What are your best moments?

[African wildlife]

What have been your best ever moments flying a drone?

I'm expecting some interesting and even lovely stories here.

I've got four:

Our first ever takeoff and landing, where we rose no more than 1m/3ft in the air before coming straight down again. We'd begun! A simple moment I'll never forget.

The first early morning shoot for our first film, back at our reserve in South Africa. Straight up, looking straight down, above the cracked earth of a dry dam bathed in warm light. Lots of pre-planning was off to a satisfyingly good start.

Christmas Day, again close to sunrise, filming at one of our most spectacular mountain edge locations in perfectly still conditions. A few seconds of the footage is being used as the opening clip for the film. I was very nervous whilst flying, but delighted with the outcome.

Filming a herd of eland - always a shy species - early morning. Results matter, but everything also came together that we deliberately did to get to that position. Psychologists know this optimal experience as "flow".

 

[Neon Euc]

Nice story [emoji4][emoji4] my best was launching of the white cliffs of dover in the uk. Its about 200 metres high so I took advantage of it. As I was filming I went higher and with out intending too.... I went into the clouds... Well.... Be a shame to not take advantage of it. If I launched from the ground I wouldn't be able to hit the clouds. I thought I'm on holiday... Its a one off... Why not [emoji4]

 

[Meta4]

Being contacted by an advertising agency and told that their client likes one of my images .... a lot, gives a good buzz.
But my favourite moments are coming home and seeing what I've captured on the big screen and thinking .. Yes ... that's what I want.
Seeing something like this one I brought home yesterday makes me happy:

 

[Helihover]

Selling pics on Estys is cool, but this one takes the cake!

 

[Neon Euc]

Being contacted by an advertising agency and told that their client likes one of my images .... a lot, gives a good buzz.
But my favourite moments are coming home and seeing what I've captured on the big screen and thinking .. Yes ... that's what I want.
Seeing something like this one I brought home yesterday makes me happy:

Its funny you mentioned that, last year I went to fly my drone across the Thames and there was a cruise ship there. So I filmed and took pics. I been meaning to contact the company to see if they want to use it for promotion. I don't want to get paid for it as using my pic is more then enough. I might just do that today and let you know what Happens [emoji4]

 

[Meta4]

Its funny you mentioned that, last year I went to fly my drone across the Thames and there was a cruise ship there. So I filmed and took pics. I been meaning to contact the company to see if they want to use it for promotion. I don't want to get paid for it as using my pic is more then enough. I might just do that today and let you know what Happens [emoji4]

I know a lot of hobby photographers are so excited that someone would want to use their images that they give them away.
But II wouldn't recommend giving away images to be used for advertising.
Big companies are not charities and if your images are good enough to use for promotion you should value them and be paid for your work.

Last week I was contacted by the managing director of a shipping line, asking to use my photos and offering full credit.
I offered him a number of very good photos, but because I can't spend credit, I set a price (and not very expensive either).
He came back and said:

"I was afraid that you are a professional photographer.
Your photos are more than just "good", but, also honestly said, we have a sufficient number of photos showing our vessels and we will not going to buy additional ones."​

What a cheapskate !! What a scumbag.
He owns a shipping line with 17 container ships and is actively searching for people that will give away their images and exploit them.
And he can do it because there are people that get a buzz out of someone showing interest in their work.

 

[charlieb4]

Selling pics on Estys is cool, but this one takes the cake!

Hi,
Did u use waypoints? How u come about?

 

[African wildlife]

Well said, Meta4. Companies have money available. But they also know there’s an army of photography enthusiasts out there with cameras and now drones. Some professionals are being undermined in this way.

Neon Euc: I’d forgotten about being above the cloud. Another wonderful moment, in our case taking off at 1,721m/5,500ft above sea level then flying up to the maximum 500m to sneak above the fluffy stuff.

 

[Helihover]

Hi,
Did u use waypoints? How u come about?

That was all flown by hand. I just sat and waited with the P4 armed. When I heard the train horn I started flying towards it and got into position. I measured the first set of power lines, but got lucky on the 2nd set. It was a major rush to say the least which made for a very unique clip.

 

[African wildlife]

Helihover: Now you’re reading for filming wildlife. They also use tracks when moving from A to B, more than is commonly realised, albeit not the metal variety. But they also suddenly turn this way or that way, demanding lightning-fast reactions in the brain and on the remote controller. Trains have the advantage of being much bigger, therefore easier to see on a small screen.