Meet Kai Gradert—he’s a landscape and time-lapse photographer based out of California. Kai enjoys nature and draws his inspiration from nature and world cultures.
Can you tell us a little bit about the image?
I captured this image in November 2014 during a commercial flight from San Francisco to Thailand. I remember this well because it was the first international trip we took with our then three-months-old son. I always try to get a window seat during international flights. It’s quite amazing what you can capture from a commercial flight. Especially when you fly over Alaska, Greenland or Canada. You often get a perspective that is impossible to achieve otherwise. You sometimes catch some real alien like formations from the sky, like this one. It is challenging at times to achieve focus and to process the images afterward because you have to shoot at an angle through an airplane window. But it’s a great way to spend time on long flights. And sometimes you get lucky with incredible cloud or terrain formations.
What gear/software did you use to create this image?
For this particular capture, I used a Canon 6D with the EF24-70mm ƒ/2.8L II USM lens. I processed the image in Adobe Lightroom.
How long have you been a KelbyOne member and what made you decide to become a member?
I am reasonably new to KelbyOne, even though I have worked in the computer and imaging industry for the past 20 years. I have become a member in 2017 as a commitment to take my photography more serious.
To see more of Kai Gradert’s work and to get some insight, take a look at his website, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, and 500px. As for his time-lapse work, take a peek on Vimeo.
