Wednesday, October 28, 2009

At John Wayne Airport

My plane on the ground in California. Marked difference in the weather. I love flying into John Wayne Airport.

In the Air

It was cloudy pretty much all the way over to California so I didn't get alot of good shots.

A shot of the wing. Would be better if there were something other than clouds to the right.

Not sure what this was but I thought it looked pretty neat.

One of the mountains.

Another mountain.

A shot of one of the towns.

The Pacific Ocean and a ship.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport

I was heading out to California today and this time I had a window seat which was nice. The weather wasn't terribly cooperative though.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport was started in 1930 with the company that would become American Airlines having a flight there. It also housed units of the Michigan National Guard. (One of these years I would love to get a picture of the old terminal). Between the end of World War II and the middle 50's, airport traffic was shifting over to Willow Run Airport until Pan Am started operations at then Detroit Wayne Airport. What really helped the shift was the installation of long range radar equipment causing Detroit Wayne Airport to become the first inland airport to be certified for jets.

In 1984, Republic Airlines began its hub operatons here until they merged with Northwest. At this point there were the Davey and Berry Terminals. In 2002, operations started from the McNamara Terminal. Northwest was the largest airline there, until the merger with Delta. Now Detroit is the second largest hub for Delta (after Atlanta). It's airport code is DTW.

This is the view of the other plane at the gate next to ours. I was a bit rushed to my plane otherwise I would have gotten a picture of it.

As we are pulling out of the gate.

The old terminal.

A shot of the McNamara Terminal.

the commuter terminal, mostly prop planes and Canada Regional jets.

An Airbus 319.

757

Some sort of DC-9 Variant.

Another DC-9 Variant.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Lumberman's Monument at Dusk

We made it up to Lumberman's Monument as well but the sun was rapidly leaving. So I had to take shots with my flash.

Normally I wont use my flash for statues because of this. If you are standing too far away, the flash wont be bright enough. However, I kind of like how this one turned out.

And I really like how this one turned out, especially with the purple skies.



And this was a shot without the flash. I think it's a little too dark, but it will work.

Woodpecker

As I was heading back to the car, I saw this little guy. Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying my longer lens with me, so I had to go back to the car and switch out lenses. Fortunately, the bird was still there when I got back.

The skies were overcast so the light wasn't the greatest, but with the lower shutter speed I was able to catch some motion.

I'd like this shot a little better if the branch weren't in the way.

Same with this one.

Sturgeon Point LIghthouse

This is another lighthouse I've covered here, but the skies were even greyer.









I really like this picture.

Tawas Point Lighthosue

I've covered this lighthouse before on this blog but it was a nice day for pictures of it because of the grey stormy skies. I just wish it were a little windier to get some nice waves.







I really like this picture.



This is looking out at Lake Huron. I like the clouds above.

Looking at the shoreline.

Pictures of Lake Huron

Lake Huron had an odd color to it as we headed further north.

It's kind of a light greenish, greyish blue. Odd.

If you look towards the horizon, you can see the ship disappearing over it.

Some Random Autumn Shots

Even though the weather can sometimes be no so cooperative, fall is a pretty nice season in Michigan. Most of the time it hovers between 50s and 60s so it's not too hot. Sometimes its windy and rainy but more often than not it is just crisp out. But what makes it really nice is the wide array of colors on the trees. Here are some random pictures of that.

I forget what road this is, but I like the colors hovering around it.

An oak leave.

I like the way the water droplets form on the leaf.

Same here.

Looking down a railroad track near Sturgeon Point.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Lillie Park - Pittsfield Township

At the corner of Platt and Ellsworth is Lillie Park which was reclaimed from a gravel pit. It is named after the Pittsfield Township Supervisor who was wounded in World War II and tirelessly tried to acquire this piece of land. It started out as this spot in 1983 and ended with the center spot in 2007. It now stretches roughly a mile.

It was a beautiful fall day, I decided to bring my camera to work with me. So I stopped at the park afterwards.

One of my favorite weeds to take a picture of.

Nice reds in the trees.



Still some flowers.

It's amazing this was once a gravel pit.

Really amazing.

Love the oranges, reds and yellows in this one tree.

A closeup of one of the leaves.

One of the gazebos.