Filming for 'Sail the Daedalus'

So many of the photography things that I do are overly covered by NDA.  Lawyers pour over the legal crap in the contract and in the end, I turn over raw video or photos that are owned exclusively by the contracting party.   I don't get to talk about the details, I don't get the advertise that I do work for "XYZ Corp".   

But, I do get paid for it.    I call these type gigs photography booty-calls. They aren't ideal but hey, the gear doesn't pay for itself so I'm not opposed to these arrangements when equitable.

By contrast, shooting for local companies is usually orders of magnitude easier and more enjoyable.  We agree on the particulars, meet up and do a set of shoots.   Mostly all governed by a handshake.    I like that.    In these sorts of arrangements, I'm usually not under a non-disclosure and usually retain the rights of the raw materials from the shoot, though I'm generous with it putting no limitations on the customer's usage of said material. 

More relationship, than booty call. :)

Over the weekend I shot some video for a local Sail charter that happens to be a friend of mine. We had a great time!  I will say this, though.  Drone photography of sailboats is hard.    I've done some offshore work and it is considerably easier if you can shut off a motor and just land back on a mostly stationary deck or nearby platform.

For a sailboat, though, the challenge is that you are flying a 2ftx2ft quadcopter with spinning blades capable of severing bone, rigging or sails.   You have to land it on a 5ftx5ft moving platform that is often heeled to one side, moving as quickly as 9 mph.    If they stop the boat, you have a sail in the landing zone.  If they keep the boat moving, you have a moving target.

I tried it both ways.  Some, filming from the boat and landing back there and others filming from the marina.   Filming from the marina was considerably easier but from the boat was easier to coordinate shots.  The Inspire 1 *can* be caught but I recommend a Falconer's glove for safety if you choose to do this and honestly the onboard flight controller isn't thrilled with being plucked out of the sky.

All in all, I was thrilled with the Inspire 1's performance in 5-12 mph winds, over water.  The resulting 4k video was incredible.   Unfortunately my Final Cut installation is acting up so we are having to settle with the 1080p version for now but the results are still decent, I thought.

Speaking of Somewhere Warm..

From Tiki Huts to Jetskis, we have a little something for everyone on our epic, white sandy beaches.   We are really fortunate to live in such a gorgeous place...

Find Somewhere Warm

I enjoy talking to the Bartenders and other folks that work on the Islands in the Bahamas.  Their choice of lifestyle is quite interesting.  I guess because it is such a contrast from the office florescent and computer time that many of us call a work day.

Every day a new blur of tourists both young and old pass by their station.   They make drinks and small talk, share some island flavor and get some mainland gossip.

On the day this was taken, the Tiki bar closest this chair was run by a fellow named Antwon, he was from Jamaica.   He stood, cleaning glasses and singing to the Radio in enthusiastic ways.    

He had worked for the company, on this Island for 2 years.   His current contract was coming to an end in just a few days and he was lit up with excitement on the prospect of going home for awhile and seeing his girl.

The Walk to Conclusions

Are you a skeptic?   A Cynic?  How about an idealist?

It is often funny to me how blindly people will follow something that is stated as truth, so long as it is said forcefully.    

A contract developer at a certain furniture company once told me, "You don't have to know what you are talking about, you just need to project confidence with the BS you sling."

Sometimes, working in the evenings or while on the treadmill, I look for non-musical noise in order to fill the silence.   The noise keeps one part of my brain busy while the other parts try to work out problems and do technical things.  Usually, the Netflix Documentaries section are my noise of choice.

This weekend that noise came in the form of a particularly troubling set of documentaries that just didn't fact-check out very well.   I won't mention the name because it really doesn't matter but they were basically manifestos for social anarchy in the sheep's clothing of a humanist / technocratic social movement.  

I will distill the lesson down to this...

Trust.   Then Verify.   :)

Marina Bug

Movement and Shadows at Dusk

There is an alligator to the right center area of the pier.   Really.

Isn't it funny how words change over time?   The word Drone, for instance.  A decade ago, before Drones became the military's seemingly go-to gadget for raining death from the skies in foreign theaters of war and before drones were known as hobbyist gadgets, and photography tools or delivery gimmicks, they were worker bees in the hive.

Something you probably didn't pay much attention to in Natural Sciences because the word, Drone, used to be synonymous w/ the word boring.  

"My date just kept droning on about his job and..."

Today, (some) folks find them interesting.   Even on Big Bang Theory last night, while I was taking this photo, the sitcom poked fun at a wayward DJI Phantom, gone awry from the characters' need to tinker with the internals instead of following the calibration steps accurately.

For the camera drone / quad copter enthusiast, these becoming popular can be both good and bad.  On the good side, popular things are harder to out-law or regulate.  

On the bad side of things, I'm finding it harder to shoot landscapes with one without drawing a crowd of interested onlookers with questions about their capabilities.

Stellar Nursery

Here in the Orion Nebula, countless newborn stars are soaking up the surrounding clouds of gas and debris to become grown-up stars that may one day coalesce solar systems like ours.

Speaking of stars, today marks the beginning of my 36th trip around our own star.   I don't know, 36 years ago, if my own nursery was stellar or not but I do know my parents were stellar people, just trying to do what they thought was best in their own Journey around the sun.   It wasn't perfect but I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything. 

During the good-times you learn trust and experience Joy.  During the bad stuff you gain independence and build mental strength. 

Kinda like the elementary particles colliding in the cosmic crucible pictured here. :)

Space is freaking awesome.

Summer Blooms, in Spring

The Hibiscus Plants in the back yard had some pretty great colors for Easter Weekend.  Normally we don't see these sorts of blooms until summer!

The Lighthouse at Nassau

The view looking back on Nassau, once you are full from seafood, sun and Rum Cakes and headed back to the States.. :)

Handheld Moon Exercises - Learning to Play by Feel

One of the things that I recommend to folks who ask me for photography advice is to 'know your camera.'  

While I feel that menu navigation and feature control are important, I feel it is much more important to learn a 'natural feel' of how the camera operates.

Think of how a skilled musician is with their instrument.   The guitar player can feel the fret position without looking at the neck, he or she 'feels' how the tone will travel across the pickups based on where the strings are strummed.

When I hear photographers debating shutter speeds and f/strops for a given situation, my eyes roll.

It isn't that these things aren't important - they certainly are but they shouldn't be intimidating obstacles to the new photographer, though they often are.

There is a little exercise I developed for myself a couple years back, meant to improve camera handling and control.   It goes like this:

On a night with an interesting moon (scattered, moving light cloud - cover preferred because it changes the metering situation)- start by propping yourself against something steady.

A tree, a house, whatever -- the goal here is just to limit the natural body swaying position of standing.   By anchoring yourself to something solid, you can turn yourself into a bi-pod of sorts.  Useful when out without a tripod and the need to capture something that would usually call for one. 

Using Manual Focus most modern cameras have a feature for Manual-Focus assist that will show a 1:1 pixel peak of your object while manually focusing on an object.   This is pretty crucial.

Start with highish ISOs, using a long telephoto, start shooting the moon. I started in Aperture Priority but your mileage may vary..  Adjust down your f-stop (the lower number which is larger aperture) and start to walk down your ISO between shots, continuing to manually focus, shoot, adjust..   Listen to the shutter.  Develop a 'feel' for the shutter times the camera metered based on the light situation, your aperture, your ISO.
Sensor size, sensor capability, lens aperture all will vary this feel from camera to camera.

As your ISO drops into the less sensitive ranges, the difficulty of the shot will increase.   Continuing to work on manual focus and keeping your hands steady, you will be forced to work on your breathing.   Just like shooting a rifle, your breathing is essential for steady shutter clicks at these long tele / low ISO shots.    You may want to exhale during the shutter press, you may want to hold your breath during the shutter press - different strokes for different folks..

Once you get a feel for the shutter speeds, jump on over to manual mode and keep going, anchoring to a large aperture and tweaking the shutter speed to the get the right exposure.   Don't settle necessarily for the right exposure according to your camera viewfinder's meter but the right exposure according to your brain and eye.  What 'feels' right?   Shoot that.

..Anyway, this may be 'hoo-doo' but for me I found it to be a useful exercise to acquaint myself with the light collection capability of a new camera, not to mention the natural proficiency of the menus and dials that you will gain along the way..

So, this isn't my best moon shot ever but experimenting with the FE 24-240mm, I propped myself against the house exterior and started shooting the moon hand held, trying to find the right balance of shutter speed, manual focus and ISO for this reasonably slow f6.3 lens at distance.   

The result is 'okay' but I do think the exercise itself is worthwhile and wanted to share it with you!   

Happy shooting..

Aerial Colors at Dusk

That sinking feeling, as a landscape photographer that you get when you peer into the sky and see the signs of an epic sunset underway.  

I took the Inspire 1 up to 400 ft above our yard to capture some of the really interesting colors the other day.

Sunset Gatherings

One of the things that I like about the Gulf Coast is that we have great locations to enjoy Sunsets.  It isn't uncommon to find families along the Bay or along the Gulf, gathering around sunset to just enjoy the end of the day with one another.    So many times I've seen families with a picnic blanket at the bluff in Fairhope, some wine and snacks - sometimes we are that family.

Good views and good company.  This was taken today along the Eastern Shore at the Daphne Bayfront Park.   Hopefully my flying camera didn't detract too much from folks enjoying a pretty great sunset.

Rivers of Sand

Sitting on a piece of driftwood on the eastern shore, watching the kids play.   The light was harsh but the breeze was nice.   A few 100 feet down the beach, a family tossed color packets at each other, a Holi celebration.

The Chandelier

As you enter the Disney Cruise Line Ship, The Disney Dream, they call your party's name from the gangway, so that you can make a grand entrance.

Well, as grand as one can do wear Mickey Ears with the kids in tow. :)    This midship atrium is very photogenic.  Lots of cool textures and angles that I thought made it a good candidate for HDR.

This was shot handheld, in a 3 frame, 2 ev step bracket and then later stacked with Photomatix.

USS Alabama March 2015 -via the Inspire One

I frankly hesitated, stepping up from the DJI Phantom 2 to the DJI Inspire One.  Biggest reason for my hesitancy was that I felt I had a workable system with the DJI Phantom 2, though it had its quirks.  I wasn't sure if the extra investment would be 'worth it' for the newer system.   Chief among them being, the lack of integration between the Quad and the Go Pro.  

Even though there is a remote control with the Go Pro Black Edition that I was flying, it shares a radio signal adjacent with the control interface of the quad.  Using the wifi remote, could end in peril.   For stills, putting the Go Pro into Time Lapse, interfered with the FPV feed.    So, I'd generally record 4k video and carve out still frames later.  It worked well enough for most purposes..

One of the biggest Pros that i'm experiencing with the Inspire One is that camera control via a Mobile device on the ground makes a huge difference.  Being able to switch between video and photo mode, control exposure and bracketing and shoot RAW were all some great touches to the overall Inspire package.    It is ridiculously stable - even more so than my DJI Phantom 2 was and super easy to fly.    

The only surprising drawback I'm experiencing with the Inspire One is that the FPV feed doesn't appear to extend to the full advertised 2 km control range of the radio and the FPV video feed can be jerky with high latency at distances over 500m.   I won't be FPV racing an Inspire One anytime soon but these are all minor setbacks in what I'm finding is an otherwise perfect aerial photography tool.  

Amber Jack

I like how some boats just have a ton of personality, borderline on facial features.      Amber Jack here, docked in Nassau had a ton of personality.

Mobile Aerial Panoramic - March 2015

I haven't been posting much from my Inspire here so I thought I'd start it with something a little different.   

This is a stitched together HDR Panoramic from 397.5 feet high. 
:)

I really appreciate the Inspire's ability to shoot RAW and the reduced distortion afforded by not having to shoot at an angle beneath the whirring blades.

The epic sunsets we have been having didn't hurt, either.

Have a great week!

Fired Up

Today, six people converged on the Spanish Fort Fire Department, to start some fires.

.. It wasn't a band of hooligan arsonists.  Instead it was the group of volunteers from Fired Up

The concept is pretty novel.   They BBQ Epic ribs and sell them for a given charity.  The slogan says it all, "Making a Difference Through BBQ."

This isn't your leisure cookout of the guys guzzling beer, telling war stories over some brats.

Four custom-made smoker-griller trailers, churned out ~ 250 ribs.

Putting on Rub, cooking, turning, pulling off the grill, seasoning and wrapping..  These guys stayed busy!

"Dave the Drone" got a little use this afternoon shooting interesting angles of the cooking setup.

The Results?  Yep, we took a rack home for lunch.   They were quite good!  Just the right balance of spice & sweetness.    Follow these guys on their website, or on facebook and when they are near you, stop by and buy some epic ribs.   When else can you get great food and give to a good cause?

I've Got that, Drone-y Feeling

I'm here, they're closed, no one has asked me to leave yet.

Let's do this. 
:)

The Passage of Time

I was out for an afternoon Walk / Run and decided to take a break to observe the sunset.   The clouds were doing some interesting things..  Like a giant roadway in the sky.    This reminded me of those time lapse videos you see of clouds rolling across the sky as if they were on a giant conveyor belt.

The sun itself was obscured and as I headed back, I found about 20 minutes after sunset that I had misjudged it as some serious colors spread across the reflections of the clouds in the sky.

In my impatience I may have missed 'the good part' but I'm always happy to spend some time by the water on a chilly February afternoon.