There’s something about flying over water that unnerves me, but holy crap the results are worth it!
I’m on the shore directly opposite the boat.
Landscape
Holiday
Had an architectural shoot out at Lake Holiday today. What an awesome place to shoot. Gonna have to get back there some day to really explore.
The pristine Lake Holiday in Frederick County, VA. | Order a print of this image.
Wetlands
I was out doing some mapping photography today and got a preview of the coming Fall colors. I think I’m heading to the national forest next week to shoot some photographs with my UAV. I might even fly at 401 feet. I’m such a rebel!
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Quick
What a great opportunity for aerial photography. I’m finding more and more ways where getting above the mess on the ground creates these unique opportunities for photography. I had my aerial cam in the car, but I didn’t have an SD card for it so I had to be quick about getting home this morning and going through the pre-flight stuff to get up and get this shot. It was worth the rush.
I got up in time to get some pretty cool images before the sun burned off all the fog. | Order a print of this image.
Workshop
Teaching creative workflows is tough. I’m quickly learning that I really need to back up and start from the beginning.
I took this group of Handley students/faculty through the workflow of capturing an aerial image and editing it with a miniature effect.
Futile
It’s very difficult for me now to resist sending up the aerial camera when the skies look like this. I have a feeling that I’m going to be posting lots of aerial images throughout the coming Fall season.
Train!
You’re not supposed to walk along the train tracks. I get that but I was scouting out a location for an aerial shoot and a train needed the tracks. I actually heard the gates closing before I heard the train. It was a total Back to the Future moment (you know, at the end of the third one – anyway…). I jumped off the track and launched really quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I thought for a second I was going to hit the train on the way up. It really wasn’t as dangerous as I’m making it out to seem. The train was moving fairly slowly, I wasn’t anywhere near the tracks when the train passed, the aerial cam was well clear by the time the train passed…
…just enjoy the image.
The train tracks that run through the Abram’s Creek Wetlands Preserve.
Chillax
I read somewhere about someone flying theirs while lying down. It was kinda relaxing. Look at Waldo there just chilling.
It’s a word. Look it up. I did.
Race
About 10k from finishing my ride this evening I realized that it was going to be an awesome sunset. All I could think about was getting back in time to send up the aerial cam and get some great shots. The race was on. That was a pretty fast 10k especially at the end of the ride.
My view at the end of my ride this evening in Clarke County, VA.
Night Owl
Anybody else see the moonrise tonight? I’ve always tried to photograph the moon when it’s just over the horizon and have always missed it by the time I find the right place to set up. I almost missed it again tonight. I got some really decent images of the moon as it was rising in front of Handley High School. I had some fun with this one.
Handley High School’s iconic cupola at night.
Auto Pilot
There’s a feature on the aerial camera that I didn’t think I’d be using, but it came in handy last night. It’s not really auto pilot, but for a photographer it comes pretty darn close. The camera can be set to snap a photo every 30 seconds for as long as I want. So I can concentrate on getting some cool HDR series on the ground while the aerial cam just hovers and snaps away. I used it last night to shoot an awesome sunset. I sent it up as the sun was hitting the horizon and just left it there until I was done on the ground. Pretty cool if you ask me.
This is my go-to spot for awesome sunsets. I’ve never been disappointed. | Order a print of this image.
And I did promise that I would reveal what last night’s photo actually was. Here’s a before/after comparison.
Crazy
The big downside to landscape photography is the incredibly early start times for the day, especially for shooting the sunrise. On a good day I could be up as early as 3 and as late as 9 that same evening just to shoot the sun. Am I dedicated or crazy?
I’m pretty excited to be heading into that time of year when the sunrise isn’t at some ridiculously early hour of the morning! | Order a print of this image.
Griffith Park
The whole time I was here I kept thinking how cool it would be to fly the drone over it.
That’s the Hollywood sign at the very top right of the image.
Customer Experience
“Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.”
– Walt Disney
If I’ve learned anything from any of my trainings throughout my entire life, it’s that successful businesses get that way by putting the customer experience at the top of their priority list. The two companies that immediately come to mind for me are Apple and Disney. Sure, they’re for-profit companies, but their ultimate goal is to deliver a customer experience like no other. When you can put aside that “I’m gonna get rich doing this” attitude and focus on being creative and innovative it all tends to work itself out. And Disney is exceptionally good at it. To watch my dad over this past weekend was pretty cool. At almost 80 years old, he enjoyed that park every bit as much as any of the adolescents who were experiencing it for the first time.
There were a lot of ways I could have gone with today’s post, but this image worked no matter which way I went.
Viewing Size
Every once in a while I’ll post an image that’s just not meant to be viewed on a mobile device. Realistically, I’d love for these types of photos to be viewed on a large HD screen of some sort where you can get in close and see the whole range and all the detail. This image is a prime example, but unfortunately it’s too big.
I’m wrapping up a whirlwind weekend in California that literally began back in February when I registered and began stressing about having to run (everything went well, btw), and I’m sitting in the airport a whopping 5 hours early for my flight. So I need to kill some time.
I shot a series of images of LA and the surrounding area today while in Griffith Park so I decided to try something – a mega/super/ultra, or whatever you want to call it, panorama image of LA. It turned out great, but it’s going to be sized to fit your screen so it’ll appear really thin. I posted it on Flickr (500px has a limit of 15,000 pixels on the longest side!), but it’s still sized to fit. Bummer. I wonder if I can get it printed full-size…
16 individual images. File size is 2.82 GB. Dimensions – 30926 X 3121 or 128.9″ X 13″ or 3.273 M X .33 M! It’s 10.6 feet long!
27 Hours
I get an extra 3 hours to post today. Woohoo! The downside is that I’ll only have 21 hours on Monday. Boohoo. We were all dragging today after 5 hour flights and being up 18 hours we wanted to remain active to avoid going to sleep too early. It was Laguna Beach or bust. I’ve always seen the big waves in pictures or TV, but it was cool to see them in person. We were also pretty distracted by the $15,000,000 homes up on the cliff. Yep. Six zeros and seven figures!
The view from the homes that don’t overlook the Pacific Ocean. The less expensive houses. These houses are only worth $5,000,000.
New Chapter
Started my next chapter last night teaching Broadcast Video Production in the building I called “home” for seven years. Can you see me? Not a lot of time to get out and shoot today as I pack for California. Hopefully I’ll have some great images to post along the way.
Golden Hour
When you can get above all the mess on the ground level, that golden hour is more like a golden hour and 15 minutes. My class ended at 6:30, but I was determined to get the sunset today because I just had a feeling that it was going to be a good one. I think I made a good call.
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Pride
pride
/prīd/
noun
1. a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
- “the team was bursting with pride after recording a sensational victory”
- synonyms: pleasure, joy, delight, gratification, fulfillment, satisfaction, a sense of achievement; “take pride in a good job well done”
How is Handley Different? by Dr. V. Doug Joyner
From letter jackets to lunch lines, Handley isn’t outwardly intriguing, nothing differentiates us from any other high school across the nation-but step inside the checkered hallway; have a seat in the auditorium; cheer for the football players at a game and you will find there’s something else that lingers in the hallways. It’s an unfettered force that the community refers to as “Handley Pride”. It’s the one thing that sets us apart from the rest.
It’s embedded into the glistening marble hall, woven into the upholstery of the auditorium, and saturates the Handley Bowl on a sparkling autumn afternoon. The fundamentals associate us with every other school, but pride fractures the concord, and keeps the student reputation from being slandered into uniformity.
As a profile is examined and its features begin to tell a story, the inner thoughts come to the surface. Even though the picture hasn’t told its story with words the wrinkle of a brow and a shy smile tell more eloquently than words the sorrows of the character.
Most important to the piecing together of a person are the eyes. Are they quick and alert? Do they search for something beyond the four walls of the picture?
When a teacher watches many profiles agonize over a test or listens to one lone profile struggling over an oral presentation, they see focus in their student’s eyes. Focus and motive to achieve, to be known, to excel outside of the four walls of a classroom.
As we live our daily lives, our personalities become exposed, and we expose those of others. Each situation, whether within the walls of Handley high or experienced elsewhere, defines us. Our surroundings mold us emotionally- no two of us are the same. We are who we are; our appearance is unique, our mindsets are one of a kind, our experiences differ.
Through our activities, we have revealed ourselves to the school. As the school year has progressed, the definition of our individual profiles has become sharp, and we have placed our profiles along the halls among all other Handley attendees-past, present, and future. Our profiles, representing our lives – stay – waiting to expose our experiences for those who follow.
I disagree on that part about Handley not being outwardly intriguing.
Night Vision
An entirely different ballgame flying this thing at night. But still as much fun. I was in such a hurry to get up and start shooting that I forgot to change the settings for a better night-time image. Not too shabby for being shot at ISO 100. The fact that the flag is lit up doesn’t hurt. And, no, the camera isn’t that close to the flag. It’s probably about 30 feet away.
That’s one BIG flag. I’ve been living in my house now for 10+ years and it’s still a little eerie to hear this flag flapping in the wind at night.
Cedarmeade Studios 