Author Topic: This is so much fun . . .  (Read 1277 times)

Ann

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This is so much fun . . .
« on: October 27, 2022, 06:16:29 »
. . . everyone should have a Drone:



Aerial which I shot from about 300-feet above the Croton Falls Reservoir and the glorious autumn foliage last weekend in Putnam County, New York State.

Right at the bottom, and in the centre, of the photograph, you can see two tiny figures at the shore-line to the right of the bridge and near the overturned hulls of some boats?

That is me flying my new Drone (it was a surprise birthday present!) and shooting a movie (of which this shot is a frame).

Fons Baerken

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2022, 08:56:31 »
Happy birthday Ann.
Can you share the specifics of this drone setup.
Thanks.

golunvolo

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2022, 11:41:53 »
Happy birthday surprise! This looks indeed like a lot of fun. Lovely, lovely colors

Akira

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2022, 13:26:35 »
Happy birthday and welcome back, Ann!  You mean, the tiny figures in yellow?  Beautiful autumn color anyway!
"The eye is blind if the mind is absent." - Confucius

"Limitation is inspiration." - Akira

Hugh_3170

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2022, 14:49:07 »
+1 from me as well.

Good to see that you are still enjoying photography - and with those wonderful colours why not!  ;D

Happy birthday and welcome back, Ann!  You mean, the tiny figures in yellow?  Beautiful autumn color anyway!
Hugh Gunn

Ann

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2022, 20:32:12 »
I am so happy that you all enjoyed my Drone shot!

It is enormous fun to fly this thing but there were quite a few new rules and new skills I needed to learn.

Trees are a big problem for drones and they are a major issue in this heavily forested area.

After the first couple of flights, I foolishly deemed myself to be an “expert” so took the drone into a small clearing next to a pond in the forest.

All went well until I tried to use automatic “Return to Home” when it promptly crashed into tree-branches and broke its camera .

That was within the first 48 hours of my ownership.
Fortunately the manufacturer will replace the drone for one's first two crashes.

Back to studying the on-line manuals and the Youtube videos.

I learned that I really need to take-off and land manually — particularly in a tricky spot like this one which was on a very steep rocky shore under overhanging trees. (The Launching spot looks flat in the photograph but it is actually a steep mini-cliff!)


After Lift-off from the flattest available rock, I took the drone up vertically to about 15 feet (so that it was below the overhanging branches) and then flew out horizontally over the water until the drone was well clear of the forested shores on both sides of the water.
Once it was clear of the obstacles, I sent it flying up and down the reservoir at an altitude of about 300 feet (100 metres).

After about 20 minutes, one gets a “low battery warning” so I took it back to a point close to me (but out over the water) and then brought it down using the joysticks manually so that I could then fly back below the tree branches and land it back on the original flattish rock

There are some fairly strict, but sensible, FAA rules which must be obeyed here in the U.SA. such as no flying above 400 feet or over restricted zones or near airports.

And no flying of drones which weigh more than 250 grams (until you have passed a lengthy pilots' exam!) so my drone is the very small DJI Mini 2 but its tiny little gimble-mounted camera seems to be surprisingly good. A big advantage of using such a small drone is that is extremely quiet: I can barely hear it at all once it is about 20 feet away.

Erik Lund

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2022, 09:07:01 »
Congratulations! Sound like you have your hands full, as always  ;D 8)
Erik Lund

mxbianco

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2022, 09:10:31 »
Quite lovely pic, Ann!

I was meditating about getting one, and maybe this is the final push towards opening up the wallet...

Re: regulations. In Italy, all National Parks are no-fly zones. Tough, but necessary, because there's so many headless people around here, and wildlife should not be disturbed.

Happy birthday from Massimo
Since evolution has given us TWO ears and ONE mouth, we are supposed (me included) to be doing more listening than talking.

mxbianco

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2022, 16:49:53 »
No-fly zone

I fetched the sign from last year's (2021) outing in the Gran Paradiso National Park

Nikon  Z7, FTZ + 24-120mm AFS-VR Nikkor @62mm

Ciao from Massimo
Since evolution has given us TWO ears and ONE mouth, we are supposed (me included) to be doing more listening than talking.

bobfriedman

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2022, 12:55:09 »
Very nice Ann!
Robert L Friedman, Massachusetts, USA
www.pbase.com/bobfriedman

golunvolo

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2022, 22:29:39 »
No-fly zone

I fetched the sign from last year's (2021) outing in the Gran Paradiso National Park

Nikon  Z7, FTZ + 24-120mm AFS-VR Nikkor @62mm

Ciao from Massimo


  So you can ask for authorization or a permit?

mxbianco

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2022, 17:10:50 »

  So you can ask for authorization or a permit?

Possibly, but generally that sentence is there so that police, park guards, and other security officers have the automatic right to fly a drone without having to go through bureaucratic bottlenecks (=RED TAPE).

Ciao from Massimo
Since evolution has given us TWO ears and ONE mouth, we are supposed (me included) to be doing more listening than talking.

golunvolo

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #12 on: October 30, 2022, 19:21:25 »
Makes sense. Thanks Massimo.

Bill De Jager

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Re: This is so much fun . . .
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2022, 19:30:47 »
Happy belated birthday, Ann, and great to see you back here.  Thanks for sharing your drone experiences and photography.  Love the fall colors!

Massimo, drones are also prohibited in many parks in the U.S. including national parks and wilderness reserves.  Of course that doesn't stop some determined people from breaking the rules as I've seen from posted videos on other sites.