I’ve noted elsewhere that Seattle is a city of festivals. A favorite festival for Seattle natives (which I am not) is Seafair, which has been around since the early 1950s. The festival includes a big downtown parade, hydroplane races, a performance by the Blue Angels and much more. The Blue Angels are the United States Navy’s flight demonstration squadron.
Invited by William and Esther Graf, Liis and I spent an afternoon on Lake Washington on the Esther William’s, the Graf’s 53-foot Chris Craft. Photographing the Blue Angels gave me a chance to try out a new Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 vibration reduction lens. The lens met the challenge of shooting speedily moving aircraft, at 200mm, from a boat in motion.
The following are my favorite three Blue Angels’ passes of the day:
Pass 1
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWIxRmgvMlKMk_culgRzwxSCI5_5wYUCFWHm5UdTqt9w7zdkPUlxZbEBD8SxvkkWUftyGcukgIbPyBi_jDDGc9O-JHAEblaA4J6iBxeDYoT5GHXkydSPp1zOvJD4PJbJcoJOAG/s400/seafair_4aug07__072.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0BKH85sldNKKSCvEzl_-lJHzyHGJhyphenhyphenkG7wnBXpbC-228tTx6A5VwAg-NNs5UQ6tQ-DUf3G4IHGctHiM8c6A4GI9XF0_jAIyHShWe7GJ93stMfre1mXNdVeqomG5TU_ine6g-I/s400/seafair_4aug07__073.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf6wgz_YHz-UBzGzrLbTOf5f9w_W8Tw9QqEk0HdhYRqG84uunhZzoCW4NQCe_iP-ccTyxIUF1cHgSb32rVk6GITYII8pNnGP7PKReHocauaRsVv5qU41RykY8pNL5pBZvsjgw/s400/seafair_4aug07__074.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5DWdNYZ6AW85McEobDVIYZZz2m1npH_F7GeE3LVwRmd5Uy5xyScTMAEi8ZP7LrA1US-yYn9xPHH4gbKgnmxjtWg-GQr1EDmEoz8m_hVKMxgs1FhHsc0I9YtChnscm7XhZenr/s400/seafair_4aug07__075.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlqM47qpnO4oxfTLpbIkpEMK_Mj7_-eBUsAdwQMAA1eAik-zLDCtis1bqMCpsxgomtB61xAdQ_m1r3R0zrqKJmn_B0QYeMc1c33VFIDrejkMQ1jjuSiWLkR56keLXLp2V7XIw/s400/seafair_4aug07__076.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90zHDsSlQjokX3EcJDjSPHjc0gdZIOVKSrM1-AfOps6xg_gvF5Wx0is64ibNPAUzXN93x2opKf0UpvjoO1GcpgwTIDV6jjg24wR9Yzb5RHrPbZ1S90rNycW2UMypsuwO1mqq4/s400/seafair_4aug07__077.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JdveGGP6HY1Hh_uUezzUrA9w1fwT1JdKsGv8SapSFjN_4kCTgAMJWZ7x-hObeMX360mMnTgibHrxoSRvUTUNruHhaMHqDPdgzfzFLi1pLPu0EUFFUkv_LD3gAImDbaFF5wHZ/s400/seafair_4aug07__078.jpg)
Pass 2
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtHVVtAGekuiTWwPLBwxyhhhDwBqN9J1CyNvvrDnWAs_xI1ZbN8RVtiTcH1QYGq0EWneT_wjUc6yirWwUfXMYtuV9rsp5F-3cE08dkHaDBvk0Fr9594wuRDVx8ocVDPglIXwt/s400/seafair_4aug07__096.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAQcp2DaSP0JPMSxP3WRLro86i4Y7rj1F1iMiDVfMkc-Wen6HdvvnpYtj11y_p9HAZDERk8CCXwhaIx8hlXRRMbHzm91k8SuThyk4YFRUqKdyGLmVsElpFZYcmfwGBbWMcj1c/s400/seafair_4aug07__097.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWA4p_SzA_8AMkwqZz-4Y7s2PiCrZioMxI9GAP7_2EL2RcRG-ewosbEz2ZZzhYvnaCNIZh2NvKwYBv8zxNcc6K00ndOlJLSUvFpkKAF2WyHFXadgg_EklSJXuI8PZt5jJwxQEy/s400/seafair_4aug07__098.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevbkHtDg8Z5ldDNxw5m4vXfE6lWsr4FF4mRuTRNbZkT0utdQTl6J7AyLkpzIuq7A9jinm8FT5Jl-ytrjiYBI9BEMpIELWjHK3Hu5g-tTTiaPD_Aiiqtr_ZAScXOmIGTNLBUo0/s400/seafair_4aug07__099.jpg)
Pass 3
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFsVk6ZiVP5D3LEPajxBFECjwuGrgzQ9ITTDp2SNptaAIyvqWhkjIyn9SGVnWU0y2UqQPnx1DPjKtnhrveTwySfIU1cBhs9d1HeBz1VE5rinBWR_G7C8oI_ELs8Z8I27gB47r/s400/seafair_4aug07__106.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyx01ZAHfiuHReTNnIniIhjuwEaCs7xf1F4L8JK37KNgJtsB9-EyGgF9PzWeZvSX8NMHfxYX00hkVUPoHG76hv-pwmMYOql3rCmSAEY4KB7qcNgq2KPJNyUX98yxgpyVIPT8pz/s400/seafair_4aug07__107.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NO9nYSypuE4OlCqykEN1x_NqTMRHIkAL0bhRjwgrr9PR1eJ2J8ug_7r2jmJKnR0oaF2pEztyD2gTC93wyWEOx2pjQXK6OH6Ay1pJKUz-6WAaJGINUcDtR-L9ZTnrnoux5VDY/s400/seafair_4aug07__108.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AKLu_fp35ONszWykGOP5R9hPHckl_ILY_iRzgVR1Vl-_CpiknCsWicuMj-1COx1_w9ZSfkT9TPYf7BBlay2AgKTzDHAjU2YwpLcRjaFS61J9Cpr-gO0IopZmAhoLNHdu_2UO/s400/seafair_4aug07__109.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLK14mk-qx6WriTVr6SFHIu6nsOMBa8fXEkDTdaPBQG7_9KFLmHzXwu0adXpAp_i1Cb3tVIRmLadSt0tXmAIUsqWD9nWDwdv86DEX_E2Kcetce_iWsBIIaRbRMxdmNZVHDlK8k/s400/seafair_4aug07__110.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxn_LTE2kcWBo1NMSEaft0fAKiKwK7dY3wgLYMsvQzUObnv89QCVXU44kPb46HWYRaaWACTZtACMMzDPnaoos1-Mfd2LBlgUTcA-vfAvQemi0544JfJIXP3U2cmzQCg-5AqrCI/s400/seafair_4aug07__111.jpg)