There is not much to enjoy about being a commercial air passenger these days. Maybe there is for the privileged few who can afford spacious seats in first class, but the rest of us must endure the cattle-car treatment. However, I’ve always enjoyed looking out a window and watching the changing landscapes and weather systems below and so I always get a window seat.

Being a geologist, I am fascinated by the sights of earth from that great height. I have not done a lot of flying in my life, but enough to realize that sometimes one can see remarkable sights from a little window in a jet flying at over 500 miles an hour. Especially over arid lands where there is often little or no cloud cover to obscure the views. If I know the route of the fight, I get a seat on the side of the plane where I might enjoy the best views of mountain ranges or other major features. It was relatively recent that I figured out how to get passably good photos shooting through these little double-panes of Plexiglas, often scratched or smeared with something you don’t want to contact. So luck has a role; you need a relatively clean, clear window, on a cloudless day, and it can’t be over a wing obviously. But the magic of digital photography and post-processing is the other factor that makes it possible. The images can’t compare to ones obtained in planes meant for aerial photography, or from drones and satellite images, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by my results. Some of which you hold in your hands.