Phantom 3 – Page 4 – Decaseconds

Snow and Clear Air

2018-Jul-11 adohertyhLeave a comment

Clear, cold winter air and a road stretching north from the Connecticut-Massachusetts border makes a lovely entrance to the Berkshires. A photogenic dusting of snow doesn’t hurt, either.

This is an example of perfect timing—as much as I like to take winter pictures, quadcopter drones like neither snow nor extremely low temperatures. Early in the season, however, there are lucky days like this one where snow is immediately followed by clear skies and above-freezing temperatures that give me a tiny window in which to capture the winter.

Lush Campus

2018-Jun-13 adohertyhLeave a comment

The long winter seems long behind us and campus is lush with flowering trees and grass carpets. Brush Quad, situated between St. Lawrence University’s oldest building (Richardson Hall) and its newest (Kirk Douglas Hall), looks particularly welcoming.

Lynchian Town II

2018-Apr-30 adohertyhLeave a comment

David Lynch’s projects have documented the (sometimes sinister) weirdness underlying small-town life, and I think I’ve occasionally captured a hint of that in my pictures of Canton. High above the town after an August storm, the clouds impart a definitely Lynchian vibe.

Fall Visit

2018-Apr-13 adohertyhLeave a comment

Good landscape photography advice: take your pictures from the top of the second tallest structure (or drone) around and let the tallest structure (like St. Lawrence’s Gunnison Chapel) cross the horizon.

Cabin Beyond the River

2018-Mar-02 adohertyhLeave a comment

High above the wet woods of northern Vermont in early winter, the contrast between dark coniferous trees and blanched deciduous trees makes for a mottled appearance. Down amongst that Ising Model of tree distribution, a little building or two make for odd inhomogeneities.

St. Lawrence Winter Flight

2018-Feb-072018-Feb-07 adohertyh1 Comment

I’ve previously compared the feel of St. Lawrence University’s campus in the winter to a ski resort missing its ski slopes; even from the air, the miniature snow city effect holds. Though I’m not sure I can explain the particular magic of this image, it currently holds the record has the most-liked picture on St. Lawrence’s Instagram. Perhaps it’s the glow of the setting sun on the buildings?

Frozen Lake

2018-Jan-10 adohertyhLeave a comment

Even from high above, the evidence of winter’s arrival show in the locked-down and cracked-apart landscape of the northeastern United States.

A Farm in Vermont

2017-Dec-11 adohertyhLeave a comment

A family farm on a hillside in northern Vermont at the start of winter is like an empty table, ready to be set for a meal. These and other folksy aphorisms, brought to you by a digital eye on a flying robot stabilized by orbiting artificial satellites and electronic gyroscopes. The future is excellent!

Liberal Arts

2017-Nov-082017-Nov-09 adohertyhLeave a comment

The aerial view can help to put the day-to-day challenges of life in perspective. Nothing looks quite so huge from up here.

One Red Tree

2017-Nov-01 adohertyhLeave a comment

From a quadcopter-eye’s view of Johnson Hall, the effects of this season’s abnormal weather are on full display. Instead of “oranges and golds,” the North Country landscape has reached an odd “green trees and bare sticks” mix. This rogue maple is fighting the good fight for fall!

Median Building Distribution

2017-Oct-202017-Oct-20 adohertyhLeave a comment

Arriving at St. Lawrence’s campus, I was amazed at all of the space between the buildings: tree-lined paths, broad quads, and extra fields. Having spent my education on urban campuses with buildings packed in tightly together, I was used to a height and compact structure.

Skies Presage Storm

2017-Oct-11 adohertyhLeave a comment

Small-town America seems even smaller in the face of an epic sunset and the thunderstorm it presaged.

North Country Japanese Garden

2017-Oct-04 adohertyhLeave a comment

In the past, I’ve photographed several Japanese gardens, and even St. Lawrence University’s own North Country Japanese Garden, but I’ve never been able to capture it like this before. From my quadcopter’s vantage point, I captured the geometry of Sykes Hall and the North Country Japanese Garden in the grids of streets and campus paths.

The Old Part of Campus

2017-Sep-13 adohertyhLeave a comment

Though St. Lawrence has its share of modern buildings (including my own), it’s the old part of campus (buildings like Piskor and Sykes Halls) that best captures the Harry Potter vibe of small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast.

Post-Tornado Warning

2017-Aug-25 adohertyhLeave a comment

There’s spectacular luck involved in a tornado-warning-inducing storm abates just as sunset begins, leaving a rugged magenta sky in its wake. (Plus, I can’t fly the quadcopter in the rain.)