Like so many of the best things in Nepal, this spectacular view of Pokhara was achieved with a great deal of physical effort. 😅 Although none of our subsequent endeavors were as long or as grand as the EBC (nor did we arrive in Pokhara intending to embark on the Annapurna trek), it is true that even after leaving the Everest Region behind, we continued filling our days with various hikes and physical excursions. This view of Pokhara, Nepal, is the result of one such day hike.

The interpretation of photographs taken from high places has changed over the past few years. For a good deal of my life and career— when camera drones were neither affordable nor ubiquitous— if I presented a photograph of a breathtaking aerial view, the assumption would have been that, of course, as the photographer, I must have somehow been at that dizzying height, too.

And that assumption would have been correct! Someone had to be there to physically operate the camera, right? So, either by hiking there or flying in a helicopter or small prop plane, that’s how the photographer was achieved.

Today, most people see such photographs and (correctly) assume that they are looking at footage shot by a drone.

And don’t get me wrong, I, too, now use a camera drone for many situations… but this is not one of those instances! 😝

If I so much as complete several hours of difficult yard work at home, I will then feel the need to talk about it for the rest of the day and tell everyone I meet what a badass I am. 😂

So, you better believe that after trudging my camera gear and lenses up the side of a mountain and through a pitch-black cave of bats (a story for another day) to get the photograph you see here, I’m damn sure going to let you know! 😂😂😂