Bridge in the Fog

[disjecta]

I went out with the P2V yesterday morning but chickened out on some things I wanted to shoot. Well, let's just say I was being cautious. Some places had too much people traffic, some there was wildlife, the fog was really thick and wet, blah blah. Oh well, not every outing produces results.

The picture below is as high as I got today. I really wanted to shoot from above this bridge and even fly through it in the fog but there were too many cars. Maybe next time.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Well its good to see your a considerate pilot. I have had a few trips where I didn't fly because I didn't like the conditions. I like the picture!

 

[osen007]

I went out with the P2V yesterday morning but chickened out on some things I wanted to shoot. Well, let's just say I was being cautious. Some places had too much people traffic, some there was wildlife, the fog was really thick and wet, blah blah. Oh well, not every outing produces results.

The picture below is as high as I got today. I really wanted to shoot from above this bridge and even fly through it in the fog but there were too many cars. Maybe next time.

You can get as high as you want in Colorado

 

[semaj]

Cool Pic...

 

[Pull_Up]

Lovely - the bridge looks like it's just hanging over emptiness.

 

[Klaus]

Yes great photo.

The diagonal composition really gives a great depth. Nice colors also.

 

[Migmon]

Cool pic where at?

 

[jimre]

Looks like the new Tolt Hill Road bridge near Carnation. Great picture!

 

[Drone-Outlaw]

I have a buddy I went to college with who has a daughter with a track meet locally. He wants me to video her events. Sounds like a good idea however I am cautiously nervous about flying over folks heads. Aside from a flyaway or some type of unforeseen technical malfunction, the liability seems to be the biggest factor for not doing it. I thought I might see if I could talk my way onto the center of the field and shoot it from directly over my head in a 360 recording keeping the fall out of sky threat on me only, I don't know? I guess I'm really trying to find a way I can do it & feel comfortable about it. I know that I had seen these things fly over the heads of folks at basketball games in the past without incident.

 

[jimre]

I have a buddy I went to college with who has a daughter with a track meet locally. He wants me to video her events. Sounds like a good idea however I am cautiously nervous about flying over folks heads. Aside from a flyaway or some type of unforeseen technical malfunction, the liability seems to be the biggest factor for not doing it. I thought I might see if I could talk my way onto the center of the field and shoot it from directly over my head in a 360 recording keeping the fall out of sky threat on me only, I don't know? I guess I'm really trying to find a way I can do it & feel comfortable about it. I know that I had seen these things fly over the heads of folks at basketball games in the past without incident.

Probably best to keep this video in mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocqB6_y71xE

 

[Scottrod]

Lol!! That sucks for that photographer! Probably didn't get paid on that job. I wouldn't worry about it. Worst case as long as your firmware is up to date is having the phantom run out of power and auto land in someone's way. They come down slowly. This particular video was probably a machine in the wrong mode or an old fly away video.

 

[osen007]

I have a buddy I went to college with who has a daughter with a track meet locally. He wants me to video her events. Sounds like a good idea however I am cautiously nervous about flying over folks heads. Aside from a flyaway or some type of unforeseen technical malfunction, the liability seems to be the biggest factor for not doing it. I thought I might see if I could talk my way onto the center of the field and shoot it from directly over my head in a 360 recording keeping the fall out of sky threat on me only, I don't know? I guess I'm really trying to find a way I can do it & feel comfortable about it. I know that I had seen these things fly over the heads of folks at basketball games in the past without incident.

Like this Idiot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocqB6_y71xE

 

[Pull_Up]

Ha! Definitely a perceived talent/actual talent mismatch without even going anywhere near the sense of operating that close to people...

Still, his video's gone viral and according to Socialblade he's making somewhere between $1k and $13.5k a year out of it - should be enough to buy some decent insurance for his next wedding project. :shock:

 

[dkatz42]

Indeed.

I think the UK rules posted elsewhere seem mostly sane. The fact is that these things are fast enough and heavy enough to injure or kill, and they're clearly not reliable enough to put over the heads of unsuspecting people, particularly crowds where the probability of hitting someone is pretty high if you get it going in the right direction. The fact that anyone with more money than sense can buy one and subject the public to it is scary, particularly as the money part of the equation gets cheaper.

Air shows, at least in the US, have rules requiring that the energy of the aircraft has to be away from the crowds (after the ghastly accident in Europe a decade or two back). A fighter jet will obviously do more damage than a quadcopter, but it's something to think about if you were going to shoot a track meet or whatever (working from the center of the field seems like a much better idea).

Some of the videos I've seen online give me the willies, like the guy who launches off a roof in San Francisco and loses his craft in the clouds; it eventually RTHs and comes back safe and sound. Took me five minutes to locate the building he launched from, and his face is on the video. First rule of being stupid is to try not to make it too easy to be caught (though this just illustrates that if you're stupid, you probably won't think that far ahead).

I've seen more than one video of someone proud to have launched their craft into Class E airspace in the US (typically the floor is 1200 AGL but is 700' or even at the surface near airports, where "near" can be 5NM or more) and in reality full-scale aircraft are often operating in Class G, closer to the ground. This aging pilot's eyes have enough trouble picking out Real Airplanes; the odds of seeing and avoiding a Phantom are roughly zero.

I've been playing with mine on 100 acres of private land in rural NM (well, it's pretty much *all* rural except for downtown Albuquerque and Santa Fe) and can't imagine using one in an urban area, or even a less dense residential area, as much fun as it is to cruise the neighborhood. But everyone's risk management is different. I'm used to being inside my flying machine, which tends to keep one focused on safety.

Buy yourself an umbrella liability policy if you're going to do this, and hope that you only hit inanimate things...

 

[Jre]

I would recommend flying the perimeter of crowds and not directly over top of people. There is also no need to fly fast like the idiot in the wedding video.

"Oh hey, I know what this romantic moment needs... a high speed, close-up action shot right above your heads!"

If you fly slow you can get some really nice crane-type shots. I shot a classic car show outside of a bar in Ft. Lauderdale this past Saturday night and was flying down the street that the bar was on. I was flying low, but high enough to stay out of reach from pedestrians and traffic. It's a small one way street and the cars that go down that road drive slow, probably 5-15 MPH, anyway (because of the diagonal meter parking on the left, and the cars parked by the sidewalk on the right). I was able to get very cool shots without putting any pedestrians or driving cars at risk.

I woudn't, however, fly directly over busy roads, main streets, highways, intersections, etc. or large crowds.

Edit: Also, it's probably best to flat out reject any requests to shoot weddings/wedding receptions. Lol.

 

[OI Photography]

I woudn't, however, fly directly over busy roads, main streets, highways, intersections, etc. or large crowds.

+1

Also, it's probably best to flat out reject any requests to shoot weddings/wedding receptions. Lol.

+1000 I avoid them at all cost, even before I had the Phantom