Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 7, 2013 at 5:27 AM
#1 - East limb of the Monument Uplift - between Bluff and Mexican Hat, UT
Last November I had the opportunity to join a 3 day aerial tour of the Colorado Plateau. For a geologist with an addiction to photography, it doesn't get much better.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 7, 2013 at 5:28 AM
#2 - Mancos Badlands - south of Factory Butte, UT
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 7, 2013 at 5:29 AM
#3 - Monument Valley Sunset
Posted by Bret Edge on February 7, 2013 at 8:17 AM
Wow, these are fantastic! I am especially fond of the Mancos Badlands image. I think I'm going to hit up one of my pilot friends in Moab for an aerial tour some time in the near future.
Good stuff here, Bill. Really like the pattern in the badlands shot and the light in the last one is great.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on February 7, 2013 at 9:13 AM
The erosional patterns in the first two sure do show well from above.
The Monument Valley image jumps out for me in a good way due to the contrast of sunlight and shadow, orange and green.
Posted by Bill Bean on February 7, 2013 at 9:31 AM
These are all fabulous, Bill. I love stuff like this. About a decade ago Bill Fortney did a book called America from 500 Feet which was a collection of images he shot while flying a motorized hang glider. Some great stuff.
The Monument Valley image is very striking but I'm a bigger fan of the Monument Uplift.
Stellar stuff Bill. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by Jeff Hackett on February 7, 2013 at 9:53 AM
All three are awesome. I thought there might be a let down after the first one, but I was way wrong!
Posted by John Mumaw on February 7, 2013 at 10:11 AM
It really doesn't get much better, Bill. What makes these images so great is not only the altitude, but the great light you had.
Monument Valley Sunset really does jump out at you. A very unique and fresh view of that particular area.
I took a 2 hour flight over the area several years ago and loved it, but I did not have a choice in the time of day we went.
Is this a commercially available tour or a one-off deal that you found?
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 7, 2013 at 11:21 AM
Brett, you really need to take up your friends offer. It's such a blast seeing all those places you've hiked to from the air.
I'm glad we were able to catch you in your gallery when we stopped in Moab for lunch.
Unfortunately, the Moab area was overcast with very flat light that day, so I didn't get the shot of Behind the Rocks that I was looking for, but sunset over the Needles District made up for it.
John, nothing commercial, just a group of friends sharing expenses. It helps having a photographer as the pilot.
We started in Albuquerque and based ourselves out of Bluff for the nearby morning and evening light opportunities.
That was a good decision, since it allowed several passes over Monument Valley and Comb Ridge in much different light.
Posted by Jack Brauer on February 7, 2013 at 11:24 AM
Amazing work!!! The second one especially... wow!
Posted by Jack Garrett on February 7, 2013 at 2:14 PM
It's about time you brought these here! Bill shared them with me a little while back and I told him he needed to post these outstanding works and share them with everyone. Just excellent work, Bill! Hopefully there will be more to come.
I really like the abstract feel of the first image - the saw blade appearance of the landscape is very interesting. All three images are amazing, though.
Posted by Bob Falcone on February 8, 2013 at 6:09 PM
I love the texture and patterns of the Monument Uplift, but the Monument Valley picture is breath-taking! Well done!
Posted by Stan Rose on February 8, 2013 at 9:57 PM
I can't choose a favorite. These are all outstanding for their own reasons. I love the different perspective and quality compositions you managed from the air.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on February 9, 2013 at 11:02 PM
WOW! Excellent set of shots Bill! LOVE #1, but then again...love #2, but then again, love #3...so, guess I like them all.
I can't imagine what the third one looks like as a really large print...has to be awesome.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 10, 2013 at 3:19 PM
Bill, I also enjoyed Fortney's ultralight aerials. A few years ago I was seriously considering getting a powered parachute trike, specifically for low altitude photography. I took a few rides, however, my desire to enjoy a healthy retirement finally won out. It's actually quite relaxing leaving the flying to someone else.
Another favorite is Michael Collier, a geologist who has as published a number of aerial photography books of the southwest. I really enjoyed his exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science a few years ago.
More recently W. Kenneth Hamblin, a geology prof at BYU, published, "Beyond the Visible Landscape - Aerial Panoramas of Utah's Geology". Incredible panos and a lot of excellent geological description for each image. Although he approached the photography with a more descriptive than artistic intent, the images are excellent and would be appreciated by anyone who enjoys traveling in Utah.
Posted by Ken Henke on February 10, 2013 at 6:24 PM
These images have both great compostion and light. All will make great wall-hangers!
Care to share your camera settings and techniques shooting from the air?
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on February 10, 2013 at 11:51 PM
Ken, the key is keeping the shutter speeds high.
Between 1/1,000 and 1/2,000 seconds at f/8 to f5.6 worked fine.
I don't recall a single image with motion blur issues.
I did not bother to experiment with slower shutter speeds to see how low I could go.
The ISO was whatever it took to maintain those speeds.
During sunset over Monument Valley (#3) the ISO did get pushed to 3,200 on a 5DIII.
The camera was left on manual exposure. Probably shutter priority would have been the way to go, but as a creature of habit, I preferred to keep it the way I normally shoot. AF and IS was left on for all shots.
I only took two Canon lenses: 24-105 IS f/4 and 70-200 IS f/4, and did not change lenses frequently.
Ideally I'd have the lenses mounted on two camera bodies.
I looked at the focal length distribution using the Lightroom metadata filter.
Out of the 1640 images remaining after obvious deletions, 700 were taken with the 24-105, 940 with the 70-200.
400 were wider than 70 mm, and 350 were longer than 105 mm. Remarkably even!
Only 5 were at 24 mm, but 145 were shot at 200mm. So, the long end was definitely favored at the extremes.
In terms of focal lengths, the 70-200 mm range was only slightly favored.
However, I think the clincher is that for my top 40 selections only 2 were shot wider than 70 mm !!
I would still want to pack both zooms, but I will definitely start with and heavily favor 70-200 mm.
If I had to limit myself to a single lens, the 70-200mm would be my obvious choice for aerial photography at ~ 2,000 ft agl.
Of course, that choice is highly dependent on whether you prefer the "grand landscape" or more selective compositions.
The windows in our plane did not open, so glare and reflections on the glass were quite obnoxious at times.
It was by far the primary cause for shots not taken, or images deleted.
I brought some black fabric, but I really needed a bit of Velcro to position the fabric.
Stunning images! That Monument Uplift shot is just killer. I wish I had been more into photography back when I was in school in Prescott and had a bunch of pilot buddies.
Posted by Adam Schallau on February 15, 2013 at 12:51 PM
Discussion
23 repliesLast November I had the opportunity to join a 3 day aerial tour of the Colorado Plateau. For a geologist with an addiction to photography, it doesn't get much better.
The Monument Valley image jumps out for me in a good way due to the contrast of sunlight and shadow, orange and green.
The Monument Valley image is very striking but I'm a bigger fan of the Monument Uplift.
Stellar stuff Bill. Thanks for sharing.
Monument Valley Sunset really does jump out at you. A very unique and fresh view of that particular area.
I took a 2 hour flight over the area several years ago and loved it, but I did not have a choice in the time of day we went.
Is this a commercially available tour or a one-off deal that you found?
I'm glad we were able to catch you in your gallery when we stopped in Moab for lunch.
Unfortunately, the Moab area was overcast with very flat light that day, so I didn't get the shot of Behind the Rocks that I was looking for, but sunset over the Needles District made up for it.
John, nothing commercial, just a group of friends sharing expenses. It helps having a photographer as the pilot.
We started in Albuquerque and based ourselves out of Bluff for the nearby morning and evening light opportunities.
That was a good decision, since it allowed several passes over Monument Valley and Comb Ridge in much different light.
I really like the abstract feel of the first image - the saw blade appearance of the landscape is very interesting. All three images are amazing, though.
I can't imagine what the third one looks like as a really large print...has to be awesome.
Another favorite is Michael Collier, a geologist who has as published a number of aerial photography books of the southwest. I really enjoyed his exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science a few years ago.
More recently W. Kenneth Hamblin, a geology prof at BYU, published, "Beyond the Visible Landscape - Aerial Panoramas of Utah's Geology". Incredible panos and a lot of excellent geological description for each image. Although he approached the photography with a more descriptive than artistic intent, the images are excellent and would be appreciated by anyone who enjoys traveling in Utah.
Care to share your camera settings and techniques shooting from the air?
Between 1/1,000 and 1/2,000 seconds at f/8 to f5.6 worked fine.
I don't recall a single image with motion blur issues.
I did not bother to experiment with slower shutter speeds to see how low I could go.
The ISO was whatever it took to maintain those speeds.
During sunset over Monument Valley (#3) the ISO did get pushed to 3,200 on a 5DIII.
The camera was left on manual exposure. Probably shutter priority would have been the way to go, but as a creature of habit, I preferred to keep it the way I normally shoot. AF and IS was left on for all shots.
I only took two Canon lenses: 24-105 IS f/4 and 70-200 IS f/4, and did not change lenses frequently.
Ideally I'd have the lenses mounted on two camera bodies.
I looked at the focal length distribution using the Lightroom metadata filter.
Out of the 1640 images remaining after obvious deletions, 700 were taken with the 24-105, 940 with the 70-200.
400 were wider than 70 mm, and 350 were longer than 105 mm. Remarkably even!
Only 5 were at 24 mm, but 145 were shot at 200mm. So, the long end was definitely favored at the extremes.
In terms of focal lengths, the 70-200 mm range was only slightly favored.
However, I think the clincher is that for my top 40 selections only 2 were shot wider than 70 mm !!
I would still want to pack both zooms, but I will definitely start with and heavily favor 70-200 mm.
If I had to limit myself to a single lens, the 70-200mm would be my obvious choice for aerial photography at ~ 2,000 ft agl.
Of course, that choice is highly dependent on whether you prefer the "grand landscape" or more selective compositions.
The windows in our plane did not open, so glare and reflections on the glass were quite obnoxious at times.
It was by far the primary cause for shots not taken, or images deleted.
I brought some black fabric, but I really needed a bit of Velcro to position the fabric.
No polarizer or other filters were used.
Let me know if you have any further questions.