Jim Wark in November 2002 (Special to the Post | courtesy Jim Wark)

In more than 20 years Jim Wark has taken thousands of photos from the view point of his single-engine plane.

Next year, five of them will be featured in the U.S. Postal Service's stamp set, Earthscapes, which will be issued October 2012.

The set features 15 stamps showcasing a variety of American landscapes taken from aircraft and satellites, according to a news release.

Wark's photos, taken between 1990 and 2007, include photos of natural landscapes from Yellowstone National Park and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in southeast Utah, and industrial scenes from Pennsylvania, Texas and New York City.

The postal service contacted Wark in 2007, and the selection process began, he said.

The 80-year-old

Earthscapes

retired geologist and mining engineer, now owns Airphoto photography in Pueblo. He has produced nine books of aerial photos, three of which are set to be released this fall.

In past years, The Denver Post commissioned Wark for a number of projects.

Wark learned to fly while serving in the Navy from 1954 to 1958, and his family has a long line of photographers that started in Ireland in 1850, he said.

"After I retired from the corporate world, I combined my passion for the two," Wark said.

One of the photos featured in the stamps set - Butte in the early morning - was taken in Utah and was one of Wark's first professional aerial photographs.

"The butte was so beautiful on that trip," Wark said. "It's kind of what got me started and made me think I could make a living out of this."

Since then, Wark has shot aerial photographs in every state - including Alaska and Hawaii - every Canadian province, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Wark said some of his favorite trips were to the Alaskan wilderness, where he would spend weeks camping in his plane.

"As a pilot, I can tell you that it takes a lot of nerve, going to a distant place where there is nothing," said John Wark​, Jim Wark's 52-year-old son.

John Wark said he and his father started studying photography at the same time, and have spent years refining their techniques together.

Five years ago, Wark earned his own pilot's license and has continued to learn from his father.

Wark owns Wark Photography in Pueblo, and sees his father three or four times a week, he said. Wark said his father still does most of his work with film instead of a digital camera. Wark develops most of his father's photos at his lab.

"One of the nicest aspects of working with my dad is he is a very constructive person to work around, and that goes with everything in my life with him - personal, flying and photography."

Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com