Aerial Photo Essay on Rapid Growth

Hi...I put together a photo essay of aerial images of Grand Rapids at Rapid Growth Media.  If you want to check it out...here's the link.

flying over Grand Rapids

My brother Brad rolling High Definition video over Grand Rapids from a helicopter...BLAST!

Butterball Mansion

Here's an outtake from my aerial photo shoot last week...I just took it for fun.  It shows the Butterball Mansion in East Grand Rapids (think Thanksgiving turkeys with pop-out thermometers telling you when they're done and...well...butter).  The estate has been for sale for quite some time and has simultaneously undergone extensive renovations.  I live not too far away in a dramatically...less dramatic...home about a half mile away.  I often bike or drive past the property on Plymouth Avenue (on my way to Jersey Junction for ice cream if truth be told).

I couldn't help but notice the two huge and sleek powerboats and a large, well concealed garage way in the very back of the property large enough to store them as well as additional toys.  It's a magnificent property.

I was curious to see what the asking price is and the listing at GRAR shows it's going for $2,180,000.  And although that is a sum of money I'll never get my hands on, that seems like a STEAL to me given the size of the home and location. I can't help but think that if you plunked this same home/property into suburban Chicago, Boston or Atlanta it would be $5 million or more easy.  If it were in the Hamptons in New York it would probably be well over $15 million.

So you may want to throw in a bid...my guess is the first one close to $1,900,000 gets the keys!

Aerial Images on tap

(a regatta on Reeds Lake)

I had two different clients waiting for aerials photographs but due to my schedule, weather and vacation those projects sat on the back burner for a few weeks.  Sunday was perfect so I shot some new aerials of Grand Rapids this afternoon...such a perfect day.  Two quick observations:

1. Call me superstitious but I always hire the same company when I shoot aerials (they're a good company and, you know, so far so good).  My usual pilot wasn't available when I called but I was happy when they said they could still get me flying within a couple hours with a different pilot. I was a little taken aback when the new pilot came into the office to introduce himself.  I must be getting older but he only looked to be about 17 years old.  To me it was like he should have been mowing the grass out by the hanger instead of holding my life in his hands while we spun tight circles around buildings over Grand Rapids.  He seemed official though (he had charts and stuff) and as we looked over sections of the city we would fly over, I started to gain more confidence before take-off.  My initial anxiety turned out to be be unfounded. It turned out to be a nice flight and I would definitely fly with him again...but holy cow that kid was young!

2. The high price of petroleum is affecting everything...the cost of hiring the plane increased by $65/hour from when I flew last fall (and it's not like it was cheap then).  I've never been more frustrated with government.  Our current administration has been asleep at the wheel with their foreign and domestic policies over the last 8 years. The absolute hubris of Bush/Cheney is disgusting. If winks toward the media pool and wearing large belt buckles could get the job done then we'd be in great shape, but I suspect GWB thinks that's all the job entails.  Bush came into office an oil man and he certainly did nothing to wheen us off of fossil fuels.  Let's hope the next President has some guts to truly foster a new economic model around alternative energy.

In the words of my brother-in-law Bill...it's too bad we still have to wait until January to get a new bus driver.

Aerial Photography

I shot a lot of aerial photographs this summer for a variety of clients...it's one of my favorite things to do on a nice day. I have to admit that there are times on every flight where I have to ask myself, "I'm getting PAID to do this?"

As fun as it might sound, aerial photography certainly has a myriad of challenges to achieve great images. The high cost of flying is one and you won't get any "mulligans" on your client's dime. You have to have the right gear and pick the right weather in which to spend your client's money.

An experienced pilot (preferably flying a very shiny, clean plane with no visible dents or scratches) is a must. You can't be afraid to ask the pilot to fly over the target at various altitudes or ask him to bank sharply to get just the right angle. The photo above of the new soccer field at Aquinas College is a result of good communication between myself and the pilot in fleeting light...it took a couple of passes before I felt I had "the shot."