TACOMA, Wash. — To photograph Mount Rainier silhouetted by fiery red skies you must follow a recipe few people know. Jeff Wolff is one of them and it's the reason he'll leave a warm bed to get outside on a cold winter morning.
“The clouds need to be about 14,000 feet so Mount Rainier's visible," he said. "And I usually come out an hour before sunrise and the sky usually starts to turn red half an hour before sunrise.”
It is during these quiet hours that Wolff composes his love letters to Tacoma.
“I've been here long enough that I think I have a deep appreciation for the city and I want to show it off in its best light,” he said.
And that best light happens while most of us are still asleep.
“It's just nice to just soak in the energy and the calmness and the beauty," Wolff said. "And sometimes I feel like I have it all to myself.”
As one of the state's first FAA-licensed commercial drone pilots, Wolff spends many of his working hours shooting for clients like cruise lines and real estate firms. On his day off you might think the last thing he'd want to do is fly but that's when he's captured some of his favorite images.
One of his favorite spots to film? The Thea Foss Waterway.
“There's always like a ship going by or a tugboat going by," he said. "It just seems like a good place to find inspiration for photography.”
His eye is often drawn to Mount Rainier.
“Whenever Mount Rainier is out, I feel inspired to get out and get some photos of it," he said.
His drone allows Wolff to get never before seen angles including a pod of Orcas swimming past the Narrows Bridge, fall colors in Central Washington and Seagulls flocking onto pilings on a foggy morning. All shot by Tacoma's ultimate early bird.
“When I wake up at 4:30, 5:00 in the morning, I definitely have to force myself to get out," Wolff said. "But once I'm out, it's always worth it. I'm always rewarded. Even if I don't get a fiery sunrise, it's just nice to be up at that time of morning and enjoy moments of the day that most people don't get to enjoy.
One man and his drone together they've become quite a team.
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