Brain Drain

The latest round of drone technology has opened up a whole new world for still photography -- and I jumped right onto the bandwagon. I've seen some amazing photos from the skies and decided to take advantage of Black Friday deals and pickup a DJI Mavic Pro 2. It's amazing what a few hundred feet can do to change the way we see the world. What we take for granted as particular objects look totally different when you look down on them and can really see how they connect and meander through the earth. Willie and I took the drones out on this particular evening because the sky was predicted to have a nice sunset. We knew that a colorful sunset would reflect in the water and would add a nice red or orange pop to all of the photos. We arrived early and launched the drones, scouting the skies for scenes we might want to photograph later when the sky became all colorful. Eventually we landed the drones, swapped out the batteries, waited for sunset, and then flew again while the sky was filled with orange and red. This particular photo was taken during the first flight, before the sun had set and created an intense sunset. I loved the scene here because it looks *so different*. In fact, the U-shaped river here reminds me of a brain, with its blood vessels and veins streaking out from it. I thought it made a perfect scene for a very abstract photo. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 120

Pass the Salt

When you spend the past 8 years photographing the same couple-hundred mile area, it can be hard to find the motivation to keep taking photos of the same things. Seascapes: check. Cityscapes: check. Flowers: check. Throw in a wrinkle, though, and things get interesting again. So when DJI started making drones that could take amazing still photography, I was interested. Willie and I both picked up drones during Black Friday and we've been re-exploring areas from the skies now. It's amazing how the scene can change when you get just a hundred feet off the ground. Looking down on the ground shows a different angle, and most particularly, allows you to see the shape and texture of the whole landscape. Rivers and streams whose true length gets lost from the ground, creates amazing shapes that dazzle when viewed from the sky. Willie and I arrived at these salt flats for sunrise after visiting the same spot a few days earlier at sunset. We knew the salt flats were creating some amazing textures and we hoped the sunrise glow would give some beautiful and unique light. As the water drains from these salt flats, the little streams left behind create some amazing textures. As the salt builds up on the edges it can catch the light from the rising sun, giving the stream-banks a bit of an orange glow. I loved how you can see that here as the "fingers" extend out, ready to grab you. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO 100

Pass the Salt

When you spend the past 8 years photographing the same couple-hundred mile area, it can be hard to find the motivation to keep taking photos of the same things. Seascapes: check. Cityscapes: check. Flowers: check. Throw in a wrinkle, though, and things get interesting again. So when DJI started making drones that could take amazing still photography, I was interested. Willie and I both picked up drones during Black Friday and we've been re-exploring areas from the skies now. It's amazing how the scene can change when you get just a hundred feet off the ground. Looking down on the ground shows a different angle, and most particularly, allows you to see the shape and texture of the whole landscape. Rivers and streams whose true length gets lost from the ground, creates amazing shapes that dazzle when viewed from the sky. Willie and I arrived at these salt flats for sunrise after visiting the same spot a few days earlier at sunset. We knew the salt flats were creating some amazing textures and we hoped the sunrise glow would give some beautiful and unique light. As the water drains from these salt flats, the little streams left behind create some amazing textures. As the salt builds up on the edges it can catch the light from the rising sun, giving the stream-banks a bit of an orange glow. I loved how you can see that here as the "fingers" extend out, ready to grab you. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO 100