Aerial

In case you missed it, the GoPro Karma was recalled last year due to sudden loss of power which would cause the drone to crash mid-flight. Not a good thing for a first drone from any company, let alone GoPro. The re-release for the Karma drones fixed the issue by adding latches to keep the battery secure during flight, but were there any changes to the Karma drone to improve it?

The third annual New York City Drone Film Festival will be held on March 17–19, 2017. The Festival will consist of aerial cinematography seminars, beginner/intermediate/master classes, Day of Drones at the Liberty Science Center, drone expos, flight demonstrations, drone building programs, FPV racing, and last but not least, a red carpet event and film screening.

Tonight, you may have witnessed one of the greatest Super Bowl matches in history between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. For the first time, we saw two teams take the epic battle into overtime and ultimately watched the Patriots take their fifth championship. We witnessed yet another incredible performance from Lady Gaga, in which she used 300 drones to coordinate a light show behind her during the game. This is how it was done.

I just picked up my Inspire 2 Monday and couldn't be happier to have it. After working with a Phantom 3 Advanced and Professional for about a year and a half, this new drone makes all the difference in the world.

After a devastating drop in sales of nearly 40 percent, GoPro is back in the spotlight with a release of the previously recalled Karma Drone. Less than four months after the recall, the Karma is back on the market with limited shipments. This comes at a time where GoPro is attempted to challenge DJI, maker of the Phantom and Inspire.

YLE, a Finnish Broadcasting company, were on a mission to attract a younger audience. They needed to make a change to their strategy and get some new programs produced. They knew these shows had to tell stories that were going to speak to a younger audience. Stories that would captivate the senses - and get people excited about the outdoors, to travel and explore.

As most of us know, DJI came out with the Phantom 4 Pro a few months back and decided to add a few collision/infrared sensors to it along with putting a larger sensor inside of the actual camera itself with a mechanical shutter to allow for more control of the camera. After my buddy, Vin, got his Phantom 4 Pro, I realized this whole sensor size thing was no joke. I expected better quality when compared to the Phantom 3 Pro, but not this much. I decided to run a few tests comparing photos and video with the two drones going head to head.

Nope, I'm not kidding. If the plain white styling of your Phantom 4 just isn't fashionable enough, or if like me, you find it difficult to see it amongst the snow, you can now purchase a custom-made knit sweater to wrap your drone in.

The Inspire 2 came out a few months back and is a drone any aerial photographer would love to have because of it's portability, set up time, and overall quality compared to other high end drones on the market. I remember when this drone first came out and I was right by my computer to watch it be announced along with its little brother, the Phantom 4 Pro. I was blown away by the specs on the Inspire 2, however when both of these products came out, there was no video content to see aside from what DJI had produced because no one had access to these drones quite yet.

While nothing has been announced officially, multiple outlets including Fox Business and Luminous Landscape have reported that DJI has bought a majority share of Hasselblad. Although Hasselblad hasn't really been Hasselblad since 1996, the latest acquisition leaves many photographers scratching their heads. Why would the top drone company want to buy a camera company known now for its medium format, digital still image cameras? Aren't drones used for shooting video? Is DJI getting into the surveillance game? So many questions, so few answers.

This past weekend, I spent numerous hours with my partner looking through garden seed catalogs selecting and ordering what we wanted to grow this season. I wanted anything with "dragon" in the name. She wanted some unique looking poppies. We both wanted some cool looking "Black Tomatoes." But when I later Googled "black tomatoes," I found something else. I found that you can now pay someone to go on vacation with you and follow you around with a drone to document the trip. What?

With most of the gift giving now over with, some of us were lucky enough to receive a new drone over the holidays… or if you were like me, you gifted yourself one. With this being my first drone, I have not had to register a drone with the FAA before. It's actually a simple process that can be completed online.

Drones are a lot of fun, but they're made for fair weather. Winter weather is generally not the friendliest, but with a little thought and preparation, you can capture the beauty of winter landscapes from above.

After successfully shooting a GoPro HERO Session on an arrow, Niko (from Sam and Niko) wanted to launch the GoPro at a farther distance to portray an arrow flying over some distance in a battle. With the added weight from the GoPro, the arrow didn’t fly as far as it should of to give an accurate flight.

For about a year now I have been shooting with my DJI Phantom 3 and it has really been an eye opener for me. I have shot people, cars, landscapes, real estate, and so much more. Learning how to fly and shoot from an aerial perspective was probably the harder part of things, which is why I needed a place I could go to fly freely. Luckily, I went to school at Monmouth University in Long Branch, New Jersey which is only about a mile away from the beach.

My entire senior year of college, I would take my drone out in the morning, day or even dusk just...

The Nerdwriter is a Youtube channel run by a guy called Evan Puschak. He uploads great analysis video essays about movies, writers, and most recently, about one of the great vloggers of our time, Casey Neistat. Now although Casey finished his daily vlog, it’s still important to analyze and see how Casey as an editor of his vlog went about shooting, and most importantly, how he edited his vlogs to make it entertaining and fun to watch.

After initially refusing to allow Photojournalist Robert Levine permission to use a drone to document the events surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, the FAA has reversed their position, allowing him a three-day waiver.

As work slows down for me in the off season, I wonder where I can go to create something new. For me, traveling is an awesome thing, and being able to explore our world is really amazing. After watching some of these aerial videos on Vimeo, I am really interested in flying across the country with all my gear and creating the most memorable trip I have ever had. Even though this may not happen soon, there are plenty of places that are within driving distance that I myself can go explore. I am going to make these trips a more common thing not only for the sake of creating new content, but for the sake of seeing more of the beauty in nature.

There’s no denying the uprising of drone use in both photography and videography over recent years. Now, one company has created a pocket-sized device that coincides perfectly with usage on your smartphone: AirSelfie. Backed by a $3 million investment, the miniature drone will launch in March 2017.

New photos have emerged showcasing the lives of an uncontacted tribal community living in the Brazilian Amazon. The Yanomami Indians, who have taken residence near the Venezuelan border since 1992, are said to be a community of approximately 100 people. They were reportedly at risk of being wiped out in recent years by violent attacks carried out by illegal miners, who had been invading the land in search of gold. The release of these images reveal the tribe are now alive and well, even having increased their population, after concerns grew for the group following their decision to live in total isolation.

We have all heard about drones being used to spy on people. Which is extremely difficult, as most drones don't even have a zoom lens;,unless we invest the money into a drone that can use different lenses or one with a larger resolution to crop the image. After hearing about the GoPro Karma failing to fly, and the awesome new announcements by DJI, this has nothing to do with any type of drone news aside from a little humor.

It's been a few years now since DJI has come out with a new drone for high end filming. Today is the day they released the Inspire 2, a newer, much better version of the Inspire 1, has taken people by shock. The Inspire 2 has a sleek build with tons of added features, and also a new camera with some amazing quality and lens choices.

If you haven't heard yet, the new GoPro Karma drones have officially been recalled due to sudden lost of power while in flight. This isn’t very good news for GoPro.

A photo series to me was always just another project in school; whether it was for my digital photography class or film photography class, there was always something that had to be done in a series. Being done with school and not having any projects assigned eliminated the need to think about creating a series of work, but now I realize that a series of photos can be a pretty cool personal project. So one year out of college, I challenged myself to start working on a personal aerial series. This time there was no project that needed to be done, no deadline, no rules, I was free to do whatever I wanted to do. The only hard part was actually doing it, but I do believe that this is something that can help any photographer out.

When GoPro first announced the new Karma drone, many of us were excited and had high hopes for this new drone. Right after that, DJI announced their compact Mavic Pro drone, creating even more hype and confusion for those who were interested in buying a drone, myself included. Which one should I get?

It's always fun to track how various Fstoppers writers grow in their career and undertake new challenges. Mike Kelley has been one of my favorites to watch with the success of his first and second architectural photography tutorials, as well as his expanding aerial photography work. He successfully created and promoted a book featuring his aerial work of Los Angeles. Now, Mike is helping to judge a new aerial photography contest being put on by SkyPixel. If you'd like to participate, check out the details below.

I recently earned my Remote Pilot Certification, which allows me to fly a small UAS (drone) for paid photo and video work in the USA, under the FAA’s Part 107 rule. With no background in aviation, passing the test was no easy feat for me. If you’re considering taking the test yourself, read about my experiences to make sure you’re well prepared.

While there are many insurance companies that are out there for photographers and drone pilots, Verifly is the first drone liability insurance company that protects pilots and allows them to pay on demand. I recently interviewed Verifly CEO Jay Bregman to find out more about his new company and what they are doing to help drone pilots all around the country. One of the first things you will see about Verifly is that they cover up to $1,000,000 in liability within a flight radius of a quarter of a mile with any drone under 15 pounds. All operators have to do is select their area, after which they are instantly approved and provided with on-the-spot insurance to fly and proof of coverage to show to anyone who needs to see it.

Bad news for drone owners in Sweden! The country has now effectively ban camera drones in its airspace. And if you thought you could bring your drone on your next trip to Sweden, well you better think twice unless you’ve got a permit.

Along with drone technology and the advancement of user-modified drones, another thing that has also been evolving is LED technology and the way people use it. In this four-minute video, you will see a good example of the combination of these two technologies, as Stratus Productions mounted a 1000-watt LED light to a Freefly Systems Alta 8 drone.

Affectionately known as the Land of Fire and Ice, Iceland has become a widely popular photography hotspot. It seems like everywhere you turn, there are photographers and videographers talking, fantasizing, planning, and shooting all things Iceland. But what's with all the fuss? For those who have yet to pack their photo gear and travel to the island, the recently released short film, "Ice and Fire," shows what you are missing and continues to kindle Iceland's "photo rush."

I've been shooting real estate for about two years now. Today, I am shooting for my company, Simply Visual Productions, and another company, Jump Visual, which has been around for many years, and because of them, I have learned so much about working in this field. I have shot hundreds of homes and met many new people and worked with them to create photos that sell a home or space. I think it is funny that I do this because when someone thinks photography, I feel like real estate photography is the last thing they would think of. Aside from the photography aspect, I see aerial and video becoming more and more popular, which is one reason I have such an interest in it.

With the new reviews of the DJI Mavic Pro, there’s been one popular concern from many of us: the quality wasn’t quite 100 percent and looked a bit blurry, especially when compared with other drones. Then we shared the 4K comparison with the Phantom 4, and even though the camera specs are very close between the two, it was apparent that the Mavic quality was not quite there. The Phantom 4 was the clear winner here, but the size still made the Mavic a viable contender for many of us who would compromise portability over quality and sharpness.

DJI recently announced the new Mavic drone which appeared to be the greatest aerial product ever created. It's extremely portable with all of the incredible features of the Phantom 4. Today though my dreams have been shattered because the footage out of the Mavic looks pretty bad, especially when you compare it to the P4. Update: Wait! There is still hope!