep capacity available, but maybe the bird turns and I could have gotten more shots while I was deliberately holding off. The same thing happens when I photograph my son's rowing races. I have to budget shots while they approach with their backs to me, then I want to fire away for the side shots with their bodies and faces in profile when they pull close, and I want to keep firing as they pull away, with their faces in view. But again, the buffer fills and I miss shots as they leave.

OK, enough whining. I bought a new camera body and I've been waiting for a chance to shoot. I got there at dawn just as the gate opened and before the sun rose.

But now the roads are closed at the refuge because of eagle nesting. OK, nothing new there, but to make matters worse, bad weather washed debris up on shore and washed the road out, leaving my favorite part along the shore unpassable and marked off limits. I can't even approach the eagle nest by the water.

So half of the roads are unavailable. But, it wasn't a total loss.

There's a spot on Easy Road where there is swamp on either side. I noticed ripples in the water, and stopped to see what caused them. It was a river otter. I've visited that refuge dozens of times over many years and never seen one before. Sadly, in the gloom, obscured by bushes, and only feet away, it was too close to photograph. I got a pretty good look at it as it was on land, but then it saw me and jumped into the water and swam away.

I saw several eagles and ospreys, though nothing worth photographing. I did come away with some shots of deer and a white-throated sparrow.

White-Throated Sparrow

White-Tailed Deer

White-Tailed Deer

I still have some work to do to get used to the new camera. It's way better than my old one but requires way better technique to get sharp photos.

Papakolea Beach

My son and I made the trek to Papakolea Beach today. This beach has sparkling green sand because the surrounding rock contains olivine. It was an hour-long drive from our place in Kailua-Kona down to South Point, followed by a walk along the coast. The walk was three miles over uneven terrain, and it was hot, extremely windy, and dusty/dry because it's a desert, right along the Pacific Ocean coast. And because it's a desert, there was only dry grass, no trees, no shade. My son and I sunburn easily; we repeatedly applied sunscreen and he still came away with sunburned arms. I fared better.

This is a small beach

Red Boulder in Green Sand

Green/Brown Sand

This shot shows the whole beach

From a distance, the sand looks brown. Up close, it's absolutely a sparkling green. There were lots of people on the trail, and a few trucks driven by locals who charged tourists for the ride to/from the beach. So, long walk, uncomfortable conditions, cool, unique beach, and it was worth the trip.

Nene

Last year on Maui my son and I hiked through the Haleakala crater. It was miles of arid, desolate landscape, walking on loose cinders. Eventually the footing became more solid in the part of the crater that gets much more rain. We reached a grassy area with a park service hut, which campers can rent. As we rested, a pair of Hawaiian geese, or nenes, to use the Hawaiian word for the birds, walked up to us. A third joined shortly thereafter, only to be shooed off by the first two. I left my heavy DSLR behind for this long hike and only had my phone to photograph them. Ever since that encounter, I've wanted to photograph them properly.

Well, on this trip to the big island, I've had my chance. While visiting Punalu'u beach, I saw several nenes along the side of the road by a golf course. I stopped the car, got my camera, and spent several minutes with them.

Nene

 When I first saw them years ago (during yet another Hawaiian trip), I thought they looked like the Canada Goose. I think I've read that the two species are related, with the theory that the nene is a divergent species after vagrants landed in and stayed in the islands. Their feet are only partially-webbed because they no longer need to swim. And those bands on their necks are unique.

Distinctive Neck Pattern

In fact, I made a point of trying to capture some neck detail in some of the photos. The bill also seems shorter than that of the Canadian goose.

Banded Legs

As with just about every endemic animal on Hawaii, the population crashed with the arrival of Europeans, and these animals are protected by law. The active conservation program includes capture and banding, which has obviously happened to this bird. In fact, every nene I've seen had banded legs, except for the one shown in the first photo above.

The nenes that I saw on Maui, and these on the big island, seemed to have no fear of humans, so it was easy to get quite close to them (but not too close, because that would be harassment, which is illegal). The birds on Maui approached to within a few feet of my son and me as we sat on a bench. These on the road by the golf course were also curious, looking at me and even approaching me as i photographed them.

Green Sea Turtles

I'm on a trip to Hawaii's Big Island. I've been here before, but was disappointed by my bad luck finding the famous Green Sea Turtles. I'm having much better luck this time. Punalu'u Beach, famous for its black sand, is a spot for frequent turtle basking. We stopped for a side trip while driving past. When we arrived, there were dozens of people on the nearby beach, standing near a pair of turtles.

Basking on Punalu'u Beach

There's not a lot of action when they're basking. I spent a few minutes photographing and watching and moved along, happy to have finally seen them.

Later during this trip I visited a beach near Kailua-Kona. There were four turtles swimming in tidal pools. Their shells were easy to spot in the shallow water. Occasionally one of them would raise a head to breathe. But it wasn't possible to get good photographs because all I'd see was a bit of the shell. I wish I had brought a polarizing filter. Farther along on the sandy beach, I found a pair of turtles on the sand.

Basking on the beach at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park

One of the turtles had the number 14 painted on its shell; there was no number on the other one. Again, not much action, other than the man in a ridiculously colorful and tight Speedo who came hustling up to us as my son and I approached the turtles. I think he was about to berate us for turtle harassment until he realized that we were keeping a respectful distance from the turtles. He stood there silently, pretending to watch the turtles when in fact he was watching us, and finally after a few minutes he went back the way he had come, having never said a word to us. Maybe we disappointed him by giving him no reason to scold us.

Green Sea Turtle

My son and I sat on the sand about 20 feet away from the turtles and just enjoyed the setting sun and the breeze. The turtles would occasionally move their heads and flippers and eyelids. One of them finally opened its eyes long enough for me to get a shot.

Eyeing Us

There are warning signs on every sandy beach that I've visited here informing people of the requirement to stay away from these large, endangered animals. I was able to get some very tight shots of them using my 300mm lens from a respectful distance.

On the Rocks

I returned to the same beach near Kailua-Kona for a total of three sunset visits. I saw turtle number 14 on all three trips. Each time, there were several turtles in shallow water, in pools in the lava rock. On my last trip, the tide was out, revealing much more rock and much more sand. There were at least six turtles swimming in the shallow pools, including number 89 and number 101, as well as several that were not numbered.

Green Shell? Or Green Slime on the Shell?

They mostly just rested motionless, with only occasional eyelid opening or head movements. Even in the water there wasn't much movement, just slow movement looking for and eating plants. I could see them feeding in the clear water in the shallow pools.

Fleeting Eye Openings

 This turtle below was resting on the rocks, unlike all the previous times when I'd seen turtles on the sand. This was also a cloudy evening; they weren't soaking any heat in.

On the Rocks

Green Sea Turtles ingest a lot of salt water. Their bodies have the ability to remove the excess salt through glands near their eyes. When they've been out of the seawater for a while, the salt dries and cakes below their eyes, making for a messy mixture of salt and sand on their faces.

Salty Sandy Face