Des Moines

Iowa State Fair Aerial

It’s state fair time in Iowa!  Probably one of the largest, well known fairs across the country at that. The Iowa State Fair comes to town every August, and lasts just a little over a week!  While I do not condone flying over the crowded fairgrounds, I was able to capture this remote image from a distance. I used a tilt shift filter in Photoshop to give it “model” like look.

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Iowa Summer Sunsets

Here are a few more aerial sunsets. This is the perfect time of year to fly in Iowa (mid-summer). It’s time for the state’s annual RAGBRAI bike ride, and the Indianola Hotair Balloon Festival; The Hotair Balloon Classic. I take advantage of the low winds to get out and capture some great images of our midwest views.

Des Moines Sculpture Park

We had some friends in town last weekend, and decided to have an amazing brunch at Americana – Highly Recommended!  Directly across the street from Americana is the Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Downtown Des Moines. A great place to burn off a few calories from brunch; be sure to check it out if you are visiting Des Moines!

 

 

 

High Trestle Bridge, in Winter

There is an amazing trestle bridge just north of the Des Moines area in Central Iowa. The town is called Madrid, but it isn’t pronounced like the Madrid you and I know – they pronounce it Maadrid, which is a little odd but okay. I’ve been up to this trestle bridge a few times in the past, but with my new equipment I am able to get into tight spots from great distances, which I can appreciate in a shoot like this. There’s nowhere to park, for miles. I’ve never actually walked the bridge, but I hope to some day, once the snow melts. Anyway, here’s a quick video of my time up there the other day. I’ll post a few pictures here as well.

Waukee Fire Dept – House Burn

This morning, I had the pleasure of being invited by the Waukee Fire Department to shoot some aerial drone video for a controlled house fire that the department coordinated. The goal of the burn was to give firefighters a real-world opportunity to fight a house fire in a controlled environment. While I don’t know the back story of the property, it was recently sold and instead of demolishing the home, they decided it would be easier and more cost effective to burn it down.

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Iowa State Fair

I finally got around to going through some of the pictures and video from the Iowa State Fair. It was back in August and I’ve been really busy, but I threw together a quick little video that I wanted to share. It’s a pretty big “Ag-centric” fair, but a couple of the things I like are the early mechanization, the motors, and the tractors. This quick video showcases some of that. If you haven’t had a chance to attend, you should put it on your bucket list. They have a “butter cow” sculpted entirely from butter, and a ton of other “uniquely Iowa” displays.