Flying high

Ask me what is my favorite thing to pictures of and I would have to say airplanes. If I took pictures of nothing but airplanes puttering around the sky for the rest of my life I would die a happy photographer. So if I like taking pictures of airplanes you know I must love going up in them as well. I grab any chance I can to take a flight and this weekend’s Young Eagles Flight Rally was a great opportunity for a little airtime.


Sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association the program gives free airplanes rides to children ages 8 to 17 to expose them to field of aviation. Who knows what future pilot is waiting in their school desk? So with an invitation to ride along with one of the Young Eagle flights I headed to Tracy Airport Saturday morning for my ride.



I would be going with pilot Larry Shinn in his Cessna 170 along with 10-year-old Daniela Ceballos who would be going for her first airplane ride ever. Settled in the airplane back seat the game plan was to get shots of young Daniela behind the controls and whatever aerial shots of the city I could get along our route.

We lined up on the runway and with a final thumbs up we lifted off into the light rain. The flight plan was a 20-minute trip around the edge of the city to the corn maze in Lathrop. After a quick circle of the maze we would head for home passing over the southern edge of town.




The first thing I notice when we break ground is the quiet. The ground just slips away as we climb from the airport. The drone of the engine is muffled by the radio headset with the occasional call of other aircraft in the pattern breaking the silence. We follow another Young Eagle flight airplane toward the maze as I gaze at the cityscape beneath me. It is easy to pick out the major landmarks. The new Kimball high site slides by, the Redbridge development and then an endless sea of homes. We reach the outskirts of town and cross Highway 205 and Interstate 5 as we reach the corn maze. Our young pilot Daniela has been taking the controls as she gets the feel for the plane trying the wheel under Shinn’s watch.

And then it is over all to soon. The Cessna is throttling down as we settle in for approach to Runway 30 at Tracy. We cross over the gravel pit and the runway looms in front of us. A thump and squeal as the wheels touch pavement and our flight is over. Daniela signs the pilot’s logbook commemorating her flight time and I think how lucky she is to have flown an airplane at only age 10. I hope I have more airplane assignments in the future; the view from above is just spectacular. Nothing beats an airplane assignment, especially if you’re flying onboard, the sky is the limit!

Precipitation measuring device

This is the Tracy Press rain gauge, a high tech device featuring an injection molded clear polycarbonate body, twist lock top cap and a modern equatorial wooden base mount with right ascension and declination markings scribed into the surface.

Ok, who am I trying to kid, it has a cracked plastic tube mounted on a wooden post that has a lean going to the right and is hung on the post with rusty nails. But hey, it still works.

Sunset hues

The best shot from the city council candidate's forum was from the parking lot. I love the deep hues of the setting sun reflecting on the clouds to the west of town.

Hunter's moon

The full moon hangs over Tracy as seen from El Pescadero Park

The sound of silence

Look through the Bay Area Hiker website and you’ll find ‘”lonely”, “desolate” and “remote” to describe the Morgan Territory which is East Bay Regional Park District. Located near Livermore the park is 4,708 acres with hiking trails crossing its grasslands and tree groves. Today’s hike would take us along these quiet trails.



Morgan territory does have a lonely feel to it. Set back far the road, the sounds of traffic and everyday life slip quickly away. Alice picked the trails to the south of the main road so we headed out along the Clyma Trail toward a campground just over 3-miles from the staging area.





The trail seems a lot like those at Mount Diablo that sits to the north of the park. Rolling grasslands and rugged hills sat along side the trail. Live oaks and California buckeyes dotted the grasslands as he we headed along the path. Several steep climbs led us through groves of oak that gave cool shade relief along our hike.




Aside from the occasional screech from a circling hawk or the rustle of a lizard in the dry leaves on the trail there was no noise. It is a very quiet place, with aged trees standing guard along our path. We never saw another hiker or biker along our hike although did catch sight of a coyote near a water hole.






It was a good hike with enough breezes to keep us cool on the long climbs and a variety of sights to keep out cameras busy. The trails and grasslands hold a quiet beauty calling for exploration.

Devil dog

Meet the newest member of the newsroom, a miniature doberman who hates the sound of a camera motor drive and the mere sound of my footsteps.

He is the editor's newest dog named "Chance" and is a Tracy Animal Shelter rescue. Among his other dislikes are photographers, police scanners and photographers. Do you get the idea that he already doesn't like me?

Net effect

I like this shot but it will never make it to print. It has everything you look for in a sports photo, good focus, peak action and emotion. I think almost a little too much emotion. I like the way all the players are screaming while the shot at the net is happening. last time I ran a shot like this i found out I made a 17-year-old volleyball player cry and refuse to go to school for a day. I rather just put the photo on my blog, no one will see it here.

Squeaky clean

I stumbled across the scene while driving from one assignment to the next on the outskirts of town. It is a helicopter hired by Pacific Gas & Electric to power wash the insulators hanging from 230 KV power transmission lines. It must take a steady hand to pilot the rotor blades so close to power lines, especially if they are energized.

The system has been in use for some time and a group from South Korea and Taiwan were on hand to watch the wash as they look into buying the system. The best thing about these shots is remembered to slow the shutter speed down to show some movement in the rotor blades.

Camera Sutra

Crazy hat day

I'm not sure which one was stranger, the volleyball hat or the green and gold mohawk hat,it's a toss up.

Head on

This soccer collision from Friday's Tracy High game is one of the better soccer photos I have taken recently. The nice soft even light came from the afternoon clouds that hung over Tracy. A 300mm lens with a 1.4 extender brought the action up close.

Fuzzy logic

I have to get a shirt with this on it!

Tall tail

Today's top police blotter item was a coyote who wandered into town frightening residents. I spotted this fellow Sunday during my hike with Alice. He was out and about looking for mice, gophers or anything else he could catch. Where did we see him? Where else but at the entrance to the Morgan Territory's Coyote Trail.

Smashed

This is not the way to start your month. This was the scene off West Clover Road earlier today as a car heading eastbound on I-205 left the roadway and crashed into a tree. The impact wedged the car’s driver’s door against a tree until Tracy Fire crews could free him.



I don’t know which was stranger looking, the shattered steering wheel inside the car, the twisted body of the car or the Medi-Flight air ambulance settling in for landing a dozen yards or so from the freeway traffic.