There’s beauty at 30,000 feet and 600 miles per hour. Here’s how I’ve been able to capture some of this beauty when I’m flying way up high.

Up, Up and Away Suggestions Ask for a window seat on left side of the aircraft. Approaches to landing are most often made with left hand turns. Turn the camera’s flash off. When the light is dim, set the ISO to 800 or higher. Avoid shots when the sun is shining directly at the plane’s windows. Rest the camera lens gently against the window. For takeoffs and landings, you’ll need to use a shutter speed of 1/250 or faster. At cruise, you’ll be able to use a shutter speed of 1/125.
On an early morning flight we passed over the Rockies. The snow capped peaks make for a great contrast to the dark mountain base.	Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft passes through the lower layer of clouds on the way to open skies. The sun is starting to peak through the upper layer.
Here’s another attractive formation in the Rockies. I was lucky to have the warm color of the morning sunrise shed its even light on the mountains.	There’s beauty closer to the earth too. Here’s a shot of a picturesque river on approach to the Munich Airport.

Since my job often requires me to be on the road quite often, I’ve learned to travel light using only carry-on luggage. However, traveling light doesn’t mean that I leave the camera behind. In fact, I always travel with a camera just in case that great photo opportunity pops up.

Traveling Light
It’s a buyer’s market with such a wide variety of high quality, reasonably priced digital cameras available. For everyday use, I bought a compact camera with a high optical zoom lens. Perfect for travel, it’s small and fits in my coat pocket so is always near at hand.	On a recent trip, I spotted this iconic sign as I was driving. Knowing that I had a camera in my coat pocket, I stopped the car, pulled out the camera and shot using its no flash mode. Without the camera, the sign would remain only a faint memory.
It was still dark when we landed at the airport in Denver. It’s a beautiful sight with the terminal decorated as lighted mountain peaks. The small camera in my coat pocket was conveniently at hand allowing me to shoot this photo from my window seat.	Hungry, I searched for lunch and found a 50’s style restaurant. However, it was pouring rain as I ran from my car and found this old fashion gasoline pump at the entrance. Luckily, my camera was in my pocket and still dry .

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