“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” Leonardo da Vinci said that, and he wasn’t wrong. Of course, not everyone enjoys flying but I can think of few places that leave me feeling more inspired and more awe-struck than the skies.
I’ve chased the setting sun across the Arabian Sea, skirted the north pole sharing the night sky with the spellbinding northern lights, and watched forest fires scorch the earth in the wilderness of Colorado. I seen Mount Hood cast a sunrise shadow on the clouds below its formidable peak, watched fireworks flicker across London as the city celebrates Guy Fawkes night, and sat spellbound as clouds flash below me in the dark loneliness of a North Atlantic storm.
Like de Vinci said, I truly do walk the earth with my eyes turned skyward, and tomorrow I’ll take to the skies once more. This time heading east to Croatia with my brother. So ahead of that journey I thought I would share with you all the first of a series of pictures I have taken from aeroplanes.
Please feel free to comment, ask questions about the pictures, or share your own flying tales. I will post part 2 of this series sometimes in the future. In the meantime, why not come and take to the skies with me without even having to leave your seat.
[Above] As the sun rises, the peak of Oregon’s Mount Hood punctures a dense blanket of cloud that covers Portland and surrounding areas below. As the plane climbed the peaks of Mount Adams and Mt St Helens were also visible.
[Below] Forest fires burn in Colorado sending vast tales of smoke in the air. I lost count of how many fires I saw on this flight. Some were small, some were vast. We followed the smoke trails as they spread for hundreds of miles across the United States.
[Above] Manhattan, New York City. To the left of the picture you can see the twin towers of the world trade center. I have a fascination for skyscrapers and since I was a boy I always wanted to stand atop of one of those twin towers that stood head and shoulders above the other buildings in the city. Many time I flew over New York City, always able to identify it easily from the cut out of central park. It was years before the actual day I was able to realise the ambition of standing on the roof of one of the twin towers.
[Below] A lighthouse on one of Victoria’s islands in Canada. On this pleasure flight I was able to sit next to the pilot which was a huge buzz for me. The plane took off and landed on water!
[Above] Green rivers thread their way though the desert which almost seems alien from the air.
[Below] Irrigated cop circles stretch across the desolate landscapes of the deserts in the west of the USA. They reminded me of bad carpets from the 1970’s. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live in such a small and seemingly completely isolated community.
Living in England I get to see more clouds than I would perhaps like. Somehow from the ground a cloud rarely seems as magnificent as it does from the skies. It’s funny how I’ve never grown tired of looking at them though, from the window I stare at mile upon mile of the uncharted wild and changing formations. They look so peaceful and inviting set against a clear blue sky.
“For there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” De Vinci was right indeed.
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Waving at planes
One such moment
The beauty of a storm
It’s seven thirty
4000 miles to Christmas
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 1:34 am
one of my favorite memories is when i flew with my sister into jfk a few years ago. we flew right over manhattan in the evening & it was amazing. yellow lights outlining the streets, the skyscrapers all lit up, the statue of liberty.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 6:48 am
My two favourite flying memories involve… flying a glider with a mate up the dark cloudy side of a storm front and when we started getting too high, pointing the nose of the glider down and forward to speed away from it and as we did so we saw two perfect circular rainbows – one inside the other – and so we tried flying toward the middle of them until they disappeared!
My other favourite flying memory is of flying over the mid-west of the USA pre-dawn early one August day in 1987 and seeing the small towns and cities all lit up and aglow. It was as if they were pretty jewels scattered on a dark blue piece of velvet cloth. That was magical.
Flying really is the most wonderful thing to do on occasion huh? :)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 12:54 pm
I’m always amazed at 1) the clear flights you get and 2) your ability to identify the places that you see from the air. (Of course, you could just be making #2 up :-) )
Nice Pix there.
Anne
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Wow! your Mount Hood shot at sunset is bloody amazing… Im sure you download these from a website an call them your own… ha ha.
Enjoy Croatia Mr Jones… The only place left for you to shoot is under the depths of Sea… go on go on!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Simon,
Thanks a bunch for fixing the ‘opening a new window’ issue!
I’ve flown a lot over the years, what with my hometown being a couple thousand miles away from my preferred residence. =D Even as a young girl, my dad always brought us to the U.S. on vacation. A couple nice memories stick out:
– Flying back from NYC to Houston in March 2004. The flight was almost full, and miraculously, the airline chose to upgrade us to first class for free! You had your own little TV (which someone else in first class had to show us how to use!), free drinks, blankets, pillows, leg room… ahhhh heaven.
– Flying to the Dominican Republic and (in another occasion) to Miami along with my entire family (dad’s side) for vacation. There were 40 of us, mostly kids… we played cards, laughed, and forgot about the 5 hrs we spent flying in economy.
– Last but not least… flying from Ecuador to Houston at 18 to start college, and knowing that my dreams had come true. :)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 3:49 pm
You are right in that scenes and photographs that you have taken with you from these filghts are truely magnificant to view in the future. However is flying all that great when we consider what it is doing to the planet? You probably recycle don’t you? Well that one flight to the USA will make your recycling pointless. Are these images really worth capturing considering the damage they are doing to the planet? What sort of images will you be ‘snapping’ from air in 40 years time? Drought, storms, hurricanes causing devestation and horrific flooding as sea levels rise. I wonder how many positive comments you will get on those photos?
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Goodness those are some great pictures… the one of mount hood is spectacular! It looks like an island mountain surrounded by ocean, but its clouds. I also like the lighthouse… i just love canada. It just always looks so.. clean or fresh.
I hadnt really thought about it before but my best flying view was when my mother and I had to take an emergency trip to Nashville on Independence Day. We landed at night and as we flew in, the whole city had little erruptions of color that faded in and out. We got to see fireworks from above! Certainly brightened my evening :)
Oh, and i believe the comment link on your xanga sub. goes to your last post and not this one, at least it did for me…fyi
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Fantastic pics Simon, excellent.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 12:57 am
You posted exactly what I love about flying! Although, I must admit, the cramped seating in commercial cattle class has stolen much of the romance from the experience of it.
I recall one flight where I was flying over the Alps of Switzerland and seeing all of these amazing towering peaks. In a “valley” (that was probably 10,000 feet high)I saw the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen. It amazed me because there was no way people had come anywhere close to this secluded snowy paradise. It’s like God put it up there just to enjoy for himself and those who look out the window when flying over.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 3, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Incredible pictures. I’m a fan of taking pics from the air myself. Have a safe journey. :-)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 4, 2007 at 2:24 am
Great comments here. I want to reply to them all but it’s already very late at night here in Croatia and it’s been another long day for me so forgive me if I don’t address all the comments.
I will say that flying here today was awesome and Topher, you would have been tripping out as we flew over the Alps. It was like you described. I’ve flown over them before, but never in such clear weather. And yes Anne, it is odd that I always seem to get clear beautiful flights.
I assure you I don’t make the place names up, and yes Paula, I do take all the pictures myself. The mount Hood one can be seen on my old Point and Click America website.
I’d also like to address Mark’s very valid comment. You know Mark, flying is something I really struggle with in that it is so very damaging. I’ve been offsetting my flights for a couple of years now and carried ads (for no charge) for a carbon offset company on my gofromhere.co.uk site for a very long time. However, in recent weeks the whole carbon offset argument has erupted and it has left me feeling very unsure of what information to trust with regards to the truth behind offsetting.
Look out for In Flight (Part 2) soon. In the meantime, please feel free to keep your comments coming.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 5, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Nice pictures Simon! Perhaps you could publish a popular coffee table book that becomes as popular as Norman Rockwell paintings in America. Like the above work you could interperse your photos with reflections, and maybe even have thematic chapters. You could sell millions, make millions, and retire before your 40. And then you could travel even more, take more pictures, make more books, and more money, and then you would have enought to go on the first commercial flight to the moon, make a book of it, make so much money you start your own foundation to both protect the environment and end world poverty. And then you of course would regularly rub elbows with Bono, perhaps become an official photodocumentarian for their next world tour, and finally have the joy and satisfaction of having acheived your purpose in life. By the way, I am only half joking.
Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Anthony, and I will plan out your life your you. Get to know me!! :)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 5, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Nicely put, as always.
Have a good trip with your brother.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 5, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Anthony, you could be onto something there mate! :-)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 14, 2007 at 3:10 pm
A quick flying comment from iWay internet cafe…. Nice pictures Simon. Often air pictures are boring, but I like these. Keep it up, if you can – so called security being what it is…