I don’t think I’ve shared this. I remember posting an image of this incident, but never the full video. If you pay close attention at about 45 seconds you can see the quad level out (it’s so very subtle) and that was my fatal mistake because it didn’t clear the hill and I still had legal room to climb. Once the forest starts to appear in the shot it’s not long before it happens, but I end this video before that point. It won’t take much imagination to figure out what happens next. A shout-out to my brother and son for heading off after it. After all that, I still got the shot!
Landscape
Space Coast
Alright, so here’s the obligatory Spring Break photo…
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Underwhelmed
Did you ever purchase something based on the hype and the credibility of person pushing it? I just did and so far I’m underwhelmed with the results. I’m not giving up, I’m just saying it just may not be worth all the hype just yet – or at least, I’m not seeing it.
Meh. It’s a decent photo, but not much different than what I’ve already been doing with the software I already had.
Folgers
Waking up early is no big thing when you know it’s gonna look like this. It doesn’t matter what brand of coffee you drink, I still think this is the best part of waking up.
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NSV
That would be the Northern Shenandoah Valley. I’d love to come up here and shoot aerial during the sunset, but there are too many people and I don’t want to disrupt their experience with the noise. I don’t want to be “that guy.”
Just some much-needed alone time at Bears Den in Bluemont, VA. Awesome place.
Statistic
Let’s lead with this…
Just 8 frames later was how quickly I lost the camera.
I now join the ever-increasing number of UAV pilots who’ve crashed their aircraft. I should make it clear that it was 100% pilot error. Luckily it did NOT involve any other people, buildings, or vehicles (including aircraft). I can tell you that it had everything to do with me being rushed in the moment trying to capture the perfect lighting on an incredibly cinematic scene. And guess what, I got the shot! I suppose that’s the photographer’s mantra (after “ƒ8 and be there”).
Long story short (here goes) reception officially starts at 7pm:
- Took a little longer with the bridal party that I had anticipated (family waiting for pictures at ceremony site). 6:45
- Arrive, sprinting, to waiting family. Have to set up aerial platform fast to capture that fading, but awesome, sunset. 6:50
- Finish setting it up and ready to fly. Guests now waiting for dinner. 6:55
- Line up shot and start flight.
- I continue flight to get more landscape while, at the same time, I begin lining up family shots. 7:05
- Last image I see in the display is tree branches
- Still have formal family photos to get (including me).
- I kinda don’t remember the next hour or two…
My brother and son immediately volunteered to go after it. We all put our heads together (and our smart phones) to determine its last known position and they went after it. It was about a kilometer from its ground station and 30 feet up in the tree! I just didn’t have the altitude to clear the terrain, but it was so close.
Just look at my face – that expression says it all!
This is about 10 minutes after the incident. Yeah, still not at the reception…
Travel
So it’s time to start traveling with the aerial rig. I’m starting to think that my galleries are getting a little saturated with Winchester images (makes sense, right?). Anyway, I know this isn’t very far from me, but it’s a start. I recently shot some aerial footage for the town of Front Royal and, as always, I grabbed some stills while I was up there. Gonna see if I can snag a Disney panorama while we’re in Florida this year.
It’s been a while since I’ve “framed” one of my images, but this one fits the bill. My goal is to do this up and down the valley with as many towns as possible…a little local traveling. | Order a print of this image.
Collection
How did we get so much stuff?! Where does it all come from?! I’ve been a little distracted lately as we move into a new home and deal with the enormous collection of stuff we’ve managed to cram into our house! I had to take a break from the move recently and get back into shooting. The new office space is coming together quite nicely though. Perhaps I’ll share some images soon.
Our new back yard.
Remember
I spent the last three mornings scouting out a shot I’ve wanted to get for some time. The flag was incredibly uncooperative the first day I arrived, which really ticked me off because I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn! I wasn’t initially going to go out again today because I thought I’d see the exact same thing. It’s typically not been very windy in the morning lately, but today I got the shot. Man, did I get the shot. If you’re into shooting sunrises, hitting the snooze button is not an option!
“Remember those who served. All gave some, some gave all.”
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Waking Up
Every morning I sit at my desk and watch the sun rise from inside. It looks awesome, but today I wanted to do it properly. I also have to do some night shooting with the Inspire 1 to test its low-light capabilities. I’m thinking it’s going to impress.
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Pi Day
Did you have your pie today, we did. Blueberry – YUM!
The image has nothing to do with Pi Day – just thought the sky was awesome tonight. This is directly opposite the actual sunset! Order a print of this image.
I’m High
I know my pilot friends are gonna hate me, but I just wanted to test the limits. The whole flight took less than a couple of minutes. The Inspire 1 has incredible propulsion and it descends almost as fast. I was nervous the entire time (for what it’s worth).
Angle of View
My depth perception is always a little off when I’m flying this thing. Since it’s a pretty wide-angle lens, it’s really difficult to gauge where exactly I am in z-space. But it makes for some really cool angles and images when I can figure it out.
The iconic cupola at Handley High School
Daylight
Looking forward to the longer days! Yippee, we made it through the dark days of Winter!
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Delay
Due to extreme temperatures and weather conditions, Spring will be operating on a 2-month delay.
I’m giving up Winter for Lent. Who’s with me?!
Capturing The Cover
I’m always curious about what the scene really looks like in photographer’s scenes. Just going through some of my images as I prepare my year-long contract with Getty Images and I came across this one. This is the setup I had for capturing the cover image for Winchester City’s annual calendar.
Capturing the cover
From The Top
A view I grew up with near Harrisonburg – Reddish Knob. Road this mountain many times. By the way, hope you enjoy the new look.
Perspective
I know I used that blog title before, but hear me out.
I had a shoot at an undeveloped site today and got pretty excited that I found a place that was big enough to really test the range of the aerial camera. At one point I determined that I was about 1600 feet away from my launch point. Pretty cool and I was having a blast (getting some great footage, too).
Tonight I saw the movie American Sniper, which really makes you think about things differently. Anyway, if you follow the road in the upper middle of the frame (it starts with a left-hand bend) away from the camera to where the open field ends and the forest begins, that’s about the 1,600 feet. That’s still 4,700 feet short of the longest shot from Chris Kyle, the featured soldier in American Sniper!
Perspective.
Really?
I’ve looked forward to flying this thing while it snowed. Now that I have – meh…
I got the call that the city schools were called off so I got excited that it might make for some great images. Schools were cancelled because of this!?
This is as bad as it got today.
Challenge
I’m committing to competing in the Challenge Williamsburg this Summer. I took an entire year off of racing and am itching to get back “in the saddle” so to speak. I think I might be done (won’t really say “never”) with pure bicycle racing for now, but need/want to stay fit. I think this is how I’ll do it. I was looking over the course maps and sure enough, this is where it starts!
Jamestown Beach Park near Williamsburg, VA
Cedarmeade Studios 