Hi There and welcome to my blog.
The events of the last week has served as a reminder to me as to how lucky I am to have the life I am living. My heart goes out to all those people who have had the great misfortune of being in Japan when that massive earthquake struck. The images of the angry ocean which swept through the coastal cities as a tsunami are nothing short of horrifying. As each day goes by it appears that the situation is only going to get worse. I hope, as so many no doubt do , that the people of Japan will gather the strength to rise up from the devastation that has so profoundly changed their beloved country.
I have been working hard this week, so much flying to be done and so many images captured. The weather has been outstanding, mind you it tends to be hazy here as result of the lack of rain. Even with the haze though I have been able to get some great shots to post. Some , I hope you will agree, are spectacular! This place is truly a photographers dream, especially with the access I have!
The events of the last week has served as a reminder to me as to how lucky I am to have the life I am living. My heart goes out to all those people who have had the great misfortune of being in Japan when that massive earthquake struck. The images of the angry ocean which swept through the coastal cities as a tsunami are nothing short of horrifying. As each day goes by it appears that the situation is only going to get worse. I hope, as so many no doubt do , that the people of Japan will gather the strength to rise up from the devastation that has so profoundly changed their beloved country.
I have been working hard this week, so much flying to be done and so many images captured. The weather has been outstanding, mind you it tends to be hazy here as result of the lack of rain. Even with the haze though I have been able to get some great shots to post. Some , I hope you will agree, are spectacular! This place is truly a photographers dream, especially with the access I have!
As we round the island of Male' we often see the jets going to position on the runway. This British Airways aircraft was just about to turn around and take off runway 36. I hope everyone aboard enjoyed there stay. See you next time!
Just a short distance from the threshold of the runway is out float base. The blue and yellow aircraft are operated by TMA. The good old red planes in the back Maldivian Air Taxi , the company I work for.I just love my new telephoto lens!
Here is Captain Ron taxiing by my position on his way to the dock.
Siyan, Ron's hard working cabin attendant, is at the ready on the float.Just a few moments after I snapped this one Captain Ron swung the Twin Otter around to have Siyan tie the heel of the float to the dock.
One after another the planes return to Male' for the next trip. Chris Tuttle guiding this one in with his soon to be Captain, Hassan, in the right seat. Now for those of you not familiar right and left are always considered as if you were sitting in them airplane looking forward.
Not to be outdone Captain Rob puts her on the dock as well! If you are curious to see how this is done check out a video I took some years ago.Video Clip
I think some of the hardest working guys at MAT are the baggage loaders. Here is a picture of my friend Steven waiting patiently for Rons passengers deplane so he can load up the airplane and get it on its way again!
Love this one. I took this one while sitting on the float of the aircraft I was flying.The Chief pilot Yoosuf and his copilot Hishan are just about to touch down at Palm Beach.
On the way back we were able to team up a little and I was able to get this one. Perhaps my favorite of this post. Only a privileged few can get a shot like this and I am so pleased to have had the chance!
Nice shot overhead a resort in the North Ari Atoll. The island resort called Madoogali.
As we flew over head of the laggon just west of Madoogali I got the camera out to get this unique view of one of our planes on a floating platform transferring passengers to the Madoogali dhoni. Because the landing conditions outside of the lagoon are not suitable for landing most of the timewe do the transfer in lagoon and Dhoni takes them the rest of the way.
I know I have published photo's like this one before but as I have said so many times I love the way these lagoons along the eastern edge of the Ari Atoll!
My Twin Otter of the day tied to the dock at Kanuhura for an hour.
As I said I love my new lens! How cool is this , shot from 500 feet above just south of the resort of Velidhu in the North Ari Atoll. My copilot, nicknamed Beybe which means brother in the local language, did a fine job getting me a good look at the Mantas. In fact he first introduced me to this particular location 3 years ago. It seems there are always huge Mantas in this lagoon. Thanks brother!
As I close out this weeks post I leave you with a sunset at Grand Centara Maldives in the South Ari Atoll.This was my first time to spend the night here. It was a lovely, if only short, stay. The staff were so nice to us and i look forward to the next over night visit.
Well thanks for stopping by my blog. I hoped you have enjoyed the images I presented here. If you like please comment. If you see me walking around Male' feel free to stop and say hello!
Till the next post ciao for now!
Rob
One of the barefoot pilots!
luv it...
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