Taos to Santa Fe

We took the scenic route from Taos to Santa Fe, which is only a short drive of 75 miles that took us a little under two hours. Starting from Taos and heading south on Hwy76, we turned left onto the High Road to Taos and followed the 98 and 518 to Santa Fe. The first […]

Durango to Taos

Yesterday’s drive was epic but rather long, so traveling from Durango to Taos seemed like a 200-mile walk in the park. Before bidding farewell to Durango, we strolled along the currently wild Animas River. Originating in the majestic San Juan mountains and flowing through the picturesque town of Silverton, it stretches for 126 miles, passes […]

Page to Durango

Traveling from Page to Durango via Kayenta and Mexican Hat is a 290-mile drive that takes a minimum of 5 hours. After having breakfast in Page, we drove for approximately 90 minutes and reached Kayenta, the gateway to Monument Valley. Kayenta is a township within the Navajo Nation with a population of 5,189. Memories from […]

Sedona to Page

The drive from Sedona to Page covers a distance of 160 miles and takes approximately four hours. Driving the 89A up North through the Oak Creek Canyon is already pretty spectacular, and after just 30 minutes of driving, we were already at 7000 feet above sea level. We quickly passed through Flagstaff and followed the […]

Road Trip

Join us on a five-day road trip spanning 1,150 miles. Our adventure begins in Sedona and moves onward to Page, where we’ll see the breathtaking Horseshoe Bend, the Glen Canyon Dam, and a nearby hanging garden. From there, we’ll journey to Durango, passing through Kayenta, Monument Valley, Mexican Hat, and Ute Mountain Reservation. On the […]

On-board the DJI Air 2S

Way back in 2015, we had built a huge hexa-copter (dubbed Dragonfly), its purpose was to carry a miniaturized DSLR camera, like the small but still kind of heavy Fuji X-M1. Including the camera’s battery and the 27mm F/2.8 lens, the payload for the drone was 407 grams. The camera featured an APS-C-sized 16-megapixel image […]

Extending VLOS with Strobe Lights

I don’t know of too many beneficial accessories you can mount on a DJI mini-series drone, but a really bright light could be one. When considering the Operating Requirements for commercial drone pilots, stretching the VLOS (visual line of sight) with drone strobe lights seems to be a really good idea. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Regulations (Part 107) […]

Rising from Ashes

When last we left our heroes … Flying a drone was always about photography. Years ago, I built the huge hexa-copter, we had dubbed Dragonfly, its purpose was to carry the miniaturized but still kind of heavy Fuji X-M1 camera. Including the battery and the 27mm F/2.8 lens, the payload for the drone was 407 grams. […]

Oak Creek Spire

When you’re driving down south from Flagstaff on I-17, the north-south Interstate Highway located entirely within Arizona and also known as the Arizona Veterans Highway, as you start down the long hill between the Rocky Park Road and Stoneman Lake Road exits, you cannot not notice a very prominent sandstone tower on your right-hand side. At 350 […]

Elephant Rock

I think how you consciously entered Sedona for the 1st time will determine your favorite Sedona Rock Formation. In case you enter from the North, driving down Arizona State Route 89A from Flagstaff, Wilson Mountain might become your favorite. If you arrive from the West, driving on 89A, the beautiful sight of Capitol Butte or […]

My Gear

Cameras Canon EOS R6 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body Firmware: 1.8.2 Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Body Firmware: 1.4.0 Canon EOS 6D DSLR Body Firmware: 1.1.9 Lenses Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC Super Wide Angle, Manual Focus Lens Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Lens A015 Firmware: 2.01 [2] Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 […]

The Road to Sedona

Northern Arizona .. I don’t even remember anymore what had inspired it. Maybe it was one of the short stays at the Briar’s Patch Inn, or the family vacation when we stayed at the Orchards Inn, hiked Bell Rock Loop and visited the Grand Canyon, or way back in 1992 when we were driving down […]

Brins Mesa

There certainly is something that makes this place very unique, making you want to return. Eventually, you will appreciate this spiritual and sacred place, it had been for Indians for thousands of years. “Energy Vortexes” or not, the sandstone contains iron, granite, and traces of copper, sliver, and gold; and I do consider them as […]

The long road to Seattle

I don’t know where or when it started – maybe it was way back in middle school, when his ultrasonic distance meter won the science fair, or in 2012, the year when he spoke on “Digital Signal Processing with Android and Arduino” at four distinct Code Camps at CSUF, UCSD, USC, and the most beautiful Pecos Campus in […]

Victor at Sage Hill Drive

Only a few weeks after having considered shooting at San Diego Country Estates’ Sage Hill Drive, Victor contacted me. Victor is a Financial Consultant and founder of Orgallic. Orgallic mission is to enrich humanity through the global, ethical, and accountable pursuit of modern finance by means of a venturesome, pragmatic, and virtuous proprietary Structured Business Creativity. If you […]

Tis the Season

About 1,400 ft above sea level and 40 miles east of San Diego, Ramona is located within the beautiful Santa Maria Valley. With a population of about 31,000, the still unincorporated community includes both Ramona and the adjacent San Diego Country Estates; its notable residents included Archie Moore, light-heavyweight world champion 1952-62, and Casey Tibbs, a […]

Crusin’ Main Street

Tribute to “American Graffiti” Written by George Lucas and Gloria Katz, Universal Pictures and Lucasfilm released American Graffiti in August 1973, a film featuring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, but also Harrison Ford and Mackenzie Phillips. A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies, before they go off to college. It’s the […]

Shooting Graceland

Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee

It’s a good thing that the ticket office a.k.a. Graceland Plaza and Graceland are separated by the wide Elvis Presley Boulevard. Visitors are shuttled from the ticket office to the front of the house, but will not find a single moment of solitude, while at Graceland, a place much smaller than I had imagined. Inside Graceland, it’s […]

Last Times

JULIAN PIONEER CEMETERY the final resting place of many of Julian’s early residents. Gravesites date back to the mid 1800s. “This historical cemetery began in the 1870’s amid the clamor for gold in the hills surrounding the newly established Julian. For many pioneers, the toil of hard life ended on the hill above Julian.” … […]

Cookstove Trail

The trailhead of Cookstove Trail is inside Oak Creek Canyon and just about in the middle, between Flagstaff and Sedona. Or more precisely, it is 15 miles south of Flagstaff or 12,7 miles north of Sedona on Arizona Highway 89A, near milepost 387, across a roadside water stop. The trail was originally built to provide forest firefighters access to Oak […]

Traditions

In a world of constant change, following or maybe even establishing a tradition seems unfashionable. Doing so still, may make you look antiquated, behind the times, even more so, if you are going out of your way, creating something non digital, something not sharable on Facebook. Regardless, since I am getting increasing enjoyment from the results of a […]

Tlaquepaque

Tlaquepaque (pronounced Tla-keh-pah-keh), Sedona Arizona’s Arts & Crafts Village, which some call the art and soul of Sedona, is nestled beneath the shade of beautiful sycamores on the banks of Oak Creek, but not quite as old as it looks. The conceptual history of Tlaquepaque is the story of Abe Miller, a successful Nevada businessman. […]

Jerome Arizona

In the 1920s, Jerome was home to more than 10,000 people, working in the rich (mostly copper) mines.  As of the 2010 census, Jerome’s population was 444. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, it is more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level, located on State Route […]

Lunar Tetrad

The first Blood Moon eclipse in a series of four (lunar tetrad) happened during the night of April 14-15, 2014. Lunar Tetrad Total lunar eclipses are rare, only about one in three lunar eclipses are total, and about four or five total eclipses can be seen at any place on Earth in a decade. Every once […]

Oak Creek Canyon

Even after Labor Day, it can get pretty hot in Sedona, Az. Fortunately, Oak Creek Canyon, a scenic beautiful 12 miles long river gorge located along the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona between the cities of Flagstaff and Sedona provides shade and temperatures are lower than in town. The canyon’s width is ranging from 0.8 […]

Close Call

June 28 – my birthday – since my family is currently traveling abroad, I had the day to myself and one of my favorite things to do, is hiking the Laguna Mountains. While at 6,000 feet elevation, it’s only a 30 minute drive from my home, but with temperatures above 90 degrees and uncommonly high […]

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Between 1769 and 1833, Catholic priests of the Franciscan order established 21 Spanish missions in California. Mission San Diego de Alcalá was the first, founded in 1769. The Mission featured in this post, San Juan Capistrano, was seventh, founded in 1776. Looking down a typical exterior corridor Mission Architecture The typical mission architecture still influences […]

Flyboy

Welcome to San Vicente Resort and the “Valley of The Sun”. Nestled in the rolling hills of Ramona, California, San Vicente Golf Course is truly a great getaway from the stresses of city life. But this is not only a challenging 18 holes with a Par 72, it’s also known as the Valley of The Sun Tricoptor Airfield The Tricopter: […]