Don't you wish you could flap your wings and fly

I am of the camp that aeronautic photographs should be close and tight enough that you can see terrified body lice clinging to the nose hairs of the fighter pilots, or at least be able to count rivet heads on the tail (of the plane, not the pilot).

Since I don't have a 600mm lens you'll have to settle for these, which I find interesting for reasons beyond they're ships of the air in flight.

The two eras of flight formation is a CF-18 (Canada's current fighter jet) with a Spitfire (Britain's fighter of WWII). The jet is dragging its ass like that to keep it's air speed such that its propped ancestor can keep up.

Then we have two water bomers -- make wet not war. The plane is the CL-415, the only plane in the world that can scoop up water and then drop it (on forest fires). There was a pair of them and it's amazing how agile they are even with full tanks. They fill damn fast too -- doing so many times today.

The chopper is a Eurcopter EC-130 which carries (and fills from lakes) a 900 litre bucket for fighting fires.

It was too damn (gloriously) hot and too bright to stick around for the Snowbirds. Hilariously, twice two large formations of Canada Geese flew by about 30 inches off the water and the crowd applauded them as if part of the show :)

Technical Difficulties Originate at the Network

A message very similar to that used to appear on our television screen when I was a kid -- talk about passing the buck.

In any event either blogger or jpgmag has a glitch that now has, if you see an earlier posting below, made disappear the link to the sword swallower shots. In their absence I repost one of my favourites from the series, here.

Pretty Busker

This guy and others were hanging from big balloons doing acrobatic stuff. I just missed the show as he was lowered upside down back to the ground, hanging from a trail of red fabric.

Thought his powder smudge on the nose was cute.

Death of An Angel

A fellow photographer (another Steve) asked that I try this shot in b&w and also suggested the title, which I like as it was that juxtaposition I saw when framing the shot -- the wings (e.g angel) and the old testament violence of the sword...

Anyway, both work I think, although I'm still a bit tenuous with the b&w conversion decisions.

Too Lazy to Post Here, As Well

Please visit here for the other Buskerfest shots:

Toronto Buskerfest 2008

1) Some guy on stilts
2) The Space Cowboy -- a sword swallower who also juggles, which is what he's preparing for here; having a flaming torch thrown to him to juggle along with a couple of sharp objects while blindfolded AND maintaining balance atop a 3 metre unicycle.

I'll post the sword swallowing shots later.

Graffiti

The fiery stuff on a wall next to a parking lot on Queen West. The devil in a back alley nearby. The water from across the street on the wall of a car wash -- marketing not graffiti precisely speaking.

It Just Does Not Get Any Better Than This. Period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w9F7zf_2mM&feature=related

Don't worry I'm not going to get in the habit of blogging links to youtube, but this has to be shared with those who will not have heard this song or these two singing it (KK wrote it, of course, he being one of the best song writers on the planet) through some misguided idea that C&W music is inferior.

And, sorry, you'll have to cut and paste the URL as blogger refuses to work with Apple or some such technie annoyance.

Moped Heads

Window transparencies, across from Moss Park; an empty retail space.

Electric Blue Flower

This blue's gotta be only more shocking in the rain...

When In Doubt Go to Dog Photos

Ruby asks, "Do you really need ANOTHER photo of me?"