Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk

July 18, 2009
Last night I participated in a worldwide event called Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk. There were over 30,000 photographers of all skill levels that met in groups of 50 in over 900 cities around the world. Many cities like Seattle had multiple gatherings, each meeting in a different location around the city.

Our location was Fremont, which includes such notable characters as the Fremont Troll (above) and a statue of Lenin, previously displayed in Poprad, Czechoslovakia. We strolled down to the canal that leads to the Ballard locks, shot the rocket that commemorates Fremont being discovered to be the center of the universe. We shot the Fremont Library building and wandered past the statue of JP Patches and his sidekick Gertrude along with several other quirky Fremont locations.

The one thing I did not like about the event was my own fault. I am generally a pretty quiet guy (my kids might not always agree with that assessment), but it's true and I have a tough time being gregarious in group settings. So, true to form I did not really talk to anyone and therefore did not enjoy the event as much as I had hoped. I am going to have to continue to work on that.

All in all though it was interesting and maybe I'll try it again next year.

Birthday Balloon Ride

May 31, 2009
Teresa bought us a hot air balloon ride for my birthday this year and it was spectacular. I have been wanting to go up in a balloon for some time and thought it was a very cool birthday present.

We arrived at the Airial Hot Air Balloon Company building at 6:00AM (30 minutes early) due to our previous experience at The Great Prosser Balloon Rally. I wanted to get pictures of them setting up... I didn't know they were going to wait until we all arrived before they got started. So, we went and got a coffee and enjoyed the morning. 6:30 (our appointed departure time) came and went. Not all of the people who had signed up for the mornings ride had showed. We waited until almost 7:00 when a lady and her son drove up with Starbucks in their hands! I don't know about the rest of you, but when I'm running late I am not going to drive through a Starbucks (regardless of how much I love coffee). At any rate, we took off for the launch point a couple of miles away around 7:00.

Our pilot gave us a full rundown on the history of hot air ballooning on the way and it was pretty fascinating.

After experimenting with unmanned balloons and flights with animals, the first tethered balloon flight with humans on board took place on October 19, 1783 with the scientist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, the manufacture manager, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon and Giroud de Villette, at the Folie Titon in Paris. The first free flight with human passengers was on November 21, 1783. King Louis XVI had originally decreed that condemned criminals would be the first pilots, but de Rozier, along with Marquis Francois d'Arlandes, successfully petitioned for the honor. [Wikipedia]

There were 5 of us in each of two balloons (including the pilot) and each balloon got a different ride. The other balloon pilot decided to stay rather low and follow a breeze back toward the Snohomish Airport. Ours decided to go up high and see if there was an airstream there. The other balloon meandered along and did make it to the airport, but never really got higher than a couple of hundred feet. Ours, on the other hand reached 4200 feet before the pilot determined there wasn't any moving air up there and it was too late to try and find a stream of air lower to the ground. We landed back in the same field we took off from.

The view from 4200 feet is tremendous. It was quiet, peaceful and breathtaking to be at that altitude without the roar of an airplane engine to distract you. Which reminds me, a small plane flew under us at one point and would have made an interesting picture, but I missed it. I would imagine that the unpredictable nature of hot air ballooning means that if we do it again we will have an entirely different experience. I think we might have to test that theory someday.

The Great Prosser Balloon Rally

September, 2007
Prosser, Washington is in the southeast corner of the state on the dry side of the state. We had read about The Great Prosser Balloon Rally in the AAA magazine and thought it might be a fun weekend. Of course, one of the caveats of a balloon rally, regardless of where it happens, is the takeoff time. Dawn is the normal balloon takeoff so you have to get to the launch field before dawn to see all of it. Another fact to contend with is the weather, especially here in Washington. They often don't know if they are going to launch until just before time to set up. Rain is fairly predictable, but wind plays a big part in the event and too much wind is not a good thing.

There are typically launches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings with a Night Glow at the high school football field on Saturday evening, but since we had to work Friday we drove over Friday night and got a hotel. One thing... get your hotel reserved early. We waited too long and had to stay in a less than optimum location some miles from Prosser. The Saturday morning launch was scheduled for 6:30, so we were out the door by 5:30. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful morning and it was.

There was a lot of activity with over 30 balloonists settings up, testing equipment and explaining to those of us with no clue what they were doing. Lots of people around and lots of things to photograph (more pictures here). One of the interesting things they do at this rally was to dip their balloons in a spot in the Yakima River. I'm not sure why they do this except that it looks cool and makes for an interesting picture. We then followed (chased?) several of the balloons over the southeastern Washington countryside. One of them landed in the middle of the road and deflated across a barb wire fence, but the chase team was able to gather it up without ripping it. Seems they don't always land where you want them to.

Saturday night we went to Night Glow where they line up several balloons in the football stadium, light them up with the burners and turn off the stadium lights for a very pretty sight.

We woke up Sunday morning to a big rain storm so there was no launch. We went back to bed and after the rain had a leisurely day wandering around Prosser. They had a street fair going on. All-in-all, it was a pretty fun weekend and made me wonder at the spectacle of some of the larger balloon rallies (Albuquerque has hundreds of balloonists). I would certainly recommend it. It happens in late September every year.

Bald Eagle on the Skagit River

January, 2008
On a lovely Saturday in January, 2008 we drove up to Mt Vernon, got a hotel, and then got up early Sunday morning (5:00AM) and drove east on Hwy 20 along the Skagit River to the area between Rockport and Marblemount (map) to see if we could get a few pictures of the eagles that congregate on the river there in the winter. We hadn't been very lucky doing this over the years, though to be honest, we had only gone up there twice before in the last 20 years. Some weekends people see hundreds and the next only a few... usually due to weather.

The first time was back in the early 90's before I had rekindled my interest in photography. We went on a river float trip to see the eagles and in 2 hours only saw one and that one was almost too far away to be sure it was actually a bald eagle. And it was the second coldest weekend on record (no wonder the eagles slept in). The second time was a couple of years ago and we saw a few more, but no pictures.

This time I was prepared. I rented a 600mm lens for the weekend to make sure I could get close. Unfortunately, the weather failed to cooperate once again. It was a very cold, very foggy day on Sunday (after being beautiful on Saturday) so the conditions were not the best for wildlife photography. However, I did manage to pull off this shot and a sequence of the eagle landing on a tree branch (you can see the rest of the series at Flickr). We did see a lot of eagles this trip and hope to get back up there again next year. December through February is the best time to go, but we are going to try December this year.