Photo-of-the-Week #195 A Different Point Of View, The Eastern United States From 30,000 Feet, October 2014

Don't you just love photos shot from an airliner window? That's a rhetorical question. I typically don't shoot aerial shots from airliners these days, BUT I usually opt for an aisle seat, so I'm not near the windows. Let's face it, I think most amateur photographers are looking for that one in a million shot and I'm no different. You occasionally see one of these photos in my Photo of the Week series. And, to be honest, I have had, in my opinion, a few close to the one in a million shots over the years. No winner, yet, though.

This photo was shot from about 30,000 feet on a flight from San Antonio, Texas to Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport. I don't have a clue as to the actual location of this shot and, frankly, it's not one of my better aerial shots, however, it does highlight the vast regions of green that make up the major part of the United States between the East Coast and the western parts of the country where there are vast areas of desert and high mountain ranges.

Doing most of my travel on the ground at this stage of life, I don't get to see vast panorama scenes like this often unless I'm on a fairly high mountain. However, since there are no 30,000 foot high mountains, a perspective like this is still not truly possible from a terrestrial vantage point. The occasional air excursion does provide an opportunity for me to see the vast area and terrains I now explore on the ground. It actually helps keep things in perspective. You might even say it keeps me "grounded." (Pun intended)

Of course, from this point of view, I don't see or enjoy the tiny villages and hamlets, the local points of interest or the interesting variety of people I meet along the way. Each mode of transportation has its pros and cons. I feel these occasional high speed, high altitude jaunts make the ground level journeys more interesting and fulfilling.