Happy Halloween

This is a technique I learned a while ago.  I haven't played with it enough to get the timing down.  But basically it is a long exposure where I remove the subject after a period of time.

 The movement of the object is too slow for the camera to catch, but it does fill in the rest of the picture.

Anyway, for Halloween, I bring you the phantom Phantom.  Happy Halloween!

A Foggy Day at the Airport

After catching the Sioux City, I decided to head to the airport.  I saw that I had a chance to catch the Queen.  The weather was still misty and I love catching planes in moisture.

 This plane has just arrived from Paris and was on its way to the gate.

 It wasn't too long before the Queen appeared.  It was foggy enough out that I didn't see her until she was actually in range.  I really like the obscured shot.

 She gets closer to the ground.  The fog almost makes it look like she is landing in the mountains.

 She gets closer to the ground.

 She touches down with a puff a smoke.

 And a little smoke from the front wheel.

 She kicks up some water from the runway.

 she almost fades into the fog as she taxis to her gate.

 Next up is a 737-MAX 8 belonging to Southwest.  This plane was arriving from Atlanta and this is the 737 with improved engines and avionics.  It is also the same type that crashed in Indonesia today.  They aren't sure why it crashed though.

 A 717 getting ready to head to Newark.

 Almost in position.

 A Spirit Airlines A320 arriving from Fort Myers, Florida.

 An A330 arriving from Amsterdam.

 A 767 arriving from Munich.

 I saw that there was a pair of 757s arriving from the west, so I headed over to the west side of the airport.  First up over there was an E190 belonging to AeroMexico arriving from Monterrey.

 A 737 arriving from Minneapolis.

 An Alaska Airlines 737 arriving from Seattle.

 An A350 arriving from Narita Airport in Tokyo.

 A Spirit A320 arriving from New Orleans.

 An A321 arriving from Las Vegas.

 A Southwest 737 arriving from Nashville.

 A United E175 arriving from Houston.

 The first 757-300 arriving from Seattle.  I was hoping to catch another but it ended up landing on the other side of the airport.

 A 717 from Nashville.

 A Spirit A320 arriving from Kansas City.  I liked the beacon shot.

 A 757-200 arriving from Los Angeles.

 I liked the beacon shot on this one too.

One of the United Heritage Units arriving from Denver.  This one is in Continental Airlines livery.  Continental Airlines was formed in 1934 as Varney Speed Lines and operated in the American Southwest.  In 1937, it become Continental Air Lines.    It was one of the smaller carriers in the United States under the regulated era.  Post 1978, it grew to become one of the largest carriers.  In 2010, it merged with United.

The USS Sioux City passes Detroit

Sometime on Wednesday, the USS Sioux City left Marinette, Wisconsin to make her trek to the Atlantic Ocean.  It didn't really register on my radar.

 On Thursday, she ended up docking in front of the Renaissance Center.  I was thinking about seeing her because I thought I had a chance to see another ship.  That didn't pan out and I decided to planewatch instead.  On Saturday, I was going to go to the Eastern Michigan game but it was misting and a little on the cold side.  I still feel like I'm recovering from my surgery (even though it was a while ago) and I didn't really want to catch anything.  It wasn't too bad to spend a little time outside though, so I decided to head down to Detroit to catch her.
As I got to Milliken State Park, I heard the Sioux City blew her horn.  I've been around ships long enough to know that she was preparing to leave.

I headed over to Riverside Park in order to catch her passing.  It was a little bit before I was able to see her because it was pretty foggy and misty.  But I think fog and mist make for cool pictures.

 Especially when you can catch some smoke.

 The USS Sioux City is the first ship to be named that.  Sioux City is the fourth largest city in Iowa.  Her keel was laid down on February 16, 2012 and she was launched on January 30, 2016.  She will be commissioned in Annapolis, MD on November 17, 2018 at the Naval Academy.  She is the sixth ship to be delivered from Marinette.

 She will be assigned to the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf. 

 I will admit, she is kind of a nice looking ship but I still don't really like their capabilities.

 It seems like the Navy would be better served by updating the Oliver Hazard Perry class ships.

 She passes under the Ambassador Bridge.

I kind of wish the Navy would make a little more of a to do when these ships pass Detroit.  It seems like they stop here to refuel and it seems like they stay a few days before moving on.  It would be nice if they offered tours or something while they are here since it is not often that the people in the area get to see a Naval vessel.

She continues on her way down the Detroit River.  Yesterday she was in the Welland Canal.  I'm not sure how long it will take her to get to Annapolis though.

Michigan Exposures Hits the Road

I was going to go to the Eastern Michigan-Army game today but the weather wasn't terribly cooperative for watching a football game.  I saw that the USS Sioux City was still docked in Detroit, so I decided to head down there.

 As I arrived at Milliken State Park I heard the ship sound her horn, so I decided to head over to Riverside Park to catch her leaving.  It was pretty cool.

 Then I decided to do some planewatching.  I love weather shots of planes.

I caught a few more. 

So now I am in Sault Ste. Marie.  I think I'm going to catch a handful of ships tomorrow.

Waiting for Wilson

I decided to head to the airport last night.  It was a nice enough night and I figured I had a shot to catch both the 787 and 777.  I also figured I had a chance to catch both Fed Ex flights (hence the title).

 First up was a CRJ-700 arriving from White Plains, New York.

 It wasn't too long before I saw the 787.  I almost thought I wasn't going to see her because they were finishing up the work on Middle Belt.

 She was arriving from Amman, Jordan by way of Montreal.

 I'm still not sure why they do it this way.

 But its still cool to see.

 It was followed by an A330 arriving from Amsterdam.

 This plane would head back to Amsterdam last night.  Then it went to Minneapolis from Amsterdam.  As I type this post, it is on its way back to Amsterdam.

 An A321 arriving from Minneapolis.

 I also managed to catch the A350 arriving from Beijing.

 I usually miss this one.

 It was followed by the Fed Ex MD-11 arriving from Memphis.

 Of course, Fed Ex is famous for appearing the movie Cast Away.  But the star of the show was the Wilson volleyball.

 Making some assumptions on the size of the packaging for a volleyball packaging (8.5" on all sizes).  An MD-11 can carry 21,096 cubic feet of cargo which means it could carry 59,425 volleyballs.

 A 717 arriving from Dallas.

 As Delta and American retire their MD-80s and MD-90s, this and the MD-11 are the last remnants of the Douglas family tree.  It's a shame that Boeing didn't push these planes much because they are a good aircraft.

 A 737 arriving from Seattle.

 And it was followed by the 757 arriving from Indianapolis.

 I'm not sure how many volleyballs this plane can carry, but I assume it's less.

 It is however a more beautiful plane.

 the Air France 777 arriving on one runway and an A320 arriving on another.

 This plane was arriving from France.

Just trying to get an overall shot of the airport.