Will Burrard-Lucas is a professional wildlife photographer who took aerial footage of life in the Serengeti. His BettleCopter drone took to the skies and captured a variety of life that was beautifully captured. From the primal feeding instincts of a hyena to the group of hippos lazily spending their afternoon submerged in water, this video is worth a watch.
The drone itself that you see at the end of the video is a BeetleCopter. You can find out more information about it here:
http://www.camtraptions.com/copters/
The great thing about these copters is that they come in a few models depending on what camera you aim to use. One feature I found particularly interesting was the “GPS position hold and “return to home” failsafe function” in case you really mess up trying to fly one as well.
This footage is nothing short of amazing. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see more from Will as well as from BeetleCopter. It's pretty impressive to think this kind of footage is coming from a reasonably priced drone and a GoPro.
Friggin darn-net, now I want a drone. When does it end.
Fantastic! Great music accompanying the visual...
The footage is astonishing - so smooth and still. From a technical standpoint, I love it.
However, if you compare it to the stunning aerial footage that the BBC (and similar) have done that shares similar characteristics there's one major difference. The BBC use a helicopter mounted stabilised camera with a very long lens - the aircraft being far enough away that sometimes the animals aren't even aware or bothered by its presence.
This shot - whilst amazing (I don't want you to think I didn't enjoy it!) included closes fly-bys and near shots to wild animals. Drones are not quiet, and the animals were exhibiting behaviours as a response to the proximity of the drone. I can't help but feel that this is a) not very natural and b) could be somewhat distressing for the animals.
So, whilst it's impressive, it's not very considerate towards the wildlife. The hyena and the giraffe shot are the worst offenders here.
The only shot that really bothered me was the one of the hyena. The others (even the giraffe) seemed to just be going about their daily business.
Beautiful footage. However, the video a tad monotonous.
If I was John Barry I'd be pretty p1ssed with the music in the video. As a creative I would find it upsetting if someone so closely ripped my work off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWZ2adCaKo4
Everything the light touches is our kingdom.