Category Archives: Panorama

Rodan139: Pilot Mound

June 6, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

A couple Saturdays back, after flying Rodan139 around Boxholm I swapped out batteries and took a brief flight around Pilot Mound. Boxholm and Pilot Mound are only a few miles apart. For a period of time they shared a consolidated school district for years. My understanding is that back in the day Pilot Mound had the best 4th of July fireworks show in the area. I don’t know if that is true, but it is what I’ve been told.

Here are some pictures of Pilot Mount from Rodan139.

Unfortunately the panoramic image is a bit of a miss, but that is one of the things about taking panoramic images with Rodan139, you don’t know what you get until you get back to the editing bay and upload the images. Either way, I good first set of images of Pilot Mound.

Birthdays, Drone, Funk, Nate, Panorama, Shorty, Tim, WPC - Submissions

Rodan139: Boxholm

May 30, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Nate’s birthday, so happy birthday Nate!

I hope your birthday is as wonderful as you want it to be!

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I did have submissions from one person come in a tad bit late for PARK. Normally, I would tell that person to pound sand. You were late, there is a deadline. You missed it. However, since it was Funk and she was on top of a frigging mountain and therefore, not with a bunch of cell phone service (also it is a little cold up there), I will allow it. Here are the submissions from Susanna Funk.

Susanna Funk (Mt Baker National Recreation Area – Washington) – 1 week

Susanna Funk (Mt Baker National Recreation Area – Washington)

These are the first submissions from the state of Washington this calendar year! WooHoo!

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I recently took Rodan139 for a flight around Boxholm, Iowa. I didn’t plan ahead very well, so the battery was low and the flight was short. But I’ve found that many times the first time I take a drone to an area it seems to be more recon for a second flight later. But I still think there are some good pictures in the collection.

Boxholm always holds a special place in my heart. It is where Shorty and Doris lived after they left the farm and it it where Tim lives now. I’ve attended many a family gathering in Boxholm. Great memories in that town!

Dawn, Drone, Logan, Nature, Panorama, Video

Rodan139: Sleeping Angels II

May 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

When I was originally contacted by the Sleeping Angels to photograph their event, it was because they wanted pictures of them crossing the Mile Long Bridge. It was kind of touch and go with whether the weather was going to cooperate. You can’t fly a drone in rain and the forecast called for it to rain off and on all day. Fortunately, the predictions of rain were inaccurate. There were a few sprinkles off an on, but there was no rain when we got to the bridge.

The other weather concern was wind. A drone shouldn’t be flown under very windy conditions, unless you want it to come crashing to the ground and then you will find yourself buying a new drone. But fortunately there was only a light wind.

Logan and I set up and waited. Hoping they would arrive before the batteries were expired. Fortunately, they did.

Rodan139: Sleeping Angels - Mile Long Bridge

If you look closely, you can possibly pick out Dawn and Kevin who were on the ride. I can’t. But maybe you can.

Here is the video that Logan made from the video he took at the event:

He does good work. If you are reading this entry from an email subscription, the video won’t show up. You have to click one of the links in the email to go to the website to watch the video. It is definitely worth your time.

This is the last drone collection from the Sleeping Angels Fun Run, but there is one more collection of earthbound images left to share.

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Self-Portrait

Rodan139: Don Williams

April 11, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

The final place I took Rodan139 to on my low battery test flights was Don Williams. I do love Don Williams, but I hardly ever go out there. I should effort to make a couple of trips out there this summer. I feel like I should take a lot of PTO this summer. Like a lot of PTO. And some of that should be spent at Don Williams.

Next time Rodan139 takes to the skies it will be in Dysart, Iowa.

Drone, Nature, Panorama

Rodan139: Harrier Marsh

March 21, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

As I write this entry to “An Artist’s Notebook” this is the only time that I have taken Rodan139 out this year. It seems like every time I have a chance, the weather hasn’t cooperated. It has either been too cold or too windy. Or both. Seriously. The weather in the last several weeks has been awful. If it hasn’t been awful, I have been too busy. But don’t worry. I feel like Rodan139 is going to be taking to the sky soon enough.

These pictures were taken at the Harrier Marsh which is one of my favorite places to take Rodan139. It is just south of Ogden. During warmer days there is a large collection of birds that call this place home.

Once again, I will point out I need to get Rodan139 up in the sky soon.

Basketball, Drone, Panorama, Railroad, WPC - Alternate

Rodan139: High Bridges

March 14, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

A reminder that you have until Thursday at 11 AM (Central) to get your picks in for Year 18 of the Roundball Oracles. Click on the link below to join:

Roundball Oracles – Year 18

It costs nothing to participate. First Place gets a trophy. Last Place Adult that give full effort also gets a trophy. Hope many of you participate!

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One of the last times Rodan139 took to the skies last year was near the Kate Shelley Memorial High Bridge. I flew around it to take pictures for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme STRONG. Here are the picture I took that day:

I think it would be pretty cool if some day they made it so people could walk across the abandoned bridge. I’m sure it will never happen cause of a myriad of security reasons, but it would still be pretty cool.

Art, Drone, Panorama

Rodan139: BHS Parking Lot

March 7, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

A few months back I took Rodan139 up to snap a few pictures of the Boone High School Parking lot and the murals that the high school students had painted on their parking spaces. I believe these pictures I took for a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

I need to get Rodan139 out there and get more pictures. Hopefully the weather cooperates this weekend.

Drone, Night, Panorama

Rodan139: Night Moves

February 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share another collection of images I took with Rodan139. This collection of images was taken at night, all from my yard. I was testing the phone app because I had been having some issues with it. Drones aren’t really the best to do night photography with because of their small sensor size and the fact that they are flying when they take the picture. Which leads to either blurry pictures or a ton of digital noise. But I think my test run did produce a few images of interest:

Once again my goal of taking more drone pictures this year is still on the books. Don’t know I’ve made much progress with it, but I do have a few ideas for places to go to take some drone pictures. Now it is time for execution.

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Road Trip, Teresa

Rodan139: Fire Watchtower

February 7, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

When I went to Allamakee County with Teresa to harvest their town signs, one of my must see stops was the only fire watchtower in Iowa. It is buried in Yellow River State Forest and hasn’t been used for years. I knew it was something I definitely wanted to photograph with Rodan139. And that is exactly what I did.

Yes, one of these pictures is in the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

These pictures are making me itch for the open road. I also haven’t taken flight with Rodan139 this year yet. I need to get on that as well.

I have a list of places I want to visit this year. The first one on my list is the kite festival thing in Clear Lake that is coming up in a couple Saturdays. Let me know if you are interested in a short little road trip on a Saturday morning to watch some kites in some cold weather.

Boone FUMC, Drone, Holidays, Panorama

Rodan139: Thanksgiving

November 30, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I was able to take Rodan139 on a flight during the Boone First United Methodist Church’s Community Thanksgiving. It was weird because as I took Rodan139 up, it kept getting foggier and foggier and foggier. The ceiling for the flight kept getting lower and lower. But after the flight, the fog disappeared pretty quick.

Here are some drone photos of the meal:

I need to take Rodan139 out more often than I have been. It is one of my goals for 2023. However, setting such a goal in the winter isn’t the easiest to accomplish. Drones are very susceptible to bad weather. Particularly the cold and the wind. But we will see how it goes.