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SeaFair 2008 - Blue Angels

These photos are the Best-Of's that were taken Aug 2nd and Aug 3rd of the Blue Angels airshow. I took upwards of 350 photos over the weekend (most of the airshow, some of Kenmore planes during operations), so these are the best ones from the lot.

Thanks to an associate of mine, I was able to take these standing on the deck of the Kenmore terminal at Lake Union. While there was a bunch of action happening behind the hillside that we couldn't catch, we were very fortunate to get some great views of the Blue Angels, especially when they passed right overhead!

I used two cameras for these. The first, on Aug 2nd, was an Olympus D595 camera. This has a 3x optical zoom (digital zoom quality is terrible), and takes great quality photos. But I found that for the types of shots I was looking to take, I couldn't zoom in enough. So on Aug 3rd, I took my HP Photosmart 895 out with an 8x optical zoom (again, the digital zoom is terrible quality). The end results were less than gratifying. While I was able to zoom in closer on the action this time around, the camera itself takes ages to acquire its focus (it's auto-only), and the viewfinder is a mini-LCD that's dependent on processing to keep up. This means that for high speed shots (like F18s flying over the lake), it struggles to keep up with the speed. So by the time I saw a shot and got the focus acquired, the display had frozen on an image, and when I went to take the picture, the jets were out of the frame so I have to find it again. I spent more time waiting for the thing to acquire and tracking the shot, than I did taking photos. However, a number of the shots I /did/ get were great! Some of them didn't focus quite as I'd like, but you can see what I was going for. The images beginning with P802 are from the Olympus on 08-02, and the images beginning with HPIM are from the HP Photosmart, taken on 08-03 (though the dates are wrong on some of them).

All in all, we had a great time spending a few hours on the lake, catching some sun, and watching the Kenmore planes come and go (see the Airliner album for those), and watching the airshow. Personally, it was the first time I'd seen the Blue Angels, so I was thrilled one way or the other. Next year, I'm going to try and use my ramp pass to get them on takeoff and landing.

Date: 08/03/2008
Size: 47 items
P8020041
 
 

P8020041

First pass in the formation going over Lake Union.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 44
P8020048
 
 

P8020048

Formation over the hillside from the lake. (1/3)

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 41
P8020049
 
 

P8020049

Formation over the hillside from the lake. (2/3)

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 44
P8020050
 
 

P8020050

Formation over the hillside from the lake. (3/3)

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 56
P8020065
 
 

P8020065

Solo pilot coming around for a pass.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 40
P8020066
 
 

P8020066

Solo jet making a sweeping pass.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 43
P8020080
 
 

P8020080

The four formation fighters coming around.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 41
P8020098
 
 

P8020098

The four formation fighters heading straight over the lake (and us!)

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 45
P8020099
 
 

P8020099

Catching the underside of the formation four as they pass overhead

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 53
P8020123
 
 

P8020123

A pair making a pass from the North to the South.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 46
P8020136
 
 

P8020136

The inverted formation leaving a smoke trail to the South.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 49
P8020137
 
 

P8020137

Formation at the crest of a stalling turn from the South to the North with smoke trails.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 56
P8020138
 
 

P8020138

further into the return of the stalling turn with the smoke trails.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 39
P8020142
 
 

P8020142

Solo pilot beginning a vertical loop with smoke

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 47
P8020143
 
 

P8020143

Solo pilot after cresting the vertical loop, with smoke.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 51
P8020144
 
 

P8020144

Solo fighter coming out of the vertical loop to the South with smoke.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 51
P8020145
 
 

P8020145

Coming down through the clouds out of this vertical loop - I love this shot.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 44
HPIM2988
 
 

HPIM2988

A-10 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang in formation flying circles around the city.

Date: 08/03/2008
Views: 48
HPIM3004
 
 

HPIM3004

The four-pilot squad passing straight overhead.

Date: 08/03/2008
Views: 46
HPIM3005
 
 

HPIM3005

The full squadron - all six fighters - heading into the show run after passing overhead. I was lucky to get this shot!

Date: 08/03/2008
Views: 55
HPIM3006
 
 

HPIM3006

All six fighters a ittle further away.

Date: 08/03/2008
Views: 45
HPIM3009
 
 

HPIM3009

Four-pilot formation passing from North to South.

Date: 08/03/2008
Views: 49
HPIM3010
 
 

HPIM3010

Four-pilot formation continuing the North to South pass.

Date: 08/03/2008
Views: 48
HPIM3017
 
 

HPIM3017

Four pilot squadron making a pass from the South the North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 47
HPIM3018
 
 

HPIM3018

Four pilot squadron continuing the pass from the South the North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 48
HPIM3019
 
 

HPIM3019

Solo fighter from the south to the north.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 42
HPIM3023
 
 

HPIM3023

Solo fighter on another pass from the south to the north.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 44
HPIM3024
 
 

HPIM3024

Four fighter squadron making a pass from the south to the north, over the Seattle cityscape.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 36
HPIM3025
 
 

HPIM3025

Four fighter squadron making a pass from the south to the north, over some Seattle high-rises.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 36
HPIM3027
 
 

HPIM3027

Four fighter squadron making a pass from the South to the North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 55
HPIM3028
 
 

HPIM3028

Four fighter squadron making a pass from the South to the North, in level flight, over the Seattle cityscape.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 47
HPIM3030
 
 

HPIM3030

Solo fighter making an overhead pass.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 48
HPIM3032
 
 

HPIM3032

Five fighter formation making a dive over Seattle with smoke.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 48
HPIM3033
 
 

HPIM3033

Four fighters (look close - they're there!), two with smoke, beginning a sweeping pass from the South to the North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 50
HPIM3035
 
 

HPIM3035

Four fighters in front of clouds, heading North to South.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 42
HPIM3036
 
 

HPIM3036

Four fighters in tight formation heading South from the North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 45
HPIM3041
 
 

HPIM3041

Four fighters in sunlight entering formation heading South from North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 38
HPIM3049
 
 

HPIM3049

All six fighters in high formation over clouds, heading North from South.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 53
HPIM3050
 
 

HPIM3050

Six fighters in tight formation over the clouds, heading South from North.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 56
HPIM3053
 
 

HPIM3053

Four fighters in high and tight formation making a vertical loop, from South to North, with smoke.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 46
HPIM3055
 
 

HPIM3055

All six fighters in a diving starburst, with smoke.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 39
HPIM3056
 
 

HPIM3056

Solo fighter making an overhead pass with smoke on.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 43
HPIM3060
 
 

HPIM3060

Three fighters against the clouds.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 47
HPIM3061
 
 

HPIM3061

Solo fighter rejoining a formation.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 42
HPIM3062
 
 

HPIM3062

All six fighters forming up, heading North from South.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 43
HPIM3063
 
 

HPIM3063

All six fighters in formation in front of a cloud on the final pass before heading back to Boeing Field for landing. I love the light on the jets in this one.

Date: 08/02/2008
Views: 41
IMAGE_006
 
 

IMAGE_006

08-01-08 - Surprise (for me) show from the Blue Angels over Hwy 520WB. Taken from my HTC Excalibur camera.

Date: 08/01/2008
Views: 44
     

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