Bridging the Gap

I have, ever since Dji introduced it’s first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (aka drone), imagined what I might be able to do, creatively, with this incredible tool. I had looked at one drone after another, always holding out for something smaller that still ensured optimum quality in the images and video. I almost ended up getting the Dji Mavic Pro when it first came out, then hesitated when then announced the Platinum version of that same airframe. I was even intrigued by the Dji Spark, primarily for its diminutive size, but the trade off in image quality was nit something I was willing to accept. Fast forward to Dji’s latest drone, the Mavic Air… it was everything I was looking for and more, so I finally committed to picking one up. Do I like it? Absolutely yes! As my good friend Bob Lussier told me after I bought it, “It’s a game changer!”

Guardian Fireboat No. 2

I had not really planned to put up a blog post today, but I suppose I should at least try to post something new 5 or 6 times a week, perhaps leaving Sundays as a BLOG POST-free day for me. Â While I usually post HDR photography, I started working on this non-HDR shot this morning and liked how it turned out. Â I liked it well enough to post onÂ Google +Â , and it seemed like folks there seemed to dig it, so I thought that you guys who come here to the blog and don’t follow me onÂ Â Google +Â might like to see it as well. Â As I mentioned in myÂ Â Google +Â post, I was experimenting with a mix of B&W, high-key, colorizing and, finally, onOne’s FocalPoint software. I may reedit it to fix some mistakes I see, but curious to hear what all of you out there think of this one.

Bridge over Turntable Bay

I know, I know. You all want me to post some more of my Urban Explore photography. Â Well, worry not. Â I have more brackets left to develop from my many shoots in former East Germany than you can imagine. Â All in good time, though, ’cause at the moment I’m keeping myself busy exploring the great outdoors in Northern California. Â Here is a shot taken shortly after sunrise. Â And I’m probably glad I waited until the sun illuminated the dark woods at the edge of the bay, ’cause I swear I saw some fresh bear droppings as I was headed back to the car from shooting this. Â Have to admit, bears were not on my mind at all, but then neither were the rattle snakes they say are plentiful around another area I shot yesterday in Redding. Â Guess I better watch my step!

The bridge between night and day

Hey everybody! I’m doing a much better job of getting myself out the door before sunrise at the moment. Let’s see if I can keep it up for a bit. I have to admit, it’s just amazing to be out in the quiet edges of the day, watching the night give way to day. I shot this photograph from the south end of the old Diestelhorst Bridge. Named for Gotlieb Diestelhorst, whose family owned the land where it was built, the bridge (639 feet long, 24.3 feet wide and nine spans) was completed in 1915. The Diestelhorst was the bridge for automobiles and the first reinforced concrete bridge built across the Sacramento River in Northern California. The bridge was closed to automotive traffic in November 1997 and it’s today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A Bridge to Freedom

Remember the Cold War?Â Well, if you are at all interested in that part of history, then you may have heard of Glienecke Bridge (Glienecker BrÃ¼cke in German), one of the few places in the world where Blue and Red stood toe-to-toe.Â This bridge to freedom, which spans the Havel river between Berlin (on the far side of this photo) and Potsdam (where I stood to take this shot) was also known as the â€œBridge of Spiesâ€, a place the U.S. and Russian would sometimes meet up to swap spies.