Aerial Aspect Photography

The Lake Erie water and the air over it was so calm yesterday that boats were leaving wakes that remained for miles long after the boat was gone.

It's usually preferable to shoot a photo with the sun or other light source behind you, but sometimes the effect you get when shooting into the light makes for a more dramatic photo, as is the case with this shot of two Coast Guard boats from the Fairport Harbor Station out doing training maneuvers. I love the way the sunlight's reflection off the water creates an amazing texture.

Are these fishermen on Lake Erie about to be devoured by Bessie the Lake Erie Monster? Since 1817, there have been sightings of a 30 to 40 foot, snakelike monster in the waters of Lake Erie. Fortunately for these guys, these bubbles aren't from Bessie, but from the Perry Nuclear Power Plant's water discharge north of the plant.

Times have been tough for the Great Lakes Fleet's MV Roger Blough. She currently sits in long term layup in Conneaut, Ohio due to an engine room fire that put her out of service while in winter layup in Sturgeon Bay, WI in February 2021. Her future remains uncertain, although there are indications that she may be repaired at a cost of $100 million. This is not the first time fire has hit this vessel as in June 1971, before she was even launched, a major engine room fire erupted killing 4 and delaying her delivery by a year.

On November 11, 1975, the crew of the 824-foot Blough braved the stormy waters of Lake Superior and assisted in the search for the missing Edmund Fitzgerald, recovering an empty 25-person life raft from the Fitz.

As larger modern lake freighters go, she is unique in that her construction is traditional, with her pilot house at the bow and engine room at the stern. Her hull was also designed to undulate or flex in heavy seas. Let's hope she is repaired and can return to the Great Lakes for years to come.

It's always fun to have an aerial photo assignment right next to a larger airport. The people who help make these aerial photos possible in Cleveland work in these two buildings. The Air Traffic Control tower opened in 2015 and rises 324 feet above the airport, nearly 130 feet taller than the old control tower. The other building is the Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, or TRACON, which houses the approach and departure controllers that help guide air traffic into and out of the Cleveland area. With a bit of pre-planning and communication prior to the photo flight, these controllers are always very accommodating to our photo missions.

My annual photo flight over Cleveland's near east side last week reveals University Circle ready to burst into Spring. It's so nice to see green again!

“You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky.”

~ Amelia Earhart

Run turkeys, run! Happy Thanksgiving from Aerial Aspect Photography!

Happy Halloween! ~From all of us in the Upside Down!

Falls in the fall. Paine Falls in Leroy Township, Ohio.

Mentor Headlands State Park. In the past, the western quarter of the parking lot always seemed to be flooded, so I guess someone came up with the idea of just turning it into a large pond. So there it is in the lower right of the photograph.