End of Winter 2015/16

It's been absolutely ages since I've posted a blog post, so this is a bit of a long one. Bare with me though as I've got a big announcement coming soon!

Firstly, I've changed the name of my YouTube channel to;

Winter Visuals

So if you were struggling to find me, that might have been why!

Anyway, over the last few months I've been out at least once or twice every week and I'm starting to tweak my skills with the Phantom 3. Although it's a super advanced and clever piece of kit, it still takes some time to get used to the controls enough to get the good cinematic shots!

The best shots seem to be when you are moving past an object (usually when it's relatively slow) and the movement helps to bring the whole shot to life. Having tried a few of these shots when I first had the drone I found that due to my inexperience these types of shots increased the likelihood of causing damage to the aircraft. After a close encounter with a tree and giving it a haircut, I've avoided these shots until my skills have improved.

In order to keep everything safe and legal (and to be able to fly in Italy) I've invested in some public liability insurance. I was expecting this to be stupidly expensive, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that if I became a member of the BMFA (British Model Flying Association) for £35 a year, I could get up to  £25 million worth of cover.

Thanks to a lot of practice, my skills have improved and I'm able to get the more cinematic shots usually first time round. It's still a bit tricky when there is a moving target, as it's hard to fly the drone and direct the camera at the same time. I can now understand how much more useful a separate camera operator (and compatible drone) can be!

One last thing before I end this blog; I'm currently back home in the UK for a short week at home to prep for summer and I'm looking at upgrading some of my equipment ready for summer. Once I've got all of my gear in one place, I'm planning on doing a quick BTS video to show off my gear and how I'm planning using it all going forward over summer and beyond.

Until next time,

Bob

Winter has arrived!!

Well,

It's been a while since i've posted anything as it's been a while since I've really done that much video related stuff. Due to a promotion at work i've been super busy trying to get settled into the new role and also to get everything done in time. For those of you that don't know I work in passenger transport in the French Alps and obviously the Winter season is a hugely busy time for us.

Thankfully, things have settled down recently and i'll be able to take some days off! With any luck i'll be able to get into Chamonix and get some time & hyper lapses with my D-SLR and GoPro and hopefully get up high somewhere and get some cinematic panoramas of the valley with the Phantom. If all goes to plan i'll get some pictures up on Facebook and Twitter of my adventures but will keep some secret for now as i'm planing my end of winter video already.

After thinking of the possibility of using my Phantom more often (or possibly around people when it's just unavoidable) and looking into the rules and regs of some more european countries i've also decided to invest in Civil Liability Insurance. Basically it means if i mess up or the Phantom has any issues and hits anything (or anyone) then i've got insurance to cover me! It was relatively easy to get and provides worldwide cover, for a whole year, for the tiny fee of £33; an absolute bargain if you ask me!

Anyways, I'm off to get everything charged and ready for hopefully a busy day of filming tomorrow!

Until next time,

Bob

Update Time!

Well not had much time to fly the Phantom over last few days, thanks to things not working out as planned and me having to work more than expected. Anyhow, I managed to get out for a quick flight this evening and I was greeted by a lovely message saying the current firmware was out of date.

So a quick flight it was to be then! I just took it for a quick spin around the local area again, not too high to keep away from the low flying planes coming into CDG airport. It attracted quite a crowd with most of the guests in the hotel i'm staying in, including a good chunk of the other drivers came out and were amazed by it!

Once i was back inside the update began. It's a pretty simple process, download new firmware plug into drone and done. The problem is the constant buzzing, whirring, beeping and flashing lights for an hour to update the whole system. All done and all updated, so will hopefully get a chance to try the new features tomorrow evening!

Until next time,

Bob

Viva la Paris!

Well, for the next ten days I have been sent to Paris for work. Since I'm here I decided to take the phantom 3 along with me (plus my other cameras and GoPro's) and get some footage of the city of love & the area around where I'm based.

Earlier today, since it was my first time flying near a major international airport (CDG in Paris), I decided to review all the guidelines and safety features set out by DJI before I flew. It all seemed very confusing and reading the forums just made it even worse. In the end, the best option was to just get out and see what happened!

Once I was outside and set up, I noticed that the map of the DJI pilot app showed a large red area near the airport and I figured this was the 1.5 mile No-Fly zone. Thankfully I was a good mile or so away from this area so everything worked fine. The one piece of information I did understand from my checks beforehand was that if I was in restricted airspace the motors simply wouldn't start. 

This seems like a great safety feature and helps to keep my (mini) aircraft out of the way of the real deal ones.

Since I'm here for work I do have an early start with a long day tomorrow, so it's an early night tonight for me. Batteries on charge, iPad on charge and all ready for Tuesday. The plan is for an early start heading into Paris centre to get some footage around the Louvre Museum, as well as a few spots around the Opera and Palais Royal for a promo shoot i'm working on.

Until next time,

Bob

Mayday!

Just a short post today, haven't really been out flying too much as have been working!

I did however take it out for a quick test as there was a great sunset a few days ago. To my absolute horror, once I had launched the aircraft it started reacting oddly and not responding as it usually did to my commands. Thankfully I managed to land it safely (sort of) and once I had shut it down I rebooted it and ran a full analysis on it. It turned out that the compass was out of calibration so after I recalibrated it, everything went fine!

Until next time,

Bob

Tour de France Troubles

Well, today was an interesting one! Thanks to some last minute planning me and a few friends decided to head to see Stage 20 of the Tour de France which was due to finish in Alpe d'Huez. Having been to a stage last year near Grenoble we knew roughly what we needed to take, however working the same day we were setting off made it all harder to achieve! Thanks to teamwork and several stops at shops along the way we were all set and ready to camp.

The journey was one a few of us had done before, with a few minor changes due to roadworks but we made good time getting to Le Bourg d'Oisans, the small town at the bottom of the ascent to Alpe d'Huez. En route we encountered one of the best thunderstorms I have seen in my whole time here. The Lightning was almost continuous and was so bright, that the headlights on the car seemed pointless at times.

Once we had arrived the rain and storms were behind us so we looked a suitable campsite; a grassy area on the edge of a roundabout and we set up the tents. Within ten minutes or so I had mine fully set up and good to go but I suppose that's the joys of having a tent for so long, it's practically second nature using it! After that, I moved on to help the others who hadn't even got theirs out of the packing because they were that new.

Tents pitched it was tea time. We got out the camping stoves and got started; chicken pasta and sauce, my favourite! Once it was cooked (and a little carbonised for extra flavour), we dished up and as we were about to eat, the storm caught up with us and the heavens opened. The rain was so heavy it was like standing in a shower! In an attempt to stay a little dry we retreated to the car and ate by car light. Once we had had our fill we all retired to out tents.

The next morning was an early start, thanks to all the cars and trucks beeping their horns at all the tents and campervans. So, up early and our cowboy breakfast on the go; bacon, eggs and beans. Breakfast eaten, tents packed away and cars packed we set off for Alpe d'Huez.

On the way we passed loads of other people as well as stalls selling almost everything with the Tour de France logo on. I decided it would be good spot to get the drone out and sent it up a few minutes later. I instantly got attention from a few people; one of which was a Gendarme, the French armed police. I was expecting to be given a warning and told to stop so I brought it straight down as he approached. To my surprise however, he was just curious as to what it was and how it worked. Having had a little chat in Fre-nglish he seemed happy with me continuing to use it so it sent it back up and carried on! 

Since some of the group has moved on I decided to get a moving shot down the road, catch them up and then land in the grassy area next to the road further down. Once we had all met up again I started to bring the drone back down when another Gendarme came over and was practically yelling at me in French. 

After some translations, thanks to a member of our group, I realised he wanted me to land straight away. Once I had landed and packed away I went to carry on my way but was then told I needed to show my ID (which I didn't have with me!). Eventually they just took a friends details and warned me not to fly it again. In the end I didn't manage to fly it again anyway as the wind was too unpredictable and there were no safe landing areas.

Until next time,

Bob

Crisis Averted and An Interested Party....

Thanks to another day off from work, I decided to go out again and get some more footage for my latest video; Chamonix: A New Perspective. 

All my recent shots have been stationary, where I have sent the drone up and just move around the immediate area. This was good when I as learning but to get the more complex and interesting shots needed to keep the video flowing I needed to take it further away from me. This allowed to get more fluid shots as a whole but also to minimise the risk of me being caught in the cameras view.

This did however have it's downsides, such as losing sight of the drone. I do speak from experience here as that is exactly what happened to me today! I lost sight of the drone as it blended almost perfectly against the glaciers and white clouds. 

Naturally, the first thing I did was panic as I had just lost sight of my brand new drone! Once I had calmed down (a little bit) I was relieved I could still hear it in the distance. At this point, I was so worried that I completely forgot the DJI app has a map and compass showing the drones heading and location in relation to me! Since I had tried finding it and failed, I decided the only option was to press the RTH (Return To Home) button. This was the first time I had used the button in real life, but had seen how it worked in the DJI simulator which I used for the first time last night. 

Eventually, long story short, the RTH feature saved me a great deal of heartache and issues as the drone came straight back to me and landed exactly where it had launched a few minutes earlier!

Later today I continued along the valley down to the area around the village of Les Praz and decided to get some footage of the little chapel in the centre of the village. When I arrived, as per usual there were a few people in the area and on the greens around the chapel. Due to this I was tempted to not fly as I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere. 

However, I decided the mix of people was a perfect photographic opportunity I didn't want to miss, so I set up and launched! Within a minute or two I was approached by a French couple and through broken French from me (I know very little drone related French!) and broken English from them I had a pleasant conversation with them. I was extremely surprised as I was expecting them to complain about the noise. To my amazement they loved the drone and were extremely interested in the footage I had captured and the whole idea of the drone itself.

Due to this, as well as future plans I have decided to create a new Facebook and Twitter account dedicated to my new drone footage videos. In addition to this I have decided to get some updated business cards to give out to interested people, while out and about flying, for possible business opportunities!

Until next time,

Bob