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Lunchtime Photo

It's time to tell you the final chapter of my drone story.

The reason I got the drone is because height is the photographer's best friend. At ground level, the perspective is lousy and there are always things in the way: trees, buildings, power lines, and so forth. The best perspective, oddly, is often from freeways, but those are frustratingly off limits for obvious reasons.

All of that got me thinking about drones, but the thing that finally tipped me over the edge was the LA skyline. For some reason I got the idea lodged in my head that I wanted to take a picture of the LA skyline at sunrise from the west. The problem is that the Westside is almost entirely flat, so there's no place to get a good angle. Here's the best I was able to do:

September 21, 2021 — Los Angeles, California

But a drone would fix that! So I got my little drone and started taking pictures. It worked like a champ:

October 2, 2021 — Los Angeles, California

Unfortunately, I needed to kill some time after taking these pictures, so I went out to Caltech, where I decided to fly the drone around and take a movie. But I wasn't very good at this and ran it into a tree. After examining the damage it was obvious that the camera was completely wrecked and not fixable.

I got a replacement, and then I went out to Louisiana. I had practiced more with the drone, but not enough. I was out at a swamp and . . . I flew the drone into a tree. I couldn't even retrieve it this time to examine the damage. It was either stuck in a tree or else it had fallen into the swamp. It was gone forever.

This time I decided not to replace it. I had gotten most of what I wanted to experiment with from aerial photography, and if I ever decide to get more serious about it I'll buy a bigger, better drone with a higher quality camera. That probably won't be any time soon, though. For now I'm droneless.

9 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo

  1. painedumonde

    There will be plenty of 1st and 2nd generation military drones entering them civilian market soon. Or so I'm told.

  2. Disasterman

    2 pro tips…
    First. I believe you were using a mavic mini variation? With that drone I would suggest dji-care, for a modest fee they replace or repair lost or damaged drones. Its very reasonably priced.
    In addition its wise to use Litchi firmware (now available for mini) as it lets you preprogram routes and automate before flying complex shots.
    Second. Now that the mini is gone I would strongly suggest investigating the new sub 250 gram offerings from Autel.
    Us made, no nanny software disallowing take off and most importantly has an array of obstacle avoidance sensors in all the important vectors.
    Camera is way better than mavic too…

  3. dspcole

    In my Limited experience talking to friends who have bought drones, the novelty wears off pretty quick. The exception are those who use them in their businesses- landscapers, realtors, etc. Have you considered model rocketry?

  4. chris conger

    As it happens, I purchased a DJI Mini 2 last night. My first drone too, so I am certainly not in a position to offer seasoned advise. But here is some anyway:

    My survival plan is to go straight up, above obstacles - then fly around and take pictures at that same altitude (I am not interested in video). Then, when battery is low, or I am bored, fly over my launch point and come straight down. Anyhoo; I figure I cant go to wrong with that. Will see....

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