The Invasion Begins

The invasion begins tomorrow night with the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens! 

What's the verdict? Will you be in line at midnight tomorrow night or do you want to give it a few days so you can actually hear the dialogue over the screaming fans? How about both? 

Want to see this awesome AT-AT in person? Head on down to Disney's Hollywood Studios — soon to be Star Wars World (or something like that). It looms over the Jedi Training stage and really is as big as it looks!

This photograph was captured with a Sony NEX-7.

The Black Cat Smiles at Midnight

Brussels has a design aesthetic like no other. Take, for example this restaurant façade that looks more like a European playhouse than restaurant.

Pave Low Tail Gunner

This photograph was captured with a Sony NEX-7.

This Was North Wilkesboro Speedway

North Wilkesboro Speedway was an active NASCAR race track from 1949 until it's closure in 1996. The last driver to win at North Wilkesboro Speedway was Jeff Gordon in September, 29, 1996. NASCAR royalty Junior Johnson attempted to purchase and restore the track in 2003 but the transaction failed due to a dispute between the two current owners. Despite a lot of cracks and a few sunken roofs, the track stands today as a time capsule to the early history of NASCAR.

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone. 

Secrets Playa Mujeres Pool Flyover

This is the fantastic pool at Secrets in Playa Mujeres, Mexico. I believe this was also taken on the very first flight of my DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone. Not a bad start! 

Make it Snow

This is how it all begins. You're looking at the first 12 hours of snowmaking on Beech Mountain on November 21, 2015. Not a bad start! I heard the snowguns fire up around 5pm the night before and met some of the Beech Mountain team later that night at dinner. They told me they'd be open for business in one week. They were right! It's not quite the Greatest Snow on Earth but it'll do until the real stuff starts piling up!

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone. 

Probably Not What Leonardo Intended

I read yesterday that a French scientist scanned the Mona Lisa with a multispectral camera and discovered three hidden paintings beneath the surface of the Mona Lisa. Evidently, the real-life Florentine, Lisa Gherardini, is hidden within. It's not uncommon for artists to reuse canvases when works don't turn out just right but for there to be a natural progression from real-life to what may be the world's most well-known painting is noteworthy.

What better time to post my multispectral — or at least multi-camera — photograph of the Mona Lisa? Frankly, it was one of the biggest letdowns in the art world. Not only is she sitting at the end of what feels like a gymnasium but after you fight your way through hundreds of people to see her, she's stanchioned off by 10 feet and hiding behind a thick layer of greenish bullet-proof glass.

This is probably not what Leonardo da Vinci intended.

This photograph was captured with a Nikon D90. 

Floating Over Lake Tahoe

So much for keeping Tahoe blue... This boat rental from Zephyr Cove is just floating 10 feet above a crystal clear sandy and emerald-green bottom. Don't let the serenity fool you... fire up that motor and in five minutes you'll be in deep blue water almost five football fields deep. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States and the sixth largest by volume, after each of the Great Lakes.

Canal Boat Under London

Time and space just seem to slow down when you hit the canals of London. Surrounded by the madness that is one of the greatest cities in the world in both size and stature, pop down 30 feet to Regent's canal and you can just float along in peace. The only things to remind you of the city all around you are the tunnels. Floating through a tunnel the length of a football field underneath central London is just surreal — it's like Disney's "It's a Small World" ride redesigned by Banksy (there's an idea for the next Dismaland).

This photograph was captured with a little Canon pocket camera called a Digital Elph.

Parisian Cinquecento

There's something special about seeing a classic Cinquecento on the streets of Europe. Paris isn't quite Italy but I'll take it! 

This photograph was captured with a Nikon D90.