As I continue to dwell about upgrading my drone and having more creative freedom and quality with the Zenmuse X5 and choice of lenses, I am stuck thinking about all the content that I could be out creating with these amazing tools.
Score one for the good guys. When they realized their boat was being stolen, two Washington teenagers handled it in the coolest way possible: they called the cops, then they put their drone in the air and chased down the thieves, guiding police to their position and capturing video evidence in the process.
If you are a member of the United States and you own a drone, you know that some rules were made. Thankfully these rules didn’t kill us, they didn’t stop us from flying for commercial use, but they did give us a reasonable way to deal with drones in all kinds of different situations.
Canon Master Krystle Wright had a pretty neat idea: shooting a kayaker cresting a 60-foot waterfall at night. With some ingenuity, she got her shot.
Drones and airplanes generally don't mix, but if you're one of the airlines, you get a special pass. Airbus is replacing a time-consuming and difficult process with drones, and the results are quite neat.
There have been many times I've wished for a zoom lens on my drone, simply because it wasn't reasonable to fly closer to something to get the shot, whether that was because of airspace, people, or some other reason. DJI has now made that possible with the release of the Zenmuse Z3.
I really thought I was the cool kid on the block with my DJI Phantom 4; then DJI got together with Hasselblad to make this 50-megapixel, medium format monster. I'm no longer the cool kid on the block.
As I’m sure you’ve heard or seen if you’re at all active on Social Media, there’s a new craze sweeping across America and several other countries. For many it reaches as far back as elementary school, and for some it’s new territory. You guessed it, Pokemon Go has arrived and it’s apparently changing some people’s lives as well as the way people are interacting with each other.
It's a federal offense to shoot any aircraft, including a drone, which the FAA has made abundantly clear. Nonetheless, Toby Harriman experienced just that this past July 4th, when his drone was shot out of the sky in Aspen, Colorado.
This is by far one of the most gorgeous drone videos I've ever seen. Shot in California by Adam Rubin of Kaveret, its elegance and narrative beauty make it stand far above the crowded playing field.
From the majestic remote landscape of the Lofoten Islands comes this impressive aerial video created by Theo Gove-Humphries. Having just purchased a brand new DJI Phantom 4, he didn’t waste any time putting it to good use in a week-long outdoor excursion across the Islands in June 2016. There were several challenges that were faced in the filming of this project, and after you enjoy the video, Gove-Humphries shares with Fstoppers what he learned through it all.
I have way too much fun with my drone. And while it's great for landscape shots, I wanted to try something a bit different, so I put a call out for musicians, told them to lay on the ground, and put a camera in the air. However, using a drone to take portraits is far different from having your camera at eye level.
In case you missed it, recently, The Mill introduced The Blackbird, a remarkable piece of technology that can morph into almost any vehicle you desire in post. Not to be outdone, Blackburrow Creative has made the Millbird, an aerial version of the device, which promises "phenomenally average" results. The demonstration video is phenomenally funny.
The DJI Geospatial Environment Online (GEO) is the company's built-in system for helping drone operators abide by airspace rules and regulations. Today, DJI has released a major update for the system that should go a long way in augmenting responsible flying and preventing incidents.
I have to admit that this isn't something I had envisioned doing with a drone, but boy, is it neat. DroneDeploy allows you to autonomously create 3D models of buildings and terrain as well as 2D analyses, and the best part is that it's free.
Bummed about the end of season six of "Game of Thrones"? This will help. "Fairytale Castles" takes you on an aerial tour of some of Europe's majestic real-life castles and the stunning scenery that surrounds them.
If you're one of those people who hates drones, or you simply just enjoy watching things being destroyed, this is the video for you. Putting a piñata on a drone ends exactly as you'd expect it to, but before the inevitable destruction, it's quite a funny game of cat and mouse.
Unfortunately, it seems it has finally happened: a drone has fallen from the sky and caused serious harm to an individual. A Quebec woman required an ambulance ride after being struck by a drone whose operator had been previously warned for his reckless flying.
Today brings great news for commercial drone operators. The FAA has finalized the Part 107 rules, which bring with them relaxed requirements. Experts estimate the new rules could generate $82 billion and 100,000 jobs for the U.S. economy in the next 10 years.
The media has done a great job of scaring the public of personal drones. Everyone believes that these flying toys are either spying on them while they shower or falling from the sky onto children's heads. Certainly remote control drones, like anything, have some level of danger, but things seem to be getting out of hand.
South Africa's racial segregation laws and policies of the apartheid era may have ended 22 years ago, but the lingering effects of the forced separation of whites and blacks is getting another look through a photography project called "Unequal Scenes." It is the brainchild of American Photographer Johnny Miller, who now lives in Cape Town. What started as a post on his Facebook page, has morphed into a national and international dialog.
I've had a few months to play with the Phantom 4. I can say with certainty that it is better than the Phantom 3 in almost every way but it costs a good bit more and the Phantom 3 is still one of the greatest drones on the market today, especially at these incredibly low prices.
I love my DJI Phantom 4. I've gotten some great shots that I could have only dreamed of before. And yet, a recent experience left me angry and surprised.
If you’re interested in drone photography and video, I’ve compiled a list of people and sites you need to go to for inspiration, tips, tutorials, and insight. Aerial photography has changed with the drone. When you put costs aside, the other advantages of flying a drone vs a helicopter are that it can get closer to the subject, it doesn't create the ripples in water as much, it doesn’t cause a wind force blowing out the leaves of trees and plants, and it can make for some great shots through mountain gorges that helicopters simply can’t fit through.
Drones continue to be polarizing: many photographers are embracing them for the way they enable new creative opportunities at relatively affordable prices, while some are bemoaning them as a danger, particularly to air traffic. Three British companies worked together to develop the Anti-UAV Defence System (Auds), which will soon be deployed for testing by the FAA and two U.S. companies.
I'm not prone to hyperbole, so when I say "this is amazing," I mean it. We all know there are some brilliant filmmakers out there, and when they push a new technology to its limits, the results are remarkable. Check out this montage of some of the best of the past year.
A first-person view (FPV) drone operator recently crashed his drone in a park where he had permission to fly. While the drone landed at least dozens of yards away from the nearest person, a woman walked the distance with her dog, picked up the drone, tucked it under her shirt, and walked away. The GoPro attached to the drone continued to record the entire incident, including the aggressive verbal language and possibly multiple 911 calls she made as she became rather hysterical and the situation got out of hand.
One of my favorite things to do is fly my drone around Indonesia and share photos and videos of my country's natural beauty. When I flew my first DJI Phantom back in 2013, I realized the incredible opportunity drones gave to capture that beauty from a unique perspective. Since then, I've upgraded to the DJI Phantom 3 and DJI Inspire 1 for all my aerial work; specifically, I focus on creating aerial panoramas and 360-degree panoramas. Today, I want to share some tips on how you can create your own 360-degree aerial photo and upload it to SkyPixel for their Aerial Panorama Contest for your chance to win a DJI Phantom 4.
Two weeks ago, SkyPixel teamed up with DJI and launched an aerial photography contest that could win you a brand new DJI Phantom 4 and a Huawei P9 Plus smartphone, along with several other big prizes. Contestants have been invited to submit their best 360-degree aerial photos to the world's largest aerial photography community before noon on June 20, 2016. The submissions have been pouring in, but the best image has yet to be chosen. If you would like to join the fray and take home a brand new drone, check out the details below.
Flying a drone indoors is always a challenge. You have to remain absolutely calm and collected, and generally, I highly recommend not flying a drone indoors, especially if you're new to them in general. That's also the warning that Filmmakers Guillaume Juin and Joris Favraud give anyone wanting to recreate this feat. They are a pair of rather brazen drone operators if I've ever seen any, coming together to form their company BigFly. Normally, the risk of flying a drone inside of a structure is already high, but usually, the highest risk is to the safety of your equipment, as the ease with which your drone could come into contact with any number of disastrous endings is increased exponentially.
Drones continue to explode in popularity. The small flying cameras have suddenly enabled thousands to get shots that only a few years back would have required a very expensive helicopter rental. If you're one of many photographers who now own one, there's a market you should look into.
The guys over at Cooridor-Digital just released this sweet video using a combination of drones and visual effects to create an awesome dogfight between an X-wing Starfighter and several TIE Fighters. Drones + Star Wars = Nerd Love.
Take three minutes, open this video full screen, and enjoy the beauty. "Aotearoa - New Zealand" is a stunning tour of a country chock full of natural wonders.
Tsavo, a region in Kenya, contains the world's largest elephant population, and thus, it is a prime target both for poachers and conservationists. Nonetheless, policing the 8,150-square-mile area is a daunting task. With some clever math and the help of drones, though, Penn State University researchers are helping to make that task much easier.
Controlled burns are crucial to conservation efforts, but setting them can be dangerous to firefighters. In fact, five have lost their lives in the past eleven years during such efforts. A team from the Nebraska Intelligent Mobile Unmanned Systems (NIMBUS) Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is seeking to make the job safer by removing humans from the equation.
One of the biggest concerns about drones is their usage around airports. Several recent close calls have left the government scrambling to continue to catch up to the quickly evolving capabilities and usages of the flying cameras. The FAA is now testing a new system for detecting unauthorized drones near airports.
I always watch aerial videos; there's just something about them that really stands out to me, so my bad for another aerial video. In this video, "Perspective," we see nature in a very different way. Drones are tools that give us the freedom to film and photograph from the air. These tools allow us to change our perspective and create imagery that is new to our eye. In this video, Jay really captured some content that we don't get the opportunity to see. He does a great job controlling the camera, panning, flying and shooting in a unique way.
Despite the explosion of interest in drones with cameras, one place you're not likely to see them used in the near future is commercial television newsrooms. A just released annual survey by the Radio Television Digital News Association and Hoftsra University reveals most stations have not used drones with cameras and don't plan on using them. Why you ask? That makes no sense. From a photographer or producer or reporter's perspective, it doesn't. These Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), as the FAA refers to them, are far cheaper than a news helicopter to acquire and operate and can get closer to the action.
Hong Kong is one of the largest cities in the world, so capturing it in a way that does it justice is no small task. Filmmaker Brandon Li has accomplished that, however, by creating a fast-paced feast for the eyes that keeps the viewer on their toes and illuminates many of the unique facets of the City of Life.
I was recently commissioned to photograph fields of Rooibos Tea (a healthy tea with no caffeine and great antioxidants found in South Africa) so the farmer could document his potential yield. He also wanted details, as in what side of the tea field to start planting so he could plan the sowing schedule for the next five years. The idea is to not sow on the same soil, so new rows of tea plants need to be formed in five years. Tea likes fresh, new soil.
One of the biggest drawbacks of drones is their relatively short battery life. It's a difficult problem: bigger batteries provide power for longer, but they also weigh more. A team at Stanford is seeking to completely bypass that problem with a novel approach.
Drone Videos are slowly becoming more and more popular as the drone market seems to endlessly expand. Consumer drones now seem like one of the most popular items for people to buy for themselves or as gifts for others. I walk around and see “drones” in 7/11’s and other random stores with the advertising “HD Video.” These tools are becoming so popular that almost anybody can get one and start flying around.
The relationship between those who fly drones and those who don't has sometimes been a rocky road to equilibration, as these flying cameras often find new ways to annoy, confound, and anger the general public. On the same token, the general public continues to find new ways to express said disdain when confronted with a perceived intrusion. Apparently, medieval spears are now a method of that.
The news is filled with stories about people who use drones in ways that endanger lives. It wasn't long ago that drones kept firefighters from fighting life-threatening blazes in California. But firefighters battling an Alberta firestorm that could prove Canada's "costliest natural disaster," according to Business Insider, are looking to drones to help answer the question of how it started — something that is still unknown for this fire that is estimated to take months to extinguish.
I recently came across this video by Christoph Galep and was very impressed by the editing thereof. The transitions between shots and the slowing down and speeding up of the time-lapse provided a good energy to the video, something a simple cut edit isn’t able to do.
DJI turned some heads last month when they unleashed their latest version of their Phantom series, the Phantom 4. The Phantom 4 has become a breakthrough drone with its new high-end features at a consumer price. Not only does it fit a consumer budget, but it also is an easy and safe drone to fly for beginners. How do I know this? This is the first drone I have ever flown, and we put it to the test.
"Hey, I just got this sick Phantom drone, dudes!" Everyone gathers around in awe. "Hold my beer; we're going fishing." This is how I imagine the conversation went down for this ingenious video of fishing for longtail tuna with a drone.
This little flying camera packs a punch. Weighing in at less than 250 grams (half a pound), the Hover Camera is a drone that you don't have to register with the FAA. It folds up, so it's super portable, and with the ability to film in 4K and auto-follow, you'll want to keep your eye on this one.
Tim Sessler of Brooklyn Aerials and Brandon Bray of Decade have teamed up to create a dizzying drone video. Using extreme rolls and the "Vertigo" effect they have successfully created footage of New York City unlike anything we have seen before. In a video titled "Balance" they hope to explore the feeling of imbalance that is more in tune with the real world rather than the perfectionist and steady footage we usually see. Queesy stomachs beware!
This past Sunday, there was a report out of the United Kingdom from police that a British Airways aircraft collided with what was believed to be a drone. After investigations were initiated, the believed drone actually may have been a plastic bag.
