Landscape

Just Cool

Wow, that was just cool!  When we first started talking about shooting some aerials of the entire student body of WPS, I thought sure it’ll be neat.  That was just cool and a little overwhelming.  To be honest, I was nervous until it was all over.  Shooting aerials of that many people gathered in one space with an aerial camera makes me nervous.  But we pulled it off.  How about that?!  And the camera was a huge hit.  Kids love that stuff – and I’m including adults ‘cuz we’re just big kids, right?

The entire student body of Winchester Public Schools (roughly 4,400 students) gathered today for an aerial shoot promotion cultural diversity. The footage will be featured in a video to be shown in January on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The entire student body of Winchester Public Schools (roughly 4,400 students) gathered today for an aerial shoot promoting cultural diversity. The footage will be featured in a video to be shown in January on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Almost

If you knew what you were looking at you could see almost the entire course of yesterday’s Battlefield Half Marathon.

This is the "view" from my house - well, at least from straight above my house.

This is the “view” from my house – well, at least from straight above my house.

Early Bird

I know the saying – “The early bird gets the worm” – but it’s so much harder this time of year.  I suppose the payoff is worth it.  And also, I don’t like worms.

Such a cool (quite literally) sunrise this morning at the inaugural Battlefield Half Marathon in Frederick County, VA. | Order a print of this image.

Such a cool (quite literally) sunrise this morning at the inaugural Battlefield Half Marathon in Frederick County, VA. | Order a print of this image.

Recon

A little course recon this morning for the Battlefield 1/2 this weekend.  Hope the weather forecast is good for Saturday morning cuz I’m hoping to get some good running aerials.

Kernstown Battlefield near Winchester, VA

Kernstown Battlefield near Winchester, VA

81

So I was driving down the interstate highway and got the urge to take this photograph.  So I did.  Its pretty colorful along our section of 81.

Our colorful section of I-81 near mile marker 309.

Our colorful section of I-81 near mile marker 309.

Cold

It was such a cold day for a football game.  I know most people would say it was perfect weather for a football game, but not me.  I’ve certainly become a fair-weather person in my “old” age.  But the sunsets are no less spectacular – that’s one reason I could photograph the sunset every day.  Maybe that’ll be my theme for all of next year – what a challenge.

DJI03546-Edit

Aerial HDR

So it’s tough enough to handhold an HDR image, but given a choice between handholding and aerial HDR – I choose handheld.  Even with the 3-axis gimbal guiding the camera, the aerial cam just can’t hold still enough.  I probably spent about 20 minutes trying to eliminate all the ghosting in this image (and could have easily spent another 1/2 hour).  Enough’s enough.  This will have to do.  I think I’ll just stick to the one image post-processing using the raw data straight out of the camera.

I just realized that was an incredible amount of technical geek-talk.  It’s late at night – thanks for listening.  Now just enjoy the image.

Fall On The Mall - Old Town Mall in Winchester, VA.

Fall On The Mall – Old Town Mall in Winchester, VA.

Nature’s Palette

It’s nature’s color palette.  What a great time of year to be a landscape photographer.

Order a print of this image.

Order a print of this image.

Morning’s Here

“Morning’s Here
The Morning is Here
Sunshine is Here
The Sky is Clear
The Morning’s here (hey you’re back!)
(Hey!) Get into Gear
Breakfast is near
The Dark of Night Has Disappeared”

– Joey & his neighbor (Friends)

Order a print of this image.

Order a print of this image.

 

Favorite

Another awesome sunset over what has turned into my favorite place to shoot these days.  Go figure.

Order a print of this image.

Order a print of this image.

Camera

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine…and a decent camera.”

– Anthony J. D’Angelo

I added the “decent camera” part. 😉  I had planned on launching the aerial camera up here, but forgot the media cards.  So I challenged myself by only taking one lens – the 50mm.

Bears Den Nature Trail

The nature trail at Bears Den in Bluemont, VA.

Second Spring

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

– Albert Camus

DJI03275-Edit

The peaking foliage over Abram’s Creek in Winchester, VA.

Peak

Anybody have an issue saying the word “foliage?”  I worked with someone once who did.  Anybody have a guess as to who it was?  I wonder if she’s reading now.  Anyway, the fo·li·age [ˈfōl(ē)ij] is about to peak here in Winchester.  Hope the weather holds for some great images.

The foliage on SU campus in Winchester

The foliage on SU campus in Winchester around Wilkins Lake.

Rise and Shine

This is how I started my day – actually about an hour and a half prior to this.  Long day for me.

HLSB (Shenandoah University's Health and Life Sciences Building). | Order a print of this image.

HLSB (Shenandoah University’s Health and Life Sciences Building). | Order a print of this image.

Cut Short

There was going to be a great sunset at the school this evening, but I had my first complaint about the aerial camera that cut me short.  A lady was going to go walk somewhere else this evening (as opposed to her usual walk at the school) because she was “uncomfortable” with the drone.  I was just hovering taking a shot every couple of minutes – just waiting for the money shot.  This is the last shot I was able to get.  I never did get a clear answer as to what made her uncomfortable.  Oh well.

Another great sunset over Handley High School. | Order a print of this image.

Another great sunset over Handley High School. | Order a print of this image.

Always Learning

I’m a big fan of learning through workshops and tutorials and the like.  I’m always on the lookout for new learning opportunities because you never know what you may learn even in a workshop or on a tutorial where you may think you know everything there is to know.  Even if you do know most of the material, chances are there’s going to be some tip or shortcut mentioned that really has nothing to do with the overall content but you never knew about.  I learn so much this way.

It’s been around for a long time, but I’ve just started really diving in to any and every new class being offered through CreativeLive.  If you’re a creative type, are looking and haven’t found it yet you should check it out.  For real.  I just actually watched parts of a workshop on aerial photography.  There’s a whole ton of stuff on there for all sorts of creative type endeavors.

I've been doing aerial panoramas for a while now, but picked up a few tips recently on further reducing noise in my low-light images.

I’ve been doing aerial panoramas for a while now, but picked up a few tips recently on further reducing noise in my low-light images. | Order a print of this image.

Read the Signs

Leeches!  Are you reading this, Mom?

Along with all the other posted notifications that appear on the pretty obvious board as you drive into the Todd Lake recreation area in the George Washington National Forest there’s a notification that leeches have been, for a long time, part of the Todd Lake ecosystem.  It makes sense I know.  I realize this now, but kids don’t care.  I never read the signs when I was a kid.  I realize that they’re pretty much harmless, but still, gross.  I didn’t spend a lot of time in the lake, but I know I must have spent some amount of time in it.

Gross.

Always read the notifications on the posted signs.

Always read the notifications on the posted signs.

Look Up

Take a walk through the forest and look up.  That’s it.

This is what happens with a fisheye lens when all lines in the image point toward the middle of the frame. | Order a print of this image.

If all lines run across the frame toward the center of a fisheye lens the lines end up straight. | Order a print of this image.

Elkhorn

This was the first stop on my GW Forest visit with my dad the other day.  I mainly wanted to check on the foliage to see how far along it was.  I’d love to get some images of the fall colors at their peak.  This was pretty close.

The foliage is just about to peak at Elkhorn Lake. | Order a print of this image.

The foliage is just about to peak at Elkhorn Lake. | Order a print of this image.

TBT

The photo isn’t really a throwback, but the place is.  Todd Lake (the lake is directly below the camera) in the George Washington National Forest – it’s where I spent a lot of my childhood.  I picked wild blueberries and ate them off the plant.  I’d walk through the forest and get drinking water from the creek.  My brothers and I would sit on top of my grandmother’s bronco and pick/eat persimmons from the tree.  And I learned to drive said bronco in the field.  I remember going up there every couple weeks to mow the huge field – I also learned to use a riding mower there, too.  I spent the day up there shooting yesterday with my dad and my dog Waldo.  Good times.

"The Cabin"

The cabin, where I spent a lot of my youth, sits at the bottom of the clearing in the middle of the image.