November 23rd, 2010:
My very 1st shot at the canyon.
F-18F 165679 of VFA-122
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Hey welcome Gerhard! Good to have you here as well. And what a first shot, I’ve never seen this camo before, didn’t know it existed. Excellent.
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Hello! My name is Andrew Kelly and I started military aviation photography about 4 years ago. I am a current university student in the US, and had heard of fence check but was not into photography when it was around. Looking forward to seeing what people share.
Here is an F-22 making a pass by me on a mountain in Colorado.
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Hey Andrew, welcome aboard! What a great shot! Nice entrance 
looking forward to see more of your work.
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That’s a nice first shot there!
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Where I got to met Kedar!
VFA-122
Most proud of this shot, pilot contacted me through IG and asked to use it for his ceremony of leaving the Vampires. Have a nice signed copy by him.
F-35C / 168841
VX-9 Vampires / Edwards AFB
2019
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This Argonaut made 30+ passes through the canyon at sunset back on January 12, 2015. His parents drove from Arizona and were present at Father Crowley’s for the show. This shot was taken just prior to his barrel roll through the canyon while in burner.
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Not only your first shot but I’d say the first known shot at the canyon.
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Is it really? I don’t remember when I first heard about it.
I went there in 2005 but wasn’t impressed by the passes as they were all east to west back then and turning away from me at Father Crowleys. Sadly, I had no idea about parking further east and maybe discovering the Saddle or the Amphitheater.
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And when dod you go again and figured out where to go? I never went, as I moved before I had the chance. But I think Spanky (Super Hornet demo pilot) got in trouble because he was mentioning the time and date he was going to fly through it on the old forums? Or was that another low level route?
Gerhards’ photo changed everything as it was light years closer than what you could get at Father Crowleys. So I re-visited in 2012 after a scouting trip by LAShooter and by that time they had standardized the familiar west to east route we all became familiar with. I had just retired mid-2012 so the timing for me was perfect and in the end I spent 260 glorious days at that wondrous place.
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Sweet! Love the shots and video from there over the years. Never new @Plomi was the OG.
Well, I’ll tell you the story behind my first shot of the camo Hornet at Starwars.
The day before I did some landscape photography at Death Valley and in the evening I was on my way to Mojave on HWY 190 westbound. Shortly before sunset I was facing an orange evening sky and leaving Panamint Valley I discovered 2 dark spots low in the evening sky. Realizing these were military jets I stopped immediately. They somehow disappered low and after a short while I heart some ‘music’ low in Panamint Valley and I spotted 2 Vipers, most probably from Fresno but I am not sure about this. Thereafter I checked the parking spot and discovered the canyon and I was quite sure, they must have flown through the canyon as @skys7 mentioned it to me before there must be a remote place somewhere for low flying of the Navy. Therefore I changed my mind and spent a night at a horrible motel in Olancha. The next day I drove to the parking spot and nothing happened. So I left and parked my car further east, even further down to the later most used Saddle by many. From there I went north to the edge of the canyon. After about 10 minutes it got really noisy from the East/Panamint Valley, I grabbed my camera and did not know where to aim, since the rocks on the right were blocking my view. It got louder and louder and the next thing I saw was a shadow of a plane very low in the canyon. I was more than surprised and now I had to push the trigger really quickly. Within seconds the Hornet pass east to west due to the early morning sun I suppose was done and the Hornet climbed into the blue sky close to the parking spot in the West. With my mouth and eyes wide open I cheered loudly and quickly checked the images on the display and to my surprise they looked great. My body was shaking. So I waited in the hope for more passes but it was the only one on this day, although activity in the sky above was good. It was clear to me, I had to visit this place again during my next trip 1 year later. The rest is history.
BTW later on the shot got published in Air Forces Monthly, however I never received the promised compensation.
Cheers Plomi
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That C-17! 
Love this story, thanks for sharing. So recognizable and a large part of our hobby I think. Though it’s getting harder and harder to find new spots.
I’m wondering if there’s anything like it (less dramatic of course) in Germany?
Woah Rob. That C-17 is indeed amazing. But all of them I wish I could have witnessed.
