More Than I Wanted
Fog over Hoover Reservoir at sunset
All I wanted was a few minutes without rain. Just long enough to launch the drone from a site not on the Hoover Reservoir and Dam property so I could try and make a photograph of the fog beginning to rise over the lake.
I always have the drone with me. Rain, sleet, snow, and yes, even in the dark of night, the drone is nearby. I don’t always get to fly it. The most dangerous condition is high wind, especially gusts. I’ve launched and made photos with success in brief breaks in all those weather conditions.
Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays this photographer from the swift completion of his sketchy drone flight.
Today I got the unexpected. The clouds broke open in the western sky just as I launched, completely changing my photo plan. A study in blue and grey of the fog over Hoover became a different set of challenges.
My original plan had me flying close to the western edge of the lake. Now I had to travel to the eastern shore to look back at the narrow strip of light breaking through the clouds. The longer trip would use more battery than I planned giving me less time to plan my position and exposure once I got there. I knew I would shoot more than one photo once on the scene and I didn’t know if there would be a sudden rain squall, with strong winds gusts that might damage or crash the drone.
Made my first photo, at the top of this newsletter at sunset, 6:16 p.m.
I saw it as I moved into position on the eastern shoreline before turning back to the west. Afterward, I turned the drone westward for HDR panoramas to keep details in both the highlights and the shadows of the photos.
More photos below for paid subscribers.