Drive-By-Shootings

I call them “drive-by shootings,” the camera shots I capture while driving.  Taking photographs while driving is a fairly unique form of distracted driving, but I am certainly not alone in the practice.  Ten years ago, I recall a friend of mine, Jeff, asking if I wanted to see some of the photographs of his trip from Seattle to Montana for a visit.  “Sure,” I said.

He grabbed his digital camera and we browsed through screen images he had taken though his windshield.  We clicked though shots of the hood of his car climbing a mountain pass, swooping down near a glittering river, dropping into a wide glacial basin, and approaching various road signs.  Driving, for sure.

I must say, I loved his work. 

On one occasion Jeff emailed me a particularly unique drive-by.  While overflying Montana between Seattle and the Midwest, his flight took him almost directly overtop my house.  He managed to capture an image of my house and the surrounding countryside from thirty-thousand feet as he flew past.

The spirt of drive-by shootings is the thing.

Today, I am posting some drive-by-shootings from a trip to my cabin yesterday.  We have experienced a dramatic change in weather patterns over the last few days.  A moisture laden cold front plunged down upon us.  Came with it, rain and snow.  Some of the drainages near my cabin pulled down two inches of moisture.

We abruptly switched from smoky skies and fires prowling though the forests like flaming lions to blue skies filled with cotton candy clouds and an unparalleled clarity of view.

After a long drought, the air is once again sweet.  Perfect for drive-by-shootings captured with my smarter-than-me-phone.

--Mitchell Hegman