Flying over Hood River, Oregon... My first attempt at aerial photography

A couple weeks ago I was sitting on a train in Thailand chatting with Ken about photography and he asked if I've ever done aerial photography. I said I've always really, really wanted to but I just don't know any pilots, so I've never had the opportunity. Ken says, Well I'm a pilot, you want to go fly with me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I about crapped my pants!!
I had no idea for the 2 weeks I had been traveling with Ken (and the rest of our group) that he was a pilot... with his own plane nonetheless.
So Ken told me... anytime you want to go, just call me and we'll go! I definitely took him up on that offer and will be taking him up on that offer until he's sick and tired of me calling every time the weather is beautiful.
Yesterday we had a clear day in Hood River and we went for a 66 minute flight. I cannot even express how cool it is to have that freedom to explore the skies with your own plane. I've flown a lot, but not exactly on the type of plane where I could just tell the pilot what to do and where to go!
I can't think of a more beautiful place to cruise around than the Columbia River Gorge area (home!). We started off flying over the East Hills of Hood River, then around Mt. Hood (incredible!), over to The Dalles, then back to Hood River while flying directly over the Columbia River the entire time. So much to see! I even flew the plane for a while, which was super cool and surprisingly simple... of course I didn't do anything but steer left/right up/down, haha. I think landing and taking off would be just a little harder. :)
Shooting aerial photography is a lot harder than I thought it would be. The ride wasn't really rough at all, but the plane vibrates from the propeller, so you have to use fast shutter speeds. Lesson learned!
I definitely shot lots of blurry photos but got some really nice sharp ones too... here are some of my favorites.

Ken's Cessna plane at the Hood River airport before we took off-

Takeoff! Columbia river looking east towards Mosier-

Hood River looks a lot larger from the air!

Mt. Saint Helens in the distance-

Mt. Hood in the foreground and lots of beautiful hazy mountains ridges-

Mt. Hood and the plane wing-

A very windy ridge on Mt. Hood-

The peak of Mt. Hood-

Another windy ridge-

Peak of Mt. Hood-

Peak of Mt. Hood with Mt. Saint Helens in the background-

Peak of Mt. Hood with Mt. Adams in the background-

Crazy ridgeline of Mt. Hood-

Wide angle views of the west-side of Mt. Hood (the side that faces Portland)-

Peak of of Mt. Hood-

Another crazy ridgeline of Mt. Hood-

Windy ridge on Mt. Hood-

The Dalles Damn and Bridge:

Hills in Washington across from Rowena-

The small town of Lyle, Washington and the Klickitat river-

Highway 14 detail-

Looking West, Hood River Toll Bridge-

Highway 14 and the infamous Syncline-

White Salmon River, Washington-

Looking west on the Columbia River. Interstate 84 in Oregon (left), and Highway 14 in Washington (right)-

Looking West over Hood River-

The pro pilot on the right, and the wannabe on the left-

I have no idea what all that stuff does-

Not bad for the first flight! Can't wait for the next one... Thanks SO MUCH Ken!