An oldie, from 2010 – the hills west of California’s San Joaquin Valley.
All comments welcome!
Didn’t go back to the raw file, just did newer NR on the .psd and some incredibly minor retouching.
Diane, looks wonderful just as presented here. Was the sky lighting defused due to fog and or wind blown dust there? Regardless, it provides an excellent veil across the entire scene… 
Oh!! Holy moley Diane! This is gorgeous.
I love the colours and shapes and the lighter contrast from the top is just the icing. I like seeing the roads.
You don’t need a drone.
Diane: These just keep getting better. Simply marvelous light and atmospherics and a color palette to die for. Most excellent. >=))>
wow! absolutely splendid!!!
Diane, the variety of colors (and, of course, the textures) throughout the frame make this wonderful. The roads are a big plus.
Thanks, @Paul_Breitkreuz, @glennie, @Bill_Fach, @Antonello_Provenzale and @Mark_Seaver! This was a lucky late afternoon with the light – probably mostly marine layer moisture and some forming fog.
Hi Diane,
The light in this scene is flat out gorgeous and I love the way the color transitions across the frame from the cool blue tones to the warmer yellow tones. I also think the atmospherics are quite lovely as are the gentle undulations in the landscape. Oldie or not I think you should print this large and proudly find some wall space. Absolutely no suggestions from me.
WOW !!! No Words Needed Here. This Image speaks for itself …
Thanks, @Ed_Lowe and @Gill_Vanderlip! Ed, I hadn’t thought about a print for this, but now that you’ve given me the idea… I do like it that well. Wall space is getting scarce but I like moving things around. And I do have some room in the guest bedroom and bath…
This would make a beautiful print. I do metal prints for some of my B&W photography. I like the look. I also do matted 11x14 framed for some images.
You should print and see. I use Shutterfly. Reasonable cost and quality is good.
Let me know if you printed this image. The more I look at it, the more I see a beautiful print ,to put on a wall or in a book. Yes Print it !!!
Truly amazing photograph!
Thanks, @tom.marin, and thanks @Mark_Seaver for the EP – always such a nice surprise!
You sure have a way in capturing these kinds of scenes! Are these done while in your private plane? Well done. Congrats!
Gorgeous hilltops, as always. One of my favorite of yours
Thanks, @Mark_Muller and @Melamud! Mark, yes, mostly in the Bonanza, with a few in the Taylorcraft where I can shoot with the side window removed – if I beg.
I’ve loved the V-tail Bonanza since I first saw it as a kid.
Must be noisy to shoot with the window open. But that’s what air to air photography of in-flight planes is all about, or so I’ve read as I’ve never done it
In the T-craft there’s not much difference in noise with the window off as it’s very noisy anyway – no insulation to speak of.
Some years ago Forbes (?) did awards for the fifty most successful product designs ever and there were two planes on the list – the Bonanza and the DC-3. This is a B-33 Beech “Debonair” – with a conventional tail, which they went to for all the Bonanza models soon after ours. It allows a farther aft CG, which was a deciding factor for Ted. He had long-range fuel tanks built that fit in the cabin in place of the back seat and the baggage area. His thing was long-distance flying adventures. He had to get a special airworthiness certificate to fly with the tanks full as the CG was still aft of the aft limit. He managed five times across the Pacific and seven across the Atlantic before aircraft insurance became unavailable for private trans-ocean flights. The odd numbers are because one was around the world. (We met when that one was in planning and I became the co-pilot.)
