Eye in the Sky
In looking back over 2022, I really consider it to have been the year of the drone. A large portion of my photography in 2022 was done via my DJI Air 2S drone, to the point that I felt that I was leaving my DSLR out of the action. My drone came with me on just about every outing in 2022, and I put a lot of miles on it. I went all over the place with it, shooting big aerial shots, detailed shots of things that the average person isn’t able to see up close, shots in places where it is physically impossible to go or where most people are not allowed to go, and some shots that don’t look like they were taken with a drone at all. To me, the idea that 2022 was my “year of the drone” is reinforced by the fact that at the end of 2022, I unintentionally took a four-month-long hiatus from flying, as I often found myself photographing in areas where the drone was not allowed to fly, where the opportunity never presented itself, or where a flight was planned but conditions ended up being poor, which, when put together, led to a long period where my drone was grounded.
This photo set gives an overview of some of the adventures that I had throughout the year with my little “eye in the sky”, traveling from my home in Montgomery County, Maryland all across the state, and to locations in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Tennessee. The photos are presented in chronological order.
 View of Atlantic City, New Jersey from offshore, facing approximately southwest. |
 Beacon of the Absecon Lighthouse, towering over the eastern part of Atlantic City. |
 The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, formerly the Trump Taj Mahal, one of several casinos along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. |
 View of Atlantic City, New Jersey from the ACUA Wastewater Treatment Plant. |
 The dome of the Tropicana, facing northwest. |
 Post-landing photo of the sidewalk on the north side of the 2900 block of Atlantic Avenue, facing east. |
 Downtown Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. |
 Siren on the roof of the Chambersburg Volunteer Fireman’s Museum in downtown Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. |
 Lakeforest Mall, an enclosed shopping center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Lakeforest would close a year later. |
 The roof of 100 Lakeforest Boulevard in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I was surprised that all of these satellite dishes were being held down by cinderblocks. |
 Downtown Clifton Forge, Virginia. |
 Turntable at the CSX rail yard in Clifton Forge, Virginia. |
 Steam emits from smokestacks at the WestRock paper mill in Covington, Virginia. |
 View looking down a smokestack at the WestRock facility in Covington, Virginia. |
 A post-landing selfie on East Larch Street after flying over the WestRock facility in Covington, Virginia. |
 A snowy day in Waynesboro, Virginia, viewed from above the Berry Global facility, facing east. |
 The Ever Forward, a container ship operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine. The ship had run aground in the Chesapeake Bay on March 13, and was refloated on April 17. |
 The Enchantment of the Seas, a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean, shortly after departing the Port of Baltimore for an eight-day cruise to the Bahamas. |
 Route 10 bridge over the Appomattox River, connecting Chester, Virginia and Hopewell, Virginia. |
 Statue of justice atop the Petersburg, Virginia courthouse. |
 The former Ramada Plaza hotel in Petersburg, Virginia. The hotel was built in 1973, and closed in 2012. The hotel had been abandoned for ten years at this point, and was demolished by the end of year. |
 Microwave antenna radomes on a tower in Colonial Heights, Virginia, covered in bird droppings. |
 The Monument of Confederate War Dead at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The skyline is visible in the distance. |
 Clock tower on Richmond Main Street Station in downtown Richmond, Virginia, overlooking a large elevated section of Interstate 95. View facing north. |
 West Hospital at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), a part of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. |
 Top-down view of the West Hospital. |
 Signage for the Richmond, Virginia offices for CoStar Group. |
 The James River at the fall line in Richmond, Virginia. |
 Storm clouds gather above the former Big Kmart store in Charlottesville, Virginia. |
 Downtown Waynesboro, Virginia, facing east. |
 Stokesville Observatory in western Augusta County, Virginia. |
 View from Shenandoah Mountain, at the border of Augusta and Highland Counties in Virginia. |
 Hairpin turn on US 250 as it descends Shenandoah Mountain in Highland County, Virginia. |
 Farm on the border between Highland County, Virginia and Pendleton County, West Virginia. |
 Sounding Knob Fire Tower, a restored fire watch tower on Jack Mountain near Monterey, Virginia. |
 A pile of debris from the demolition of Staunton Mall, in Augusta County, Virginia. |
 View down the former main corridor of Staunton Mall, facing north towards Montgomery Ward. At this point in the demolition, the additions made to enclose the mall had all been removed on the original section of the mall, while the Belk wing remained intact. |
 Hershey’s kiss lamppost at the Hershey factory in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. |
 Coles Run Reservoir, a source of drinking water amongst the mountains in the Big Levels Game Refuge in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. |
 Remains of the sanctuary at Sherando United Methodist Church in Lyndhurst, Virginia following an electrical fire that destroyed the church building. |
 Fort Carroll, an artificial island and former sea fort in the Patapsco River, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. |
 Tanker ship The Amigo sails down the Patapsco River after departing the Port of Baltimore, with the tugboat Kayee Moran following close behind in order to help her navigate the river. |
 Interchange between Interstate 95 and Interstate 395 in Baltimore, Maryland. |
 The Spring Garden Swing Bridge, spanning the middle branch of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland. |
 The Hanover Street Bridge, a Beaux Arts-style reinforced cantilever bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. |
 The western portal on the westbound side of the Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel, one of four remaining active tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike mainline. |
 Heavy equipment parked outside of the former Lowe’s store in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, then under construction to prepare it for its new role as a casino. |
 The Delaware Memorial Bridge, carrying Interstate 295 between New Castle, Delaware and Pennsville Township, New Jersey. |
 A PATCO train crosses the Delaware River from Philadelphia to New Jersey via the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. |
 The Stove Ocean, a Norwegian-flagged bulk carrier, is loaded with material in Camden, New Jersey. |
 The sun sets over Sterling, Virginia, viewed from above the intersection of Route 606 and Rock Hill Road. |
 Demolition progress at the former Staunton Mall as of August 2022. |
 The Forest Springs Estates neighborhood in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. |
 Downtown Charles Town and Ranson, West Virginia. |
 Navigational buoy in Isle of Wight Bay near Ocean City, Maryland. |
 Skimmer Island, a small island in the Isle of Wight Bay just north of the Ocean City Inlet. |
 Overhead view of Coastal Highway at its intersection with 94th Street in Ocean City, Maryland. |
 Aerial view of Ocean City, Maryland, viewed from approximately 94th Street, facing north towards Delaware. |
 Aerial view of Verona, Virginia from above the Mill Place Commerce Park. |
 Interior of the Belk wing during demolition of the former Staunton Mall, facing south. |
 Mailbox marked “AIR MAIL” mounted on top of a very tall pole along Love Road in Augusta County, Virginia. |
 Electrical substation along Delphine Avenue in Waynesboro, Virginia. |
 Lycra factory in Waynesboro, Virginia. |
 The Inn at Afton, once a Holiday Inn and now disused, at Rockfish Gap in Augusta County, Virginia. |
 The Sunsphere, at the World’s Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. |
 Exit 407 on Interstate 40 in Sevierville, Tennessee, which serves State Route 66 via a diverging diamond interchange. |
 The Dr. James D. Hoskins and H.B. Jarnagin Bridge, which carries State Route 92 across Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee. |
 Elm Avenue interchange along Interstate 581 and US 220 in Roanoke, Virginia. |
 Kroger grocery store at Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County, Virginia. |
 Aerial view of Mill Mountain, facing west. |
 DoubleTree Hotel in Gaithersburg, Maryland. |
 Exit 11 on Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg, which serves Montgomery Village Avenue via a partial cloverleaf interchange. |
 A small remaining section of the roof over the Belk wing at the former Staunton Mall. |
 Fire exit in what remains of the Peebles building at the former Staunton Mall. |
 Cloverleaf interchange between Virginia State Route 262 and US Route 11 near Staunton, Virginia. |