That is often the case with most kinds of photography...being at the right place at the right time, with a camera, and knowing how to use it. You put it all together and came up with a winner!

Thanks for sharing. Very enjoyable.

Hate to spoil the amazement, but those are not model RC planes. Those are actual airplanes flown by civilian pilots who volunteered their planes and skill for the event. RC pilots do not have the equipment and training necessary to fly a precision aerial formation in numbers like that. I have personally flown in military flyby's and assure you those are real pilots.

You sure do come up with a great bunch of videos for us! Thanks.

Now that is something I can see myself getting into. I have been watching a lot of pretty videos, and educational videos. The hot ones right now seem to be the Phantom and the Solo. But I know for a fact there are several more under development that should be out by the end of the year. I don't want to get one that isn't going to be supported for a long time. The technology is developing very rapidly, that seems to be certain. The GPS feature and RTH features are very cool. But I have also seen a number of videos featuring spectacular crashes of drones on YouTube. That would be an expensive accident.

Most of them use snowmobile size engines, such as the Rotax 503 or 582. About 55-65 HP.

They take off at about 30mph, fly at about 30mph and land at about 30 mph. They wings are drag limited so adding more power doesn't make them go faster, it just makes them climb faster.

I believe the record is about 17,000 feet, done with oxygen. But most of us don't fly much higher than about 500 feet normally. As you get much above 1000 feet you find it hard to see much on the ground. And that high it seems like you are standing still, since 30 mph is not very fast.

As you get higher it also gets cooler. Remember, you don't have a cockpit around you. Figure 2 to 3 degrees cooler for every thousand feet you go up. It's when you are down at 100-200 feet that you really see the wildlife, smell the wildflowers, and fly with the birds.

All of those pictures were taken in Minnesota. Some of them were panoramas. The only other state I have flown the powered parachutes in was Wisconsin, and only briefly. Yes, we get together once in a while for fly-ins at various places around the state. It makes a great camera platform because you steer with your feet, leaving your hands totally free for photography.

You had posted a link to my flying video a while back, and had speculated about the type of photography you could get from an open cockpit powered parachute. Well, as you might expect, they are unique. Being low and slow you can see all sorts of things you would never see from a Cessna. I made another video a while back with about 150 pictures taken entirely from my flying machine. It is called: Sky Slices. I hope you enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqwnm4U294

As it happens, I made that video. Those magnificent flying machines are called Powered Parachutes, and they are a type of ultralight aircraft. And yes, they are much less expensive to both own and operate than a conventional light aircraft. Not only that, I believe they are the safest type of aircraft around as you do not even get off the ground without a fully deployed parachute. I often make power off landings for practice. It's a piece of cake. I call it flying for the common man. Now you don't buy these for getting someplace in a hurry. They take off fly, and land at 30 mph. But this type of low and slow flying is for just enjoying the beauty around you. I have over 50 flying videos on YouTube under my channel: Photoguy73. Do a search for that on YouTube and you should find them. Enjoy.
Steve

I thought Snowy Egrets had yellow feet.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

It was an honor and a privilege.

From someone who was fortunate enough to have done that in the Vietnam era, I can say yes indeed, that is as good as it gets. Fly Navy!

Like many of you, I too started photography in Vietnam, thanks to the inexpensive camera gear. I was a pilot aboard the USS Enterprise in 1971, flying the A-7E, Corsair II, single engine fighter-bomber, mostly against supplies coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos, and some close air support in Vietnam.

My first choice was a Nikkormat, and 50mm f1.4. That locked me into Nikon for the next 48 years, and no regrets about that. Also got a Konica C35 which was much smaller for use in the cockpit and got some great pictures. Some of the things I was doing were pretty unique and so I also purchased a Yashica Super 40 and a small Kodak movie camera. I made lots of Super 8 movies of missions over Vietnam and flying around and aboard the carrier. It started me in a very enjoyable hobby. Time has a way of changing one’s perspective on things and I am no different in that regard. It was the most exciting time in my life and I am indebted to the United States Navy. It was an honor and privilege to serve. Thank you all for your service to our country.

You have some beautiful photographs there. It appears the camera is capable of taking fine wildlife pictures. I am wondering if you use the 10 fps or 20 fps setting for birds, and if so does the buffer keep up with those high data rates for several seconds? I presume that would depend on whether or not you are shooting in RAW. Were those prints derived from RAW?