I’ve got a series of images that I’ll eventually combine to create a “mapping” image of the Psycho Cross course in Sykesville. There’s so much that’s cool about this venue, but what’s really awesome is that if I look up the address on my iPhone/Mac maps I can actually see the worn areas that mark the race course. Check it out.
I was near downtown today when the sun began setting. It pays sometimes to keep the gear in the car.
The new Discovery Museum in Old Town Winchester
I’ve shot here for several years now at the annual Psycho Cross cyclocross race and I look froward to it every year. I enjoy shooting cycling, no doubt, but I really enjoy shooting this property. And this year I have a new angle of view! Just a little preview of what I’ll be shooting tomorrow.
One of the open windows at the Warfield Complex in Sykesville, MD. | Order a print of this image.
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.
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.
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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I spent the day at the local city park shooting cyclocross. I don’t race cyclocross and never will. My license plate even indicates that I’m a road cyclist. Anyway, I don’t know what the cyclists were complaining about all day – that Belgian wall looks pretty flat to me. Easily rideable.
The Belgian Wall at the Applecross cyclocross race in Winchester is approximately a 45° angle, which is eliminated with this top-down, mapping view.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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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.
So today I had somebody actually follow the camera to where it landed just to find out more about it. I was just flying over Shenandoah University and demonstrating it for a couple of friends and a guy drives into the lot, runs over and said that he followed it from the main campus because he wanted to know more about it. I gave him my card. Cool.
The almost-complete Health and Life Sciences building on Shenandoah University’s campus in Winchester, VA
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 