You have reached your Cruising Altitude

This image began on a bitterly cold February afternoon during a layover in Chicago en route to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a week of skiing. While taxiing to the gate, my plane came to a stop directly behind another aircraft. Seated by the window with my ever-ready Sony DSC-RX100M5, I noticed a compelling composition—the rear view of the jet framed by a flurry of ground activity: support vehicles, fuel hoses, catering trucks, and bundled-up mechanics. I fired off several shots, instinctively sensing the raw material for something more striking.

Though skiing was the main purpose of the trip, my downtime in Jackson Hole was spent hunkered over my Mac, immersed in Photoshop. Over more than 10 meticulous hours, I managed to extract the aircraft from its cluttered tarmac surroundings. I then set it against a sky I’d captured previously—a dramatic layer of clouds stretching beneath a vivid, expansive blue.

Meanwhile, the skiing was spectacular. Jackson Hole was buried under more than five feet of fresh snow during our stay, even prompting the resort to temporarily close to incoming visitors. Streets and parking garages were overwhelmed—skiing had become exclusive by necessity.

The finished image is a surreal, almost meditative vision of flight: a lone aircraft floating above the clouds, seemingly heading toward the unknown. It reflects both my passion for travel and the technical discipline required to shape a fleeting moment into something imaginative and enduring.