Cool photography

David | May 11, 2026 | 7 Comments

OK, I’m a sucker for a great photo. Seems nowadays with the ease of digital cameras, motor drives, and all the photographic software out there that amazing picture are a dime a dozen. Which, if you give me a GREAT subjects good SLR, and time to prep, is about the worth of what I come up with – some people can take great photos that stand the test of time, and most of us take snap shots. I think the message really sank in when I visited the Grand Canyon the first time, and was blown away by the views…and got snapshots. Ah well.

Fella named Thomas Newdick (I swear that is what the article says) has an article on TWZ.com that has some spectacular photos of an F-35 pushing the speed of sound. If you look at the above, those crinkly parts of the pic? That is the air being compressed to where it’s warping the light – caught in a photo.

There is a low-level training route in Southern California called the Sidewinder.

The Sidewinder is a military low level flying route located within the R-2508 training complex located in Southeast California. Military aircraft fly relatively low (1500ft AGL or below) along a path laid out by a set of waypoints. A map of the route is detailed below. Jordan Louie

The Sidewinder route sits in the vast R-2508 Range Complex and part of it runs between Owens Valley and Panamint Valley. Up until a deadly crash of a Super Hornet in 2019, this included military aircraft blasting through Star Wars Canyon, also known as Rainbow Canyon. Low-level access for military planes to that locale was restricted following the incident, although civilian aircraft make that famous run from time to time.

The cool part? Much of the route is civilian accessible, and according to one photographer, there are normally 10-11 passes a day, so your odds of seeing something military and fast are pretty good. Oh, and if it looks familiar – quite few movie shoots have been done here, including Ed’s ” Those That Shall Not Be Named.”

The photos are the work of @point_mugu_skies, whose other images — many of them also shot along the Sidewinder route — are an absolute must see on their Instagram page.

“As for how I got the shots, I don’t want to mention [the] precise location, but they were taken on a hill out on the Sidewinder low-level route (Southern California, Eastern Sierras),” they explained. “It’s not accessed via paved roads… it’s on the back-country roads. I hiked up to the 500-foot level.”