Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

I thought I would post this and see what people thought about Drones.

This was taken over Water's Edge in Granbury Texas just after a shower. I have stills and I have a short movie from the drone. This particular shot is from the movie. I started the movie with Quick Time and paused at one point and did a screen capture. Took it to Photoshop and tried some minor adjustments. Seemed a bit flat so I retried it using Aurora HDR 2018. Opened the file and it created an HDR from one image nothing applied but its general setting.
--Jim

(Download)

amersfoort

I have no real opinion about drones but I have to admit that I'm surprised something this good could be produced from a video via Quick Time.

Well done.

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

Thanks, I was also shocked and the drone was $500 from Best Buy.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

I enjoy drone photography when the topography is interesting. This is a very nice shot and not one you could get otherwise.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Jim, I've no real burning desire to purchase a drone. I've played with some very tiny ones a while back. That was fun. But, I could see it sitting on a shelf for long periods of time, as I've far stronger interests in other areas of photography.

The photo produced is remarkably good. I'm sure a lot of that is your talent and skill.
--Bob

R.G. Loc: Scotland

To my mind there is no doubt that drones open up a huge number of possibilities where composition is concerned.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Definitely a strong tool in the toolbox I reckon. Unfortunately I'm not sure I'll ever get one, but as I get older I often think "this would be easier if I got a drone"! Climbing around trying to get a viewpoint would often be unnecessary. They're definitely not going to go away and, here in the UK, we're considering what laws need to attach to them. There are regular reports of drones getting far too close to landing aircraft, and at a recent vintage hill climb the event was stopped for nearly an hour whilst repeated requests over the loudspeakers failed to make contact with the pilot of a drone hovering over the track. I think in those circumstances they could justifiably be shot down on the ground of safety!

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

It is an interesting perspective. I think drone photography is an art unto itself. I know nothing about it; but it looks complicated. You have to fly that thing and work the camera. I marvel at your dexterity.
erich

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

I like very much that technology like drones will allow for the creation of jobs for creatures made of flesh and feathers. Dogs will exist in our future because they are able to sniff out bombs and other things. Those animals are employable and thus will continue to exist.

Now, thanks to drones, Eagles too will become employed. I think I see lots of interesting situations unfolding in the drone world. I wouldn't fly a drone around where duck hunting is taking place for instance!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Like your lateral thinking Piet!

BeaverNewby Loc: Memphis, Tn

Just got a Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4k drone for Christmas as a gift from my wife. $500.00 before taxes, 4k videos, 12mp stills. I started with the toys to get my coordination up to the task of flying without crashing it. I have not flown this yet, going through the motions of registration and marking the drone with the registration numbers, learning the rules and etc.
This drone is advertised as a aerial and ground imaging solution as it has a detachable gimbal mounted camera and a steady rest for shooting handheld videos and stills with a cell phone as the viewfinder. I will post some pictures soon (samples look good). This is a big leap forward from the toys I learned to fly with. The toys were hard to fly requiring lots of stick work to hover.
I will say at this point the technology in the new mid-priced drones has made it much easier to fly and get good? results. Namely GPS. Return to home. Smartmode (Drone moves left on left moves of the right stick and moves right on right moves of the right stick). Automatic Hovering(Just release the sticks). Object avoidance (while helpful it's not infallible). Return to home(again, while helpful, it's not infallible). In minutes almost anybody can fly.
Now the downside, it almost impossible as a hobbyist to fly legally in the most desirable areas. 4 miles from any airport you must call the airport tower requesting permission to fly. National Parks and any parks marked "no fly" are off limit. Any use considered commercial is off limit. You almost have to move to the next level of licensing to have the freedom to fly in places that are desirable and you still have to get permission from the property owner. I believe in flying safely so the rules make sense. I would not like to have a 3.5 lb. drone fall on my head, property or anybody else's.