aerial photography

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.

Front Royal

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.

My View

I hope you’re able to get out there and enjoy the holiday weekend.  Our fireworks display in Winchester was tonight.  This was my first “official” shooting flight from my house and I’m diggin’ my view!  I wish I could have gotten just a little bit closer to the fireworks so they don’t come off looking so small, but I was already 1200 feet away from my launch site and at my max ceiling.  I suppose it’s not so bad because I didn’t have to leave my back yard.

My View

Before

This image makes me think about what it must have looked like before we came along.

Before

Commencement

You’d never finish anything if they keep calling it commencement.  Just a thought.

Congratulations to all graduates today – including my daughter!

Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

– Mark A. Cooper
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Normally you’d see all the parents gathered around taking their own pictures, but I wanted something different. It took me a while and it’s far from perfect. This was one of those projects where I did it just to see if I could.

Fireworks

I think I’ve discovered a new, fun way for shooting fireworks.  I was just going through my Apple Blossom images and stumbled upon this one – at first I thought it was no good, but I like it.

Fireworks

Parade

This was my 21st year of Apple Blossom Festivals.  I realize that’s still fewer than a lot of people, but when you want to shoot unique images, it starts to get difficult.  Every year I think to myself “self, there’s nothing new to shoot.  You’ve seen it.  Yep, that’s another fire truck.”  But this year I got to see a different vantage point.  Yep, you guessed it – here’s a bird’s-eye view of that same parade.

A fun new perspective on an annual event in Winchester, VA.

A fun new perspective on an annual event in Winchester, VA.

Low Light

Just out testing the low light capabilities of this aerial rig.  So far – I like it a lot (spoken in the best Lloyd Christmas voice possible).  I also had my first (and most likely NOT my last) encounter with law enforcement.  It was a really quick response (guess it makes sense if you look closely in the bottom left of the frame).  I hadn’t even depleted one battery yet.  It was a positive experience and I’m hoping that goes a long way in my efforts to represent this new technology.

The results of my late-night low-light endeavor. Well worth it all in my opinion.

The results of my late-night low-light endeavor. Well worth it all in my opinion.

Prep

I wanted to get some “before” images and the sunset was perfect today.  Can’t wait to really test out the low-light performance of this rig.  The video is gonna be off-the-chart awesome!

The beginning stages of set-up and prep for the carnival at this year's Apple Blossom Festival.

The beginning stages of set-up and prep for the carnival at this year’s Apple Blossom Festival.

First Question

“How far can you go with that thing?”

It’s inevitable – people want to know how far this thing goes.  And I was bitten by that bug when I first started using these aerial cameras last year.  My answer has shifted now and is more in line with being creative and practicing common sense and a lot of safety.  It’s no longer about how far it goes, but more about what kind of imagery can I get from it?  Where can I put it to shoot totally different perspectives?  How can I differentiate myself from every other photographer out there?

By the way, it goes pretty far!

I'm standing on the front steps of Handley. Line of sight becomes an issue this far out so I didn't go any farther (but I wanted to).

I’m standing on the front steps of Handley. Line of sight becomes an issue this far out so I didn’t go any farther (but I wanted to).

Free

I don’t know if it’s writer’s block or what, but sometimes I struggle with my posts.  Or even figuring out what to write.  I’m sitting here staring at this image and am coming up short.  Maybe I have nothing to say or maybe there’s too much to say.  All I know is that I truly enjoy finding new images to make.  There is an endless number of possibilities and I’m constantly drawn to this place.

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I love how art is so subjective. I see what I see. You see what you see. It’s all up to the viewer. | Order a print of this image.

Kite Fest

It was quite a day to fly a kite today.  Thought I’d check out the FCPRD Kite Festival today in Sherando Park.  A little nerve-wracking to fly it around all those kit strings!

The aerial camera is definitely a people magnet.

The aerial camera is definitely a people magnet.

Wicked

Gotta get back into shooting every day.  Slacker!  <— Spoken in the best Principal Strickland voice you can muster.

I haven’t been consistent with my shooting these days and since I’m pretty much back to normal here at Cedarmeade Studios, I’m making that my goal moving forward.  I may not post every day, but I’m going to shoot every day which will inevitably lead to posting more.  At least that’s what I’m hoping.

Is that the "something wicked" that's coming this way?

Is that the “something wicked” that’s coming this way? | Order a print of this image.

Heights

No, I’m not afraid of heights.  I’m terrified of the imminent probably of my death and/or dismemberment from the fall.

I want to say thank you to all the firefighters this weekend for making me feel welcomed to their training burn in Clarke County especially Chief Jason Burns who let me shoot all over the place.  I was so concerned about being in the way and, at every turn, there was somebody allowing me to be right in close to all the action.  They even fed me lunch!

I came away with some awesome images and footage for their recruiting video.  I produced a recruiting video 5 years ago and this one will be a complete refresh of that one (in the same style).

A big shout out to Zayna Elhady for allowing me to buzz her with the aerial camera and also letting me post the image here.

A big shout out to Zayna Elhady for allowing me to buzz her with the aerial camera and also for letting me post the image here.

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!

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).

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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.

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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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Order a print of this image.

 

Fly

So I get this upgraded “toy” – I call it a toy, but it’s not a toy (not at that price) – and the weather has not cooperated with me one bit yet. It’s sitting in its case begging to fly.

Frustrated.

“Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away.”

– Frank Sinatra

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Inspired

Just got the updated drone today.  Not really enough time to put it through its paces.  There’s an enormous library of learning videos they suggest I watch first.  It makes sense that I’d need a pilot’s license for this stuff!

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One of the first images from the DJI Inspire 1.

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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.

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