Atleo Air And The Full Moon

This is the plane that went down. I found that I had shot this last December 2nd. I’m going to leave it here,I want to think of it in this way.
I think it shows a beautiful moment.
(and no,this is not photo shopped)
It’s a cropped shot . I shot this early December 2nd. The moon was setting as the sun was rising. The moon set at 8:39 am that day. There was some thin clouds obscuring the moon’s face as well.
He happened to be taking off when I was out and I did a series of shots.
He was about 1 mile away when I shot this with my big lens. It compresses the foreground and background.Thats why the moon looks so large.

Barge Coming Back to Tofino

This barge went out with a crane and picked up the wreckage. They found the plane in about 45 feet of water.
It was a very sad day today and the weather reflected that.
The Native village,Opitsat can be seen on Meares Island in the background.

Coming Home

The barge was going slowly through Tofino’s harbour.
The plane was under the blue tarp.
Tofino has had a few deaths this year. Very unfortunate.

Preparing To Unload

They docked and were preparing to lift.
The RCMP boat was cruising in the background and a news crew was filming in the bottom right foreground.

Unloading Pontoons

The first lift was the pontoons.

Pontoons

They put the Pontoons on a flatbed,wrapped it and they were gone in minutes.
The Pontoons are upside down right now.
Notice how the right hand pontoon is bent and the left is not.
I also noticed that about 3 feet of the pontoons nose is gone.

Unloading of Main Fuselage

The second lift was the motor and the third was the main fuselage.

Main Fuselage

Loading of Main Fuselage onto Flatbed

Atleo Air Floatplane

I took this a few weeks ago, May 5th to be exact. This is the plane that was in that terrible accident yesterday!
It should of been tied up last night,but was not there.
I went up in this plane last fall to shoot some sunset aerials.
The company has always been very professional.

Atleo Air Floatplane

I shot this last December (2nd) in the cold early morning light. They were heading out.
(the posted date is not the true date)
This is the time that they flew in front of the moon. That shot is above. (“Atleo Air and the Full Moon”)The warm light adds to both shots.
I was out to shoot the full moon setting in the early morning light over the harbour. I always wait for subjects to enter into my set scene and Atleo came along at the right moment.I did a series of shots and the final shot was of the plane with the full moon setting in front of them.
I would like to end the story on that note, because that is the way I want to remember it….

Sad Sunset

Today was a very sad day for Tofino.
A local Float plane went down and 4 people died.
The pilot(from Tofino) and three passengers from Ahousaht. The accident happened today around noon near the village of Ahousaht. Yates point to be exact,just south of the village.The plane sank in about 45 feet of water
This shot shows the sun setting over Tofino’s Harbour .
There should be two Float Planes tied up in the foreground.
A very sad day for many!

Fisherman’s Sunset

This shot shows some guys fishing in the harbour at Sunset.

Frank Gets One

Frank came over to the eastern perch tree on Frank island after Frieda had already made a score. There must of been a school of fish off of Chesterman’s beach.
In this shot,Frank gets a fish and is on his way back to the base of the perch tree.

Frieda After Eating

She had her fill with that fish she caught and was relaxing in her favorite perch tree.

Frank Arrives After Freida Gets A Fish

I guess when he saw her get a fish,he figured he would give it a go as well.

Frieda Chowing Down

She had caught a fish and was busy eating it.

Frieda Flying Back

She was flying back to the perch tree with her fish.

Freida Coming in

She was just about to hit her prey. You can see the Condo’s at South Chesterman’s in the background.

Sunset Point

The ocean was relatively flat tonight,but a wave caught the rocks down at Sunset Point and made a nice splash. Enjoying the sunset were three teenagers on the front side . A dangerous place to be!

Lighthouse and Bike

The light was terrible tonight. I had to scratch just to get these.

Polar Bear 1

This boats name is the “Polar Bear” and it was flying an Australian flag. I’d like to know why they called a boat from Australia a animal thats is thousands of miles away in the other direction!
Looks like some people need big boats! Maybe it’s Mel Gibson? Many famous people drop in with their big fancy yachts.

Frank

I saw Frank coming down the beach towards me and I didn’t have my camera out and ready. The light was just so poor I didn’t even want to pull my camera out. I should of. I would of been ready for Frank. He had just passed by me ,when I was able to get a shot off. I had to be a quick draw artist!
I zoomed in on what he was carrying and I couldn’t really make it out. It’s either a crab or starfish!
He flew up to his nest on Frank Island.

Grey Whale

I heard from a friend that a Grey was out in Cox bay and decided to check it out.
I went out and found not one but two Greys. Only one of them came by to say hi however!
You never see much of these guys. The only way your going to get some great shots of a whale is if they come over to check you out or it’s a Humpback and it’s either jumping or Lunge Feeding! Orca’s would be fantastic ,but they are very rare. (for me)
If I was going out on a Whale watching boat everyday,I would get something sooner or later. Photography is all about being at the right spot,at the right time,with the right equipment!
This particular whale is over a kilometer away from me. The land is Frank Island and you can see someone walking out to it,oblivious to the Grey not far away from them.
(and no,thats not a rock)

Grey Whale Breaching

Greys can weigh up to 40 tonnes and a baby is born 3-4 meters or13 feet. Thats a big baby! They nurse on the Mothers milk which has a fat content of 45% !
That sure isn’t 2% ! Talk about rich milk!

Exhaling Under Water

You can clearly see how he was starting to exhale while still under the water. It made a bubble!
Greys can grow up to 16m or 52 feet length. The population is around 20,000-22,000 along the west coast here. There is a smaller population off of the Japaneses coast,but there are not too many. I think they have been hunted in the past too much!

Grey Whale Breaching

You can see someone walking along the sand between Frank island and Chesterman’s beach.
Many times during the migration Greys will hang around for the summer/fall.

Harrased Raven

Acouple of crows didn’t’ like Mr.Raven hanging around and decided to be rather rude I thought!
I don’t think the Raven appreciated their behavior either. Considering they are cousins basically.
A group of Ravens is called a “Unkindness” or a “Murder”. Crows,as you know are also called a “Murder”. They also are called the following; Hover,Muster,Parcel and Horde.
I think both the Ravens & Eagles would call them something else!!

Fox Sparrow

I heard this fellow chirping away and stopped to take a shot,and thats all I got. He took off right away and I only got this one shot.

Crow Chasing a Raven

You can see how hard the crow is staring at Mr.Raven. He’s staring very intently at him. If looks could kill………………this guy would get a “A” for effort!
Raven’s are very smart! Some think more so than the average dog.They problem solve and not many do that! They are one of two species that appears to have toys. They have been observed to take a twig and play with it.
The other species are Dolphins that have been observed playing with their air bubbles.
They imitate other birds and humans and have insight. They use tools and have displayed very interesting behavior.
If their mate goes missing ,they will often times alter their voice to sound like their mate. This helps draw in the mate.
I cannot think of a more beautiful creature than a Raven!(don’t ask me about Crows)

Sunset Sail

I found this Sailing boat out in front of the Wickaninnish Inn.

Sailing Boat and Surfer

I was lucky enough to be in the right spot to take advantage this scene.
I always try to have a foreground subject to compliment my background. I took advantage of it quickly.

Sunset Bike Ride

It looks like the kids are getting a free ride. The sunset was great tonight! It’s been raining steady now for many days. I looked at the Satellite/Radar site and saw that a clearing was coming from the south. I grabbed my camera and hung around the beach for the sunset.

Unknown Black Smoke

I saw this and shot it just in case it was something. I checked my Metadata and I shot this right at 9pm. I do not know what it was,but the Firetrucks went out in a hurry!(they went by at 9:15pm) However,it’s Tuesday night and thats the night the Volunteer Fireman practice.
It may be just a practice for the fireman?
UPDATE:(next day,Wednesday)- I found out that somebody torched acouple of houses on Maltby rd. One was consumed and the other was saved by the local Fireman. The police are investigating.
Notice how the beginning of that cloud is a different colour than the main body! I bet that is from the fuel the arsonists used to start the fire.

Sunset Ride

The clouds went away and the sun came out. Everyone seemed to know that, and many people were out riding on the beach.

Sunset Surf

The sun seemed to make the waves spray come alive at sunset. These two walked down the beach to another location with bigger waves.

Taking a Picture

This mother was taking a picture of one of her children and I was taking a picture of them all.
When the sun came out,everyone seemed to take advantage of it.

Sunset Ride

The water had a nice glow to it. It’s because the waves are atomizing the water. It makes it into spray. The setting suns light highlights it very nicely.

Sunset Surf

These two were finished for the night and were coming out. The spray looked great.

Sunset Spray

The entire beach was on fire from the highlighted spray.

Sunset Surf

One was heading out…………..and one was coming in!

Horse Tails

Whenever the wind is going against the waves,it makes Horse Tails off of the top of the wave. It was then being highlighted by the setting sun and made a great background.

Surfing Biker

Many surfers use their bikes for getting around. Tofino has a great bike path linking the town and several beaches.

Sunset Bike Ride

There were many people out on their bikes tonight! When the sun came out,so did everyone else.

Lennard Lighthouse

I couldn’t resist shooting the Lighthouse. I always like to shoot it near sunset.

My Kite

I went out to Chesterman’s today and flew my kite. I fly a CDN flag off of the line. It helps to control the kite from wandering. It also acts like a rudder and looks cool. Very patriotic.
I plan on getting a bigger Canadian flag and a normal size B.C. flag, in time for Canada Day. That should look great.
I wanted to fly every flag of the Provinces and Territory’s as well,but that was going to cost alot! ($1000) I’ll settle for just a B.C. flag and a larger Canadian flag for now.

I had some friends hang onto the kite while I rode further down the beach to take a shot. I wanted to make the Lighthouse look closer,so I used my big lens to compress the scene.

Sunset Ride

I tried to get a different angle tonight. I normally am at this spot ,looking back . I went over to Sunset Point(Cox Bay) and shot a few from that location.
This is the middle of Chesterman’s Beach,about 1 klick away.
I am looking alittle to the north of true West.
This Kite Surfer is doing his thing and being watched by three people on the beach.

Chesterman’s Sunset

Everyone always seems to gather at the beach to watch the sunset. Because the tide was in ,people had to stay in this spot. They wanted to go over to Frank island to watch the sunset,but decided they didn’t like wet feet! I waited until sunset and was hoping that a Kite Surfer would be out zipping around ,but it didn’t happen.
The island blocking the sunset is Wickaninnish Island.

Gathering for Sunset

The middle of Chesterman’s Beach was the gathering point for sunset tonight.

Kite Surfing

This is the same angle as the above shots,but earlier. I wish they would of stayed for sunset. That was the whole reason why I came down to this point and waited two hours.The Kites would of looked great against the setting sun!
It just never works sometimes!
These guys were zipping back and forth. The beach you see behind them is the way you would walk to Frank island normally,but the tide was coming in and was covering the access route.