One Year of Flight - an Unexpected Journey

One Year of Flight - An Unexpected Journey

      It was almost exactly a year ago that I began filling social media newsfeeds with pictures and video from a new perspective. I was literally above everyone else delivering aerial videos and photos in ways that had never been done before. I had become Texarkana's first dronetographer. If you would have told me 14 months ago that I would soon be known as "The guy with the drone" I would probably find that hard to believe. This what not something I had worked or planned to do, it was something that just kind of happened over night. This blog post is a picturesque tour of my first year's adventure with a flying camera. From Historic Downtown Texarkana to the Beaches of Florida and the amazing falls at Niagara I think I have made the most out of my first year with an eye in the sky.


How it started

Now that I am a member of an online drone/quad copter forum its pretty simple to understand where most of the people to this new hobby came from. It is a merging of  R/C hobbyists and photographers and videographers. I have never owned a remote control device, but videography is my profession and hobby. I stumbled upon the DJI Phantom by doing a google search for "GoPro accessories." I had been toying with the idea of buying a GoPro, but I was having a hard time convincing myself that I needed a sports camera. I never snowboard, surfed, or participated in any of the extreme sports that are shown in the GoPro commercials, but when my search led me to the DJI Phantom quadcopter It peaked my curiosity. When I first seen it, I laughed. I thought it was an overpriced cheap joke. When I checked the product out on youtube my judgement was quickly reversed. This was a ground breaking product. I studied for days and spent many sleepless nights thinking about the possibilities of exploration that this product could produce. I am a very conservative person when it comes to purchasing "stuff," but this was more than just an object of entertainment it was an educational tool that could inspire creativity. I was sold and the $1200 price tag was a mere formality in my quest. I purchased the newest version of the GoPro a few weeks before I got the quad copter and it blew me a way. The quality was equal to my $3,000 3 CCD camera that I used for just about everything. The drones would have not been as impressive without the GoPro being able to produce such great quality in a small camera.

The Early Flights

I was not going to lose my wings by getting too close to the sun like Icarus, I spent my first few months of flying very conservatively. Even though the Phantom was remarkably user friendly and easy to fly I dreaded the idea of crashing my $1200 investment before I could get my moneys worth and discover its full potential. I stuck mostly to open areas and fields and stayed a good distance away from public and water. Even though battery time was advertised to last about 14 minutes I would usually never stay in the air longer than 4 minutes out of fear and paranoia that something could go wrong. It was still a nerve racking adrenaline rush every time I took flight. I flew almost every day and any day without a flight almost felt like a failure. I would find my self looking at the wind speed on my weather app more than I would the temperature like most people. My first public flights would take place in city parks, but they would always bring curious on lookers that would ask me the typical questions while I was trying to concentrate. Carrying around the bulky quadcopter with remote and batteries was quite a hassle but thankfully my wife got me a case for my birthday to help me easily transport.


A Tool at Work

Almost immediately after building my flight confidence it became very evident early in my drone ownership that this was going to be a great tool in my job portion of promoting Texarkana, Arkansas. Whether it was capturing aerial views of some of our historical buildings downtown or getting a birds eye view of construction sites or city events it became obvious that this was going to take my work to another level. Work had suddenly become a lot more fun. I was even able to sell some of my footage to a local news station. Who wouldnt like to get paid to fly a remote control camera?




















Notable Flights that benefited me at work:

• Aerial RailFest footage
• Aerial Sparks in the Park photos
• Promo video for New Haven Golf Course
• Water Park Construction videos
• Aerial Post Office photos
• Razorback stadium photo used to promote Live United Bowl
• Race for the Cure aerial photos
• Run the Line video
• Numerous city park photos
• Main Street Paint What Matters Video

 Favorite Moments

       My favorite moment was undoubtedly when me and my bride to be went for a morning flight over Niagara Falls on the morning of our wedding. We had both been sick with a stomach virus and this was the first morning that we had felt good. Flying over the majestic American Falls in front of hundreds of spectating tourists gave me that same thrill I got in my early
flights when I was nervous of crashing. It was a beautiful morning that I spent with the woman I love most doing what I love to do. It felt like the beginning of a new life and it surely was. I did not get to spend nearly enough time flying over the falls as I wanted to due to sickness and a full schedule of activities, but I'm thankful that I was able to get a few photos. I remember one group of guys asking me about my drone and then being shocked to hear my southern accent. Many people up north hold strong stereotypes about people from the south. They were pretty shocked to see someone from Arkansas with cutting edge technology that was gaining so much attention from onlookers.

      My second favorite flight moment was flying around at Rosemary Beach. Those few flights of the beautiful Florida beach produced my favorite photos. I have always held the position that the content of your subject matter will always out weigh the technical perfection of your photography skills or the sophistication of the tools you are using. These photos of this excellnt beach are a perfect example of why. Even though I lost my GoPro in the ocean in a non-flying related incident, It was still a great time.








 Where we go from here - The Future of Drones

I jumped into this new cutting edge technology while it was on the show room floor. During the course of the past year consumer drones and the public awareness of them are growing exponentially thanks to average people like me that are going out and flying and posting their videos and photos. Three newer versions from this same company have been released in a little over a year. The technology is moving at a blazing speed. The battle for state forced regulations is already getting started in several states and its only a matter of time before the FAA or the Federal Government impose some kind of nation wide regulations. My hope is that they do not destroy this new art form. I think its the next multi-billion dollar industry (buy some AVAV stock if you want to invest) and hopefully they can find a very reasonable and moderate way to regulate. As for myself I plan on upgrading to the Phantom 2 with H3-3D gimbal and First Person View goggles or LCD screen. Up to this point I have been pretty limited to taking mostly photographs, but with the new system I will be able to focus on doing more video. We are just scratching the surface on this new technology and one thing is for sure, the sky is no longer the limit.