 |
Tuesday
July 22, 2003
|
|
•HEADLINE
NEWS
|
Tuesday,
July 22, 2003
‘Chasing
Lewis and Clark Across America’
By TOM BENNETT
The Daily Astorian
tbennett@dailyastorian.com
 |
|
Ryan
Lowery, Ron Lowery, Mary Walker and Sue Lowery at the cockpit
of Cloud Chaser.
TOM BENNETT — The Daily Astorian |
|
|
Approaching Bicentennial draws duo into creating book about the
expedition
The Lewis and Clark Trail has a different look from 10,000 feet.
It’s a unique perspective Ron Lowery and Mary Walker are striving
to capture in photos and words from the cockpit of a small experimental
airplane in a three-month journey that brought them to Astoria last
weekend.
Lowery, a commercial photographer from Tennessee, is taking
aerial photos of the trail that he and Walker, a retired chemist and
writer from Arizona, plan to include in a new book, “Chasing Lewis
and Clark Across America.” He has spent the past several days photographing
prominent local landmarks including the Astoria Bridge, lighthouses
and Haystack Rock.
The duo, who worked together on a magazine Walker published,
were drawn to the Lewis and Clark story with the approaching Bicentennial.
But they were unimpressed with much of the photography of prominent
Lewis and Clark sites, and Lowery, who has 43 years as a photographer
under his belt, decided an airplane might provide a platform for unique
and artistic shots of the trail.
 |
RON
LOWERY photo
North Head Lighthouse is dramatically lit in one of Ron Lowery’s
aerial photos. |
The plane not only makes inaccessible areas easier to reach, it also
gives a unique perspective on the land and how the natural features
have shaped, and been shaped by, human contact, Walker said.
“You have an understanding of how the landscape, rivers and
mountains all work together,” said Walker, a pilot herself who accompanies
Lowery on many of his flights. “The mountains determine were the rivers
are, and the rivers determine where the communities are.”
Flying between almost ground level to two miles up and shooting
with a variety of lenses, Lowery has captured images ranging from
panoramic views of the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana to a shot of
two deer drinking on a riverbank. Others show farmers’ fields intersected
by gullies, and mist rising from cities along the Missouri River.
“It’s fun to trace a river in an airplane, seeing where it
starts and where it ends up,” Walker said. “You get a very holistic
understanding of the river system, and what has occurred on it in
its history.”
Along the Snake River, the two could see farmlands stretching
across the bluffs above river that are invisible from the highway
below, she said.
The airplane, dubbed “Cloud Chaser,” is a unique experimental
design originally developed for photographic expeditions in Africa.
Lowery, a pilot since 1989, and his son Alan built the plane themselves,
and he’s logged hundreds of hours in it.
“I live in this thing,” he said. “I’m in it sometimes seven
hours a day.”
With two engines of 100 horsepower each, the aircraft has
ample power for quick take-offs from short runways as well as rapid
climbs. But it can also fly as slow as 35 mph, allowing Lowery to
concentrate on getting the right shot. And from the cockpit up front
in the nose of the plane, he has no wings, struts or propellers
blocking his view.
“It’s like my own personal Imax theater,” he said.
The day usually begins at 4 a.m. as Lowery gets airborne early
to catch the day’s first light. He usually takes photos in the early
morning or evening when the sun is low, the sky is colorful and the
textures in the landscape are cast into stark relief by the shadows.
Mid-day the team, which includes Lowery’s wife Sue and son
Ryan, is busy editing the morning’s shots, interviewing locals and
conducting research, scouting other locations and doing any needed
repairs and maintenance to the plane.
Along with the aerial photos, Lowery also takes pictures on
the ground of people and landmarks along the route.
So far the trek has been trouble-free, although Lowery carried
extra food and survival gear while flying over the Rockies in the
event he was forced to land and be on his own for several days before
help arrived.
The plane provided access to areas only reachable by foot
or boat, like the Missouri Breaks in Montana. With no airport within
100 miles, the team made arrangements to use the private landing strip
of a local rancher, who hosted the group while they photographed the
area.
While Lowery captures photos from Cloud Chaser, Walker is
collects stories for their book on the ground.
“It’s a new type of writing, and really fun,” she said. “It’s
an excuse to talk to innumerable people across the country.”
Their Astoria stop included a visit to Fort Clatsop National
Memorial, where some re-enactors portraying Corps of Discovery members
turned down an offer to trade for Jack, the Lowerys’ dog.
Walker said she’s noticed interest and excitement in the Lewis
and Clark story has grown in the just the past few years. “It’s fascinating
that people get that excited about something that happened 200 years
ago,” she said.
Lowery and Walker chronicle their project, including samples
of some of their photos, on the web at (www.chasinglewisandclark.com)
(BACK)
|
| |
|
|
|
