The cloud photos and aerial landscapes that I have accumulated over the years were shot mostly from experimental-class airplanes I have built. When I fly in these planes, I am positioned far forward of the wing and have no enclosed cockpit. This vantage point offers me such an unobstructed view that it's like sitting in front of my own personal IMAX theater. Imagine flying in the evening and floating above the clouds at 9,000 feet doing only 40 mph. As the sun sets rapidly, the clouds start to glow in one hue then another. This experience is like taking Beethoven's Ninth intravenously! With near zero turbulence and the plane trimmed out for level flight, I can turn loose of the stick and use my feet on the rudder to make minor position adjustments. Now I go to work—adjusting f/stops, getting into the right position and altitude and hoping my friends on approach control will keep Delta out of my shot. Whoever said sunsets were relaxing!

The first plane that I built in 1989 was a Maxair Drifter rigged for amphibian use. It was a great tool that helped me produce a lot of photos during those 10 years. Its most limiting factor was its range of 60 miles and its cruse speed of 55 mph. The purpose of this new twin engine plane–Cloud Chaser–is to explore and photograph all over North America.

This plane, which I call Cloud Chaser, took 3 years to complete and was built by my older son, Alan, and me in a hanger near the aircraft factory in Sebring, FL. Built from a kit, the plane is an AirCAM, Originally designed for National Geographic for photography over the Africa

After the plane's completion in Sebring, Florida, I am headed back to Chattanooga where we live. With my wife pulling an RV, we travel around the country taking pictures.

n Congo, this model is three generations beyond that original prototype and far more powerful and improved. Three months after Cloud Chaser's completion, my younger son Ryan and I made a three week photo flight to Arizona.

Landing or takeoff distance for this remarkable plane is within a couple hundred feet. Having the ability to climb at 1800 feet per minute makes it great for changing camera angles quickly and for getting out of tight places. It is also extremely safe, faster, light weight, powerful, fuel efficient, quiet, environmentally friendly and carries a lot of cargo.

Since its completion in 2000, I have logged over 900 hours traveling through 31 states. It has proven itself to be a great flying machine. We recently completed a 14,000 mile trip retracing the journey Corps of Discovery and have published the photographs in a book and DVD, Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America: A 21st Century Aviation Adventure.

Flying at an average altitude of 500 feet made for an incredible journey. I had no idea this plane would be such an attention-getter. Everywhere we landed people would gather to check it out. Even though I also fly my Cessna 172 around the country, I don't get nearly the red carpet treatment that I do when I land with Cloud Chaser. I feel that because of this plane, and through the photography work I have done with the plane, it has helped me meet a lot of very interesting people such as Indian tribal leaders, ranchers, pilots, artists and natural resource people.

In June of 2005, EAA Sport Aviation made it the cover story, along with an article about our Lewis and Clark adventure.

For the past 16 years, I have virtually lived in the sky to capture the exact moment and the lighting I desire for each photograph.

The one question that always comes up whenever I do a lecture or program is, "What are you going to do next?" Well, we just released a series of art postcards called Sky View Samplers that feature images from along the Tennessee River. These pictures will be part of a larger project about this river.

We have also started trying to raise the funding for another cross-country project that would feature rivers across America.