JDW Photos and Life

The MH-65 Dolphin is probably the helicopter most people relate to the Coast Guard. With its signature enclosed tail rotor and long, rounded nose (like a dolphin), and bright orange paint, they are easily identified from all distances. This helicopter is considerably smaller than the MH-60T Jayhawk. Just a note: I made an error calling the Jayhawk a UH-60T. The CG designation is MH-60T. The small size of the MH-65 Dolphin makes it the primary helicopter deployed on the relatively small landing decks of cutters. The helicopter is equipped with advanced search and rescue equipment like a high visibility cockpit with glass surrounds, a FLIR (forward-looking infra-red) sensor, HUD (heads up display), and sophisticated flight control / aviation software. This helicopter is also equipped with retractable landing gear for reduced drag during flight. The crew at Air Station Kodiak has obviously decorated this bird with some artwork during their stay. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogs...

This cockpit is VERY different than the L and M models at Ft. Knox. These birds are full of electronics as you see in the first photo. Those five large MFDs must have an absolute ton options. You see the rows of buttons surrounding the edge of each display. I count 7 across the bottom/top and 9 on each side for a total of 32 buttons. When the unit is up, there are options beside each one of those buttons.  The displays are independent so the number of screens and the amount/type of information displayed to the pilots is enormous. You think the screens on your car are hard to navigate sometimes, think about trying to fly a helicopter at the same time. The displays are controlled with buttons instead of touch screens since the pilots are wearing gloves most of the time when flying. Yes, you can get gloves that are touch sensitive but I'm betting the buttons provide a more secure method of selecting options on the screens. This same MFD interface is found in most every modern military...

Are you tired of aircraft yet? I'm not so I keep sending them for a couple more days. If you remember the Fort Knox photos I shared (July 26 blog), Chris flies the UH-60 Blackhawk. There are two versions at Ft. Knox, the L (Lima) and M (Mike). Air Station Kodiak has the newest version of the UH-60 labelled UH-60T. Don't ask me what happened to the letters between M and T - it's likely a military/government thing. The mission of the Coast Guard is very different (search and rescue) than the Army UH-60 (combat) so customization is expected. It is interesting that the CG refers to the UH-60 as a Jayhawk as opposed to the Army Blackhawk. This twin-engine beast of a helicopter is outfitted with sophisticated cameras plus extra fuel for range. You can also see the large winch above the door in the first photo. There are several cameras hanging off the front (one heck of a gimble on the one below the pilots) plus a large radar on the nose. Obviously, these aircraft are designed to...

We were able to go inside one of the C-130s in the hanger. Yes, there were 2 of these beasts in the hanger PLUS helicopters. The hanger was kind of BIG! With no power on the plane and a black interior, the cockpit area was very dark. I shot these photos using some crazy settings (ISO16000 and 1/3 to 1/25 sec shutter) without a tripod. They came out much better than expected. You see in the first shot that the cockpit is heavy in electronics. The pilot seat is on the left and copilot on the right. You see very minimal non-electronic flight-critical instrumentation just to the right of the pilot yoke. The dials in the lower area are indicators for the trim/position of the flight surfaces. I'm betting this plane is not much fun to fly if the electronics go out. As a fan of flight simulators, I can identify a lot of the controls and can make pretty good guesses on the operation of those screens. With this much going on, both pilots are probably pretty busy as they approach their missio...

Josh works in the meteorology group at Air Station Kodiak. He is one of the people that provides weather briefings to the Coast Guard pilots - quite the challenge in a place like Kodiak. This air station supports all of Alaska from the far North of the Bearing Sea to the Aleutian Islands and the border with Russia. I believe they even cover some of the Pacific Northwest of the mainland (Pacific Ocean above 40N). Total coverage is over 4 million square miles! The scope of coverage is huge and the the variety of calls is wide - including military operations support. In recent news you may have read about Russia sending aircraft to "test" the Alaska border. The CG is one of the first to respond to such calls. If the Russians are persistent (which was the case), the Air Force will send in combat aircraft to send a stronger message. The C-130 is a mainstay of the Coast Guard. Its range and capability/flexibility make it a workhorse in Kodiak. We were able to walk through one of th...

The gull's defense of territory continued and moved from overhead to lower altitudes and a bit further away. After the one gull chased the eagle overhead, a second gull joined the action in this new area. This eagle was catching no breaks! In the last two photos, you see the lead gull continuing to squawk at the eagle. The eagle moved on up the shoreline out of the harbor bay, the gulls stopped the chase, and we headed home for the day. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

The battle continued high overhead with the gull matching the eagle wing flap for wing flap. You can see the eagle is constantly looking over his/her shoulder to see the position of the gull. I reality, the gull isn't a threat to the eagle and the eagle isn't going to out-maneuver the lighter and more agile gull. The gull simply maintains the aggressor position of a fighter pilot to encourage the eagle to go elsewhere. It's a good thing the gull doesn't have air-to-air missiles or guns of a modern fighter jet! The high overhead position of the fight makes for a terribly gray photo but you take what you are given in the world of wildlife photography. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

The air war between the gull and eagle continued. I mentioned the eagle screech yesterday but the photos today give you a better shot of the eagle telling the gull enough already. You see the gull squawking back in the 2nd and 3rd photos. The gull was determined to make his point that the eagle was not invited to their corner of the harbor. The dull sky, poor lighting, and long distance to the birds eliminates these photos from being worthy of print but they still convey the story. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

We had reached the end of our boat trip to the city harbor and had just turned around to head back to the Coast Guard station where we launched the boat when we saw and heard some activity in the air. The screech of an eagle always draws attention! We see a seagull giving chase to an eagle so we stop the boat and watch the action. The scene reminded me of the common scene in Texas of a mockingbird giving chase to a hawk. I'm sure we were watching the Alaska version! Photos from this battle will take a couple of days to share. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

After the first eagle left, we continued to watch the second eagle strike a regal pose. Note that he/she moved up to the branch that the first eagle flew from (Photo 1). He then adjusted once more to a higher perch and a more clear view of where his next stop may be (Photo 2). This time, I have my shutter speed high enough to not get too much blur in flight. Bird photography is a whole lot of sit and wait while holding a heavy lens as steady as possible - in a moving boat in this case. My wrists are not what they used to be (among other things) and this wait borders on pain - but wait we must! Launch (Photo 3)! And of course, he is flying further away from us compared to the first eagle. He then flies off giving me a "great" shot of bird butt. I take what is given. Thanks, Doug White

We continued our boat ride into the harbor area of the city near the bridge to Near Island. Josh spots a pair of eagles off to the side, stops the boat, and kills the engine. Naturally, the eagles are in dark shadows and in a crevice to boot. Being the raw amateur photographer I am, I don't double-check my camera settings where I had been shooting in much brighter open waters. I am caught in the moment seeing two eagles sharing a branch with a beautiful background. I get a few nice shots of them still and perched together (first photo). They may have been on a date and now they have been spotted (see that glance?). One of the eagles moves to another fork of the branch (second photo). Yep, I'm about to see flight. I love eagles in flight! What a majestic bird. Off he/she goes! Snap, snap, snap goes the shutter as one flies off and the other stays behind peeking around a branch (third photo). I'm tracking the fast moving bird and keep shooting (fourth photo). The action pause...

These are the last shots I took of the puffins. By now, you are a puffin expert and know that the foreground puffin is a horned puffin and the background puffin is a tufted puffin (body color)! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

The puffins nest on land in the summer. Puffin Island is just offshore of Kodiak near the town. It is not a large island but it has rocky cliffs and very few other inhabitants making it a great place to nest - thus the name of the island. The thick foliage hides many of the caves that the birds use for nests. When they come out of the nest, they provide a nice photo opportunity as seen in the first photo - a rather regal pose. The second photo shows the Tufted Puffin looking over the edge of the cliff trying to decide if he really wants to go to the cafeteria for a meal. He eventually flies off. The third photo shows a Tufted Puffin heading back to the island with a mouthful of needlefish - likely for his/her mate and/or a chick. Though the wings look like he is gliding, I assure you he is not! These birds have a glide path of a rock. They have to fly hard and fast to stay aloft. These photos are cropped pretty tight. We were not close to any of them! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarch...

We watched puffins flying around a little as we drifted near Puffin Island. We see both Tufted Puffins and Horned Puffins in the Kodiak waters. They are easy to differentiate not only from their face and beak but also the color on their underside. The Tufted Puffin is solid black and the Horned Puffin is white. You normally think about wildlife colors evolving to some level of  camouflage  advantage in nature. The white versus black is interesting and makes me scratch my head a bit. Both birds live most of their life on the water and only nest on land. Which color helps them hide from prey? The first two photos are Tufted Puffins and the second two are Horned Puffins. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

These two photos were taken from the same location as the photo yesterday. The change in sun angle can change the mood and lighting considerable. Again, I used essentially the same editing process stated yesterday. I hope you enjoy the sometimes mystic mood of Kodiak. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Where does photography turn into art? Most people are happy with a photo if it looks good in the camera. Do you realize that the software in your camera is making a LOT of changes to create that photo versus what the actual sensor detects? If you were present at the scene, you want the photo to look like you saw in your mind and maybe a bit enhanced in areas that drew you to take the photo. Capturing what your mind sees is the holy grail of photography and is what the software it trying to duplicate.  Most professional photographers shoot what is referred to as "flat" and "RAW". That is, the photo file captures only what the sensor detects - and in the full color/detail range possible in the sensor. I could go deeper here but most people don't really care. The captured data with these settings will not likely match your eye or your desire for the final product. However, by starting with the raw ingredients, the photographer can essentially bake their own cake us...

These two sea otters continued to stare us down from a distance. After the last shot shared yesterday, the left one said to take his/her profile pic - so I did. The guy on the right told me enough is enough - you're giving me the itches as seen in the next two shots. These guys have the flexibility of a cat and the facial expressions of a dog. After scratching his itch, you see him roll over and dive below the surface. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/