Hello Steemit!
I am a bush-pilot, aerial photographer, and explorer.
Our world is truly beautiful from up here!! And to share how I see it, I am developing an immersive project called Where Eagles Fly and would love to introduce myself and the project to the Steemit community.
My name is Gerald Zedekiah Morse, I go by Zedekiah or Z for short.
Of course here on Steemit I am "skypilot".
I was only recently introduced to Steemit by a friend. I find the entire construct of a blockchain content distribution platform to be fascinating. Centralized mass distribution of content is still very much under a gatekeeper rule and I would love to bypass this as much as possible. Steemit and other kindred platforms such as lbry.io, ascribe.io and many others all provide valuable tools that will greatly assist in the launch, success, and ongoing control of my project content. There is much to learn, and I look forward to the journey!
My proof of life - at my hangar on 8/23/16 with the Bluebird
If you would like to see an example of my project and the work I do, please click on the image below which will take you to my website which has a Vimeo clip embedded on it. (Unfortunately at this time Steemit does not support Vimeo and I do not like the compression quality of YouTube.) I would right-click to open the link in a new tab so you keep Steemit open and don't lose your place.
My Background
I am a music composer, pianist, recording engineer, and sound designer. I work mostly as a ghost composer and arranger on film soundtracks and trailers. I love many different styles of music and experiment with recording any genre or style the muse provides. If you would care to listen to my music, visit my listing on SoundCloud/ZMorse, but please realize, it is not for everyone. Lots of different styles are on there, and I change the material all the time since I have a substantial library to choose from.
Z in the Studio Mixing Film Music
In addition to music production, I also code, develop virtual production technology and work as a disruptive technologist. But mostly I am an emerging filmmaker and content creator. For this project, I do everything possible to insure the content is not unduly influenced by outside sources. For that reason, I do literally everything: pilot, aerial photography (cinematography), post-production editing, music composition, sound design, graphics and motion graphics.
I will work with other people in the development of the various post-production components involved in distributing the project content, and when the project is ready I will get a professional voice over artist for the narration of the various film and episodic chapter components. I'd love to get someone like Sam Elliot or Morgan Freeman!
I Love To Fly
It feels like I was born a pilot. My father was a test pilot for the B58 Hustler and then an aeronautical engineer for NASA during the Apollo program. Those were heady days. Most folks don’t realize, but back when Silicon Valley was just another small California suburb of San Francisco, and long before the advent of the Internet and rise of technology as we know it today, there were two very advanced scientific centers of technology that few knew about outside of the NASA community: Nassau Bay, Texas, and Huntsville, Alabama.
My father and test crew for the B58 Hustler circa 1960
These were the Silicon Valleys of the day back in the 1960’s and 70’s. Huntsville, Alabama, was home to Marshal Space Center, and Nassau Bay, Texas, was home to Johnson Space Center. I grew up between those two places because my dad was transferred back and forth every couple of years as the Apollo program progressed. This is something I will write about in another article due to there being a lot of interesting things to discuss from that era. What’s important is the impact exposure to this unique community had on me. I developed a love of science and engineering and a wanderlust for space exploration that has had an ongoing effect on me. I still gaze into the night sky in wonderment at the possibilities of what is out there, of what we do not know. I truly love the unknown.
When I was a child, my father took me flying a lot, most of the time we had to sneak out of the house because mom was so scared we would crash. Pops would always make me promise not to tell her when we were out doing aerobatics or flying through the mountains and landing on riverbanks. I’m grateful for the influence he had on my life, and the exposure to the science and engineering of flight that has shaped my life. But also in the type of aircraft and flying I am attracted to. I have never been interested in the fast moving jets or high altitude aircraft, instead prefer flying low and slow above the beautiful back-country, experiencing views I know very few people, if any, ever get to see. So this means I require a particular type of aircraft that can safely operate in these rough, rugged, and primitive locations.
Flying My Bluebird In The Wilderness
I exclusively fly small bush planes. These aircraft do not require a normal paved runway to take off and land on. All I really need is a somewhat flat space a few hundred feet long, the smoother the better, but not necessary. You have to be very careful landing in short places, as you run the risk of being unable to take off from there again. This is why careful planning and attention to weather conditions and surface terrain are paramount! I also fly float planes, even crashed one a long time ago in the wilderness and had to egress the aircraft underwater as it was rapidly sinking! (Another story for another time).
Camping on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee
Camping with an airplane in the wild is an experience of either extreme solitude, when I am out there by myself, or great camaraderie with a very small group of pilots who love the back-country as much as I. We have fly-in's where groups of pilots, young and old, male and female and lots of families all come together to camp out in these hard-to-reach locations.
Landing and taking off on river banks, tops of cliffs, mountain saddle backs or meadows, which are always deep in the wilderness and far from civilization or help, are standard operations. Planning and proper equipment are necessary for survival, and knowledge with continuous training will keep you alive when things get spicy! You can count on the weather to be unpredictable, changing rapidly with little warning when you fly and camp deep in the mountainous hinterlands. Vigilance and a keen sense of awareness must be enacted at all times, especially in the air but also down on the ground, particularly when camping in the wild.
Because...critters!
All sorts of wild animals like coyotes, moose, elk, wolves, and bears will come into camp. We all know that they can be a curious lot and after all, this is their home and we are just visitors. Mostly, they are looking for food, especially bears. I am sure you have all seen this photo of a bush-plane that got a bit chewed on? Never ever store food in the airplane, not even something as small as a candy bar―especially if it is covered with fabric and not metal, though aluminum skin probably would have suffered badly as well. I reckon that bear was pretty determined and that fabric skin cut like butter with those sharp claws!
Bear damage on an aircraft similar to my Bluebird
Culmination of My Life's Work
Years ago, I began taking photos while flying and camping in the back-country. Over time, camera technology exponentially reduced in form-factor while increasing in capabilities. I’m now able to carry more powerful DSLR's with amazing capabilities, and I've gone through the gauntlet with different systems: Nikon, Sony, Canon, Hasselblad, and PhaseOne. Some work much better than others, there is no real magic bullet; however, I love the large-sensor-format-based systems because I desire to reproduce my images as large-scale prints.
Shooting The Grand-Staircase Escalante in Utah
As video camera technology matured into smaller form-factor systems, I began experimenting with mounting cameras all around the aircraft, outside and in the cockpit. It has taken quite a while to come up with solutions to mitigate camera vibration. The rolling shutter effect from these systems is always an issue, especially with the bending propeller which I really dislike. But I am using my current configuration as a test bed from which to design and build an aerial platform that will eliminate all of these problems. This new platform will be based on a global-shutter sensor with a custom camera control, mounting, and optical package.
With the advent of a powerful suite of post-production tools from Adobe Creative Cloud, I am able to leverage my knowledge of virtual production technology into the art of editing and film composition. Because I already do soundtrack work, it was a fairly logical step. With the combination of aerial photography, aerial footage, and music composition and recording, I have the ability to produce my own content. Hence the following project:
Where Eagles Fly – The American Wilderness Expedition
For the past few years, I've been exploring the remaining wilderness areas of North America and filming them from a space just a few hundred to a few thousand feet above ground. The view from this zone is incredible. To accomplish this, I fly into remote off-the-beaten-path locations that are very rarely visited and even more rarely seen from this special zone up in the air... Where Eagles Fly :)
When you think about it, our view of the world is quite limited to either down on the ground or very high up in jet airliners. Both of these views are restricted by physical limitations such as line-of-sight with ground based views and limited fine-detail when viewing from airliners flying along at 35,000 feet or higher.
Kokoweef Peak in the Mojave Desert
Where I fly, earth colors interact with weather and atmospheric conditions to create incredible “paintings” of nature that are stunning to behold. I see things that “Move the Soul.” I wish more people would get into flying like I did as a young man. Flying a drone is very cool, I own a number of them, but nothing compares to being there in person. The experience is worth the effort and the inherent danger. But I do realize that pressures from our socially-connected, Internet-influenced, technically-adapted and risk-averse lives somewhat limit the exposure to flying for most people. Aha, this too, apparently, is another good subject for a future article.
My goal is to chronicle the remaining 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that are uninhabited and unaffected by the encroaching crush of civilization. By doing this, I hope to increase the lexicon with which we visually describe our planet ― by providing a unique new view that illustrates the untamed beauty and ruggedness of these remarkable places. I also hope that people will become as entranced as I, and will be inspired to continue the difficult effort necessary to protect and preserve these wild places for future generations.
Cougar Mountain in Zion National Park
Flying a bush-plane while shooting through an open window is not without its difficulties! The type of scenery I seek is dramatic, with weather playing a major role in providing the desired backdrop. For the cleanest, long distance large-area wilderness-landscape images, I require the clearness provided by the cold, dense air molecules of Fall, Winter, and early Spring months, without the aberrations and heat distortion of Summer.
Shooting the San Juan Mountains in Colorado
As you can see this is not a large production crew type of project. This is me, all alone, in the wilderness up in the air looking for dramatic weather to juxtapose against dangerous mountains in marginal flight conditions.
Nice!!
To share this journey, I am creating a highly interactive, immersive virtual journey which will allow you to experience the beauty and wonder of these extraordinary places from this unique perspective. I will post this in a future article.
Wilderness Landscape Photography As Fine Art
The static imagery can be distributed via a variety of compelling formats, using the Ken Burns effect to make short ambient vignettes. With this, I stream the images to digital frames, provide images as screen savers and mobile device backgrounds, etc. But what I truly love to do is turn them into prints.
Obviously, there are many ways to do this, from simple posters, calendars and greeting cards to printed apparel. All of these are , all very appealing. You can print on practically any surface. However, I want the images to really stand out, to grace the locations where they are placed. What is truly spectacular is to create large-format prints on different mediums. For now, there are three mediums I work with:
- Giclée prints on Canvas
- Chrome Metallic Paper Mounted on Acrylic
- Aluminum Plate
Each of these mediums has different qualities which influence how the images appear. I have been fortunate to find both an amazing printer (they exclusively print for all the National Geographic Galleries) and a gallery willing to allow me to exhibit my works. To date, I have held two exhibitions in the Wyland Signature Gallery at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both were a complete blast!
Part of My Exhibition at the Wyland Gallery in Planet Hollywood Las Vegas
It was quite an interesting experience during the show, in that most of the time I felt like a museum docent explaining the story behind images. Folks are drawn to this unique view of nature, and seem to enjoy watching the in-flight footage showing how the images were acquired.
People are not used to seeing wilderness landscape images from this perspective it's such an advantageous place to shoot from. It's not as though anyone can simply follow me up the trail and take the same photo!
That'a Wrap!
Ok, my fellow Steemers! That about wraps it up for this post, if you have stayed with me though this entire article, I thank you!! I would LOVE to get feedback from the community, and if there is interest, I will continue writing about this subject and will update the Steemit community as my project develops.
Please let me know what you think. And Fly Safe!!
Landing Bluebird on the Mesa Top at Pearce Ferry, Arizona
Incredible introduceyourself post, such a shame it didn't get the right attention here.
I'm following you, congrats for the great shots and your creativity!
Andrew! you are a hero! That was kind of you to bring this up as you have. It's funny because I thought when I looked this morning, well I guess it is not that popular, then I went for a test flight to try out a new camera mount and came back, got on the system just now and - !!Mother of Garbanzo Beans!!!! It is really cool... Thank you !
It's great to see good content get good rewards. My dad was an aspiring bush pilot (got his float rating but life had other plans for him before he could realize the dream). I look forward to your future posts and adventures. One of my dad's favorite expressions, "Take offs are optional but landings are mandatory" :). Be careful up there.
James.
I'm so glad your post finally gad the right reward! I was sent here by the robinhood-links chat and when I saw your post it was like 0,15 $ !
I/We would love to read more from you skypilot!
Clock hasn't run out yet :). This is an EPIC post @skypilot.
Looks like I rescued it. Glad to see. Love this post!
Yes you did!
I just put out a peach of a post.... what do you think? https://steemit.com/fishing/@jrcornel/river-monsters-in-gilbert-arizona
yes you certainly did!
Thank you so much for your support... I am frankly very moved by this!
man - what i should say: just amazing to have you joined. I can see a a big fat steemit.com banner flying around the world :P - just kidding.. welcome aboard!
I am utterly blown away at these awesome responses!! I cannot thank you all enough for such kindness and generosity in your responses and up-votes!!! How amazing! And heck yes I can promise I will indeed at least put a steemit logo sticker on the Bluebird!!! Wow, just wow!! Thank you, everyone!!
yehaw!!!!!!!
Good idea! :)
Hey Z, glad to see you here! I've been a fan of your flight videos, art and music for a while. Okay, so we've known one another for like 30 years. Ha ha!
LOL !! and YOU are the one who introduced me to Steemit!! Thank you so very much.... yes it does seem like 30 years!!! - no wait!!! it HAS been 30 years.... :)
Hey Z, I am totally excited that Chaeya turned you on to Steemit after I turned her on to it. You are amazing! What a great story and presentation!
Thank You Thank You Steem ON!!
ezrabcs! !!! I am absolutely grateful for your chain-introduction to the blockchain ! yehaw
I am glad you like it thank you!!
Hey Z, Just watched your video of Vimeo. Sput and sputters.
The quality and breadth of your presentation was breath taking.
Are all the labeled slides your shots? I actually thought the Mount Hood shot was a drawing. A few thoughts--there are few people that offer the clarity and excellence of projects as important as yours---if you care a You Tube Channel would easily go viral and can easily be monetized (that's what we did with The Teacher's Alphabet) and if you have eyes on going nationally in our schools a Go Fund Me page would be a natural.
All the Best, Chance
Thank you, Chance... yes all the photography are my shots. I like to shoot late in the afternoon dusk when correct atmospheric conditions have enough moisture in the air to interact with the alpenglow light and create a very soft view. This is very similar to the effect you see in the evening after the sun has set over the horizon and the glow on the clouds or the top of the mountain occurs. They are wondrous to behold yet fleeting and only last moments. The results are as you see and when they are printed they very much have a strong resemblance to the classic style of China or Japan. I have a whole series of these, thinking about doing a large coffee book of the work.
I am not happy with the way youtube compresses their content. Playback quality is paramount. To me this is not about the money though that is always something that must be realized. (I said that for Al...yes you Al)(sorry inside joke) right now I just want to spread the word about the project.
Dynamite introduceyourself post! Great to have you here, and your images are gorgeous!
You're just in time to enter this weeks Steemit Photo Challenge! It's an all-nature landscape photography challenge (with no human creation visible). You'll tear it up! Here's a link - you should check it out! @skypilot
https://steemit.com/steemitphotochallenge/@jamtaylor/steemit-photo-challenge-6-theme-announcement-new-giveaway-or-aug-25-28
Thank you Mike, I appreciate you taking time to read the post. I was initially concerned that it may be too long and detailed but what I have read about this being a new platform seeking out real stories I figured I would give it a chance and try. I will most certainly look at the photo challenge as well. Thanks for the introduction to it!
WOW! Breathtaking... Superlatives are skipping my lips to be able to speak of your photography and the more I read, the closer I came to that we may very well have been soul brothers (or sisters) in another. So many similarities between us, mindblowing! Anyway, fantastic article and debut for your introduce yourself, the best I have came across so far. I'll be following you from now on.
I also wrote a blog about my travels, mostly about the Canadian Rockies, so far, and think you might even be enjoying it. Check it out:
http.://steemit.com/@eric-boucher
Thank you and welcome aboard, namaste :)
Namaste
Thank you for the kindness, I really appreciate that you took the time to check this out Eric! I am still very much learning how to do this. I am absolutely entranced by this vibrant community on Steemit. How cool is this?!
I love your blog and the Denali and Canadian Rockies are among the most beautiful places on the planet imho. Thank you for voting for this and following me. I look forward to this most auspicious journey!
Very good post and... cool beard @skypilot
Wow when I say your reply I swear I heard the most amazing music from above and the sky seemed to clear up and sunlight illuminated the mountains, birds began to sing and all was well in the land of Z…
Thank you AcidSun.... Ommmmmmmmm
Welcome to Steemit Gerald! Your photography is breathtaking! Amazing in everyway! Thank you for sharing your story with the community here! Looking forward to more amazing stuff from you!
Thanks so much for your kind words firepower! I will post more I promise. yehaw!
Aaaaaand I love you already. These photos freaking rule, man!
I am also insanely bias towards the American West. Having experienced the east and west, and lived in Arizona for a lot of my life (where I live now), I have decided the western half of the U.S. is my favorite patch of earth to spend my life exploring. So much diversity, beauty, climate variety, all in one place. I want to travel the world, of course, but I know that right in my "backyard" is an infinite amount of unexplored beauty to be seen, much of which millions around the globe spend a lifetime trying to travel to see.
I get to live within hours of the majestic Grand Canyon, a deep and ancient friend of mine, for all its vastness and mysterious beauty.
I get to have all the mountain ranges of Arizona, in all their variety and intrigue as the backdrop of my regular drives and travels.
I get to have Sedona within an hour of me.
I have flown in a helicopter over The Grand Canyon and it made me decide that learning to pilot a plane or helicopter one day is a worthy goal.
So thank you for sharing your love!!! I share it with you and love the beauty you captured.
In this photo, you are seeing the Bradshaw mountains from my backyard, in Black Canyon City, and that row of green trees down below beyond the yard is growing along the Agua Fria River which always has water in it there.
Following you!
Thank you!! I appreciate it dragonanarchist! We share a kindred love of nature that I think is extremely important. You live in an incredibly beautiful area! An area full of rich icons in geological and historic importance. What a wonderful back yard view! NICE... The Grand Canyon is a wonderful place to fly through! That was a life experience I know you will cherish forever and getting your pilots license will be especially rewarding to be able to fly yourself to these beautiful places and join our Fly-in camp outs! yehaw
Wow! Are you the coolest guy in the world or what? Seriously love this post.
LOL !!! Thank you but nooooo I'm pretty sure this guy is!
Dude! :-)
Great post! Nice to see no glamping and taking some real wilderness adventures with just yourself. Bear attacks on your plane...? Maybe this was you in the photo :) Welcome to steemit!
LOL! ! ! I had to look up Glamping! Thanks, I have lots of great adventures to share and many upcoming as well.
Welcome! Great post and great photos!
Thank you for taking time to check it out!
Flying is the dream i will never be able to afford.
I dream of the day i can take to the sky and be behind the controls of a plane.
Living in a dream world though.... :(
Interestingly enough, one of the main reasons I am doing my Where Eagles Fly project is to hopefully inspire younger people to get into flying. Probably the biggest reason it is so expensive to learn now is because so few people do it, so the market adjusts accordingly. And there is a serious shortage of pilots now all over the place. So if more people begin to get into then the prices will fall! I was extremely lucky to come along in the decades after WWII in which there was a huge number of pilots from the war(s) and therefore a lot of people flew.
One sad thing is that nowadays, when I fly and monitor the air-to-air frequency that pilots use to communicate to each other across great distances just to say hi, are for the most part - silent. It used to be full of people talking and having a blast...now I will go for days without hearing anyone. Lets change that people!!
The price of flying makes it some what unrealistic of a goal but it will always be my goal!
The skys are having less and less people due to price, i had family myself who flew in the U.K and it just became a wealthier persons game. (I aim to be rather wealthy myself though, starting out is the hardest part)
I am a huge fan of the history of WWII i also have a favorite plane from that era, the mosquito! I am from the U.K myself though.
very cool! my favorite is either the P40 or P47 or Hawker Hurricane or FW190 or Corsair or P38 or aaahh rats!! they're all amazing aircraft. I have a friend that I am trying to get to post on here who is a electronics specialist (John :) that restores radios for classic war birds. The aircraft he is working on are amazing!
The FAA, AOPA and other organizations are working on various programs to bring access to flight for students and young adults. I have friend I am hoping will be interested in the response this post is receiving from you steemers. (Rich that was for you!) I think this community has a lot of folks who would be interested if they had access.
^VotE
very thnx
more
https://steemit.com/photography/@romanskv/i-went-for-a-walk-after-the-first-snow-but-suddenly-the-sky-closed-dark-cloud-and-the-snow-began
sincerely your
https://steemit.com/@romanskv
Thank you, and nice post!
This post has been linked to from another place on Steem.
Learn more about linkback bot v0.3
Upvote if you want the bot to continue posting linkbacks for your posts. Flag if otherwise. Built by @ontofractal
Welcome to Steemit! That video is amazing BTW.
Thanks, I really love the Steemit concept in its entirety! And thank you for enjoying the video... I have more that are part of the Where Eagles Fly project that I am getting ready to put out as well. Stay tuned!
Thanks I can't wait. That is some of the most amazing video footage of landscapes (as well as photos) that I have ever seen. I never even thought how different it looks from the air. Sadly in a commercial plane we just don't get to see anything like that (even if we are in a window seat).
Hi Zedekiah,
I look forward to hear more of your project and love to support you.
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@steempowerwhale/i-am-steempowerwhale-and-i-am-here-to-upvote-your-lifetime-dreams
Wow, thank you very much for your support oh mighty Whale!! I really do appreciate your taking an interest in this. I fully understand and respect the help! The overall response and major push from within the Steemit community is fantastic! Really awesome. And it makes me more than happy to continue contributing to this radical and avant-garde, cutting edge community.
You folks will change the world!
У вас прекрасная программа. И прекрасные фотографии. И ваша жизнь очень интересна и разнообразна. Я считаю что вы проживаете жизнь так как надо.
Arminibadboy , спасибо за добрые слова . Вы правы , я делаю то, что я хотел сделать . Я чувствую, нужно следовать те, мечты , чтобы жить полной жизнью . Спасибо, что нашли время, чтобы прочитать мой пост . Всего хорошего
Such an awesome post, and it was a great read!
Also, the name of your project is perfect.
:D
Thank you ZDoll! Great name :)
Truely inspirational - the wilderness is so beautiful - love the idea of 'fly-ins' really takes wild camping to a whole different level. Thankyou for sharing
Thank you for reading and I am very happy you find this inspirational, that is more than I could hope for! I am quite passionate about wilderness and really want to bring attention to it so we can help protect and preserve it! I have one cool fly-in coming up this Autumn that I will write about, it is always a blast!
Welcome to the platform :))) Loved your intro!! Alla x
Thank you Alla, I LOVE this platform and will be posting here as much as possible...what a cool concept! I really do think this is going to change the world and perhaps make the internet cool again(?) (Finally)
hahah it definitely will! It has changed my world already and how I see it, because it gives everyone incentive and I think people should be rewarded for great content! ) I am foodie here and occasionally do some business posts, but welcome :))
What a great introduction. You're a seriously interesting guy. I look forward to reading more from you.
Thank you! I plan on writing a great deal more, especially now that I see there is a real audience!
yehaw!
You story is so inspiring.
Thank you for being non-judgemental! And I am very glad you enjoyed the story, I truly wish that people will be inspired by this to get involved in protecting wilderness and go learn to fly!
Way to start out here! Amazing pictures as well!
Thanks JR. I am glad you like the photos... many more to come!
I read a great deal of posts about how to prepare a good post on this platform and listened to a number of video interviews with early adopters and founders of steemit and tried to work within their recommendations. There is a great value in this community in that people are sincere in trying to help one another instead! A rare thing these days!
I wish I would have followed in your footsteps for my first couple of posts... I would probably be a lot further along than I am today if I had.
I agree though, most people here try to help each other out. It is refreshing :)
Do you fish at all?
There is never "too late" in life my friend! My life has not been easy at all...remaining true to your craft - what ever it may be, can be a dangerous economic decision. Life is much more than making money. I know you realize that! Quality over quantity always!
Steemit is the future of the internet IO really do believe this. Here, It is all about quality relations with each other. And you bet I love to fish... not so good at fly fishing but I have friends that make a yearly pilgrimage to fly into a remote airstrip along a river in Montana to camp and fish. It is a great journey.
I have had dreams of fly fishing Montana.... That is the pinnacle for a trout fisherman. Ever seen the film "A River Runs Through It"?
And thanks, that was some great heartfelt advice. It was nice to hear!
Howdy!I wish I could fly like you do but darn it I'm afraid of heights , I wonder could you actually make a cloud of Steemit in the Sky while flying? Happy Steeming!
LOL !!!! I have a friend that does Sky-Writing ...I will ask :) and Steem on!
Aha! So it's actually called Sky - writing! Will look forward to it! Happy Steemin'!
Great post 'Z'!!! We have a lot in common!! I've been sound engineer for a decade and end up flying and make it a living... I encourage you to tag #aviation to make this topic grow! Cheers!
love the handle!!! kindred spirits for sure! excellent on the flying...
Wonderful to have you @skypilot!
Thank you travelista, I am very happy to participate in this amazing community!
You crushed it with this post! Noble mission, and beautifully executed artwork. Here in Florida toxic algae blooms are literally taking over http://gizmodo.com/floridas-disgusting-algae-bloom-is-now-visible-from-spa-1783295909. In a world of climate change and it's consequences your work reinforces the message to preserve and protect the environment . Excellent narrative. Keep up the good work!!
Awesome reply! Bonnie! How's Clyde? This is what I hope for is that people relate to this. I am familiar with the algae bloom issue and consequences are indeed beginning to appear ever more often. It is up to us to help raise awareness by providing inspirational information that compels action. I WILL keep doing this because I love it and I especially love the steemit community for caring!
Wow thank you very much.
Welcome on board!
Thank you for being part of the community arvydas! Steemint is the coolest thing I have ever seen on the net since the beginning. What an outstanding construct and I am honored to be part of it.
Very nice of you to bring those gorgeous images back to us earthlings for viewing, @skypilot! So sad we have tampered with 53% of our land already.
Probably like a lot of people of my era, I had an uncle who was a private pilot and a VW mechanic in the '60s and flew out of Redding, CA. He and my aunt would fly for a visit to my hometown in Springfield, OR and land at the really tiny municipal airport on the edge of town. It seemed like there were a lot of small Cessna type aircraft using that airport at the time.
Also, my wife's brother flew his plane out of Orange County, CA up until about 15 years ago when Parkinson's grounded him. That was a sad loss of freedom. He flew Mooneys and his last plane was an Aerostar. Every once in awhile one of his buddies will take him out to Big Bear to see the sights. Back when he piloted his own plane, he took us up on a low altitude flight around Mount St Helens after they opened it back up to small aircraft. As we entered the side of the mountain that had blown off, a strong downdraft immediately knocked a few hundred feet out of our altitude. Everyone felt their seatbelt straining to keep their body in their seat. It was an exhilarating experience. Unfazed, my brother-in-law made a couple of adjustments and continued back on course.
Thanks again for your great story and it sounds like you have many adventures worthy to be told.
I am very happy you enjoyed the story, many more to come! Yes it is sad we do this to our awesome planet! Especially so in that it is utterly pointless to continue destructively extracting resources in this day and age.
I may have rubbed shoulders with your uncle as I too have flown through Redding many times and also John Wayne airport in Orange County.
I am saddened to hear of your wife's brother being grounded by Parkinson's. I lost my father recently from Parkinson's, don't be sad for me though it was a great passing and he had a wicked sense of humor right till the very end. Perhaps I will post about that too later on. It was actually dad that got me into shooting pictures while I fly, because he wished that he had done this so that he would have had them to review in later years when he lost the ability to fly. I love the Mooney pilot community. I bet your uncle was an engineer right? Seems like every pilot I have ever seen step out of a Mooney had a pocket protector full of pens!!! LOL :)
On being knocked around by a downdraft. If you look closely in the photos of inside my cockpit you will notice the cross bars are covered with padding, much like a race car roll cage would be..this is because I got slammed very hard once flying over Glacier National Park. The wind dropped me so fast and hard that it slung me into the ceiling and I hit my head on the center bar! I put in a stronger harness and covered those bars!!!
Sounds like you are living an adventurous life skypilot! I had only flown with my brother-in-law a few times but he is the one who logged the hours for his business. Although he wasn't an engineer, he had a computer programming company that wrote code for the pest exterminator business. He flew out of John Wayne and serviced companies in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and California. He has a lot of stories to tell. Once he and his wife flew his Mooney down to Baja for a vacation and had a minor in-flight mechanical problem. The only place to put the aircraft safely was on the highway below. Fortunately he got the plane landed, made the repair, and with the help of the Mexican highway patrol got airborne safely. I look forward to more of your stories and maybe I could connect you with my bro-in-law one of these days as I'm sure you could brighten his days and swap some stories.
Thanks quackenbush! your brother-in-law probably flies around a lot of the places I fly to as well. You can find me on Facebook as well if he wants to get in touch! yehaw
Absolutely beautiful work. This needs more votes!
Thank you keltoi! I am grateful for the votes I have and I would love to get this to as many folks as possible so as the song goes "I get by with a little help from my (steemit) friends"! I can only hope that people will engage and pass it on.
Welcome to Steemit. Your photos are incredible, and this is a great intro. I especially enjoyed the photo of Mount Hood; I've seen it many times from the ground or from commercial jets, and you're right that it's a different view. What an interesting childhood you had, and what a great skill set you've developed. I look forward to reading more about your life and seeing more of your photography.
Excellent! I will post more soon, this entire endeavor has given rise to a great idea about what to do with my project. I love the steemit community response to nature and my work. It is truly a validation of the truth that deep down, everyone loves nature.
Yes I was incredibly fortunate for my parents. They played a major role in shaping my life. As all parents do of course! More to follow shortly and I appreciate everyone spreading the word!
Welcome to the Steemit Community!
Thank you Augustinsong! I am honored to be a part of something so exciting as this.
This post is worthy of every cent!!! This is the sort of content that makes Steemit worth our while. Behind every user, there is a story to be told! (Yours being one of the more interesting examples)... Congratulations on the positive response, it is well Deserved!!!
This is exactly what I am hoping, that the online community will rally and become the steemit community, without the trolls of course. Thank you for your response and I love every bit of this!
These pictures are amazing, do you have any for sale? I do photography in my spare time, i have a sorta crappy camera though, do you have any recommendations for a nooby like myself?
Frk.... well first of all you are not a nobody!!! .... good photography is not about the camera only.. imho it is about the photographer and their ability to see something interesting and then to capture an interpretation of that visual and turn it into a vision to share with others.
Follow your intuition, go out and explore. My passion for flying led to this but I only became a photographer much later in life after I had been flying for many years! So keep at it and remember... you are taking pictures for your personal enjoyment first! It is wonderful if others enjoy your work but not necessary!
Yes I do sell images though I do not have a site online where you can purchase them. More to follow on that shortly in another post and thank you for your kind words and for asking! Spread the word!
Its stunning... really!
I am glad you like it vi1son! Thanks for replying
Welcome to steemit, @skypilot!
Thank you alitas! it is good to be here
please come fly over the mountains where I live and take photos!!! You are inspiring.
Thank you Judith, it is precisely for folks like you that I do this!
Great video. Both the visuals and the music!
Thank you! I am glad you enjoy them!! Please spread the word!!
Welcome to steemit, you are a very interesting human-being it seems! :) cant wait to read more from you Sir Z!
Best regards from Denmark.
Toby the Cat! how you doing over there in the land of Vikings!? I am glad you enjoyed reading this and I promise more will follow! Steemit is the most amazing community and I am very happy to be part of this. yehaw!
Thanks!!! Glad to be part of this amazing community.... steem on!!!
flagged for spam
Thank you so much !!!!!!!!! that was really funny - bad bot!!!
