Showing posts with label GoPro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GoPro. Show all posts

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Enjoy a Little Drone Porn. Two minutes of a Sizzle Reel. Come Fly With Me!

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Locations in order of appearance:  
Lake Sherwood in Westlake Villiage, CA
Sunset Blvd and Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, CA
Sunset Blvd in Hollywood behind Sunset Plaza 
Carmel By The Sea, CA  (That gorgous white beach)
Pescar Drive in The Town of Paradise Valley, CA
Theater Palisades in the Pierson Playhouse, in Pacific Palisades, CA


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Another Quadcopter video...

This one I shot in Phoenix at 16th Street and Butler I hope you enjoy and share this with your friends.  My Magic Carpet ride!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Another Quadcopter video! DJI Phanton 2 with GoPro3+ camera at work.

This is from a friend's property in Wayne, IL.  The morning light helped make some cinematic art.  I saw the raw video on a new 65 inch TV and the resolution and detail blew me a way.  Please enjoy!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

The Sad Ending of My Quadcopter Drone Spycam


Los Angeles, CA—I thought I learned how to fly my new Blade 350 quadcopter very well.  It was now time to shoot some cool video over the trendy UCLA neighborhood of Westwood while I was in town.  I wanted video of the old movie houses and such from not so high above. 
I carefully placed and set up a brand new GoPro 3+ camera on the gimbal and sent the drone all over the area for nearly 10 minutes.  I landed it perfectly and changed the battery sending it up to the Western sky.   I sent it up really high and unfortunately this time directly into the sun. 
I was completely blinded and I maneuvered the control to the North.  However I completely lost sight of it and the advertised return home feature failed miserably.  It simply vanished from view.
The little drone should have flown until the battery discharged and the thing would have slowly descended until it made a soft landing, but where?  I don’t have a clue!  A rooftop?  The VA Cemetery?  Did it land on busy nearby street or sidewalk?  Is it somehow on the roof of the FBI building?
To me this major mystery is nearly as important as the 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart her navigator Fred Noonan along with their Electra plane somewhere not far from Howland Island.  
I did not place identification or a phone number on it so it is lost forever.  The camera and the 64 gigabyte SD Ram card long with the drone cost well over $400.00 and the device itself $650.00.  Then there are the tools and accessories I bought that will now remain idle. 
More that anything I want the contents of the GoPro’s SD Ram card. 
Oh well it was fun while it lasted! I am incredibly sad right now. 

Update:
I began to analyze what went wrong and how I should have handled the emergency mid flight.   In retrospect I should have been able to avoid the panic and loss of the aircraft.
First and foremost, when the sun blinded me, I should have simply let go of the controls and it would have hovered in place.   I would have had at least five minutes to think up options. 
I could have moved the thing a bit to the right or left and let go of the controls again until I could get a visual on it.  Then I could have finished my flight without the drama and heartache. 
The cause of this air disaster was pure and simple pilot error.  Inexperience and over-confidence is a killer! 
   




   

Friday, October 11, 2013

News gathering Video Technology and Guerilla Journalism!

Los Angeles, CA—Wherever you go in the City of Angeles doing news the paranoid public relations people and their security agents demand absolute control over anyone shooting video.   The equipment to shoot quality video was cumbersome and difficult to move around without attracting loads attention.  That’s changing faster than the speed of light.  They can’t seem to repress the journalist with the notepad but ejecting cameras from most real estate has proven all too easy.
Today you can shoot very watchable video with quality iPhone cameras and a host of small camera choices.  The somewhat new GoPro cameras are nothing short of incredible.   I have two of them now; the Hero 3 and a Hero 3+ are in my video gathering arsenal.
Any day now and I will take delivery of a Blade 350 Quadcopter that will zip right past security guards, police and fire lines.  It will instantly defeat even the tallest walls and fences to obtain exceptional HD GoPro camera video.
On the ground I’m looking for ways to conceal the little GoPro cameras so I can do interviews and get B-Roll without attracting any unwanted attention.  I am learning to do low profile scene stand-ups guerrilla style.  My goal is to get in and out of the scene before anyone knows I’ve gathered my needed video. 
Quality audio is important so as you see I will rely on a Zoom H4N recorder with lavalier or shotgun microphones.  As you can see below the onboard microphone does not cut the mustard!  As a freelancer there are really no equipment limits as long as I can bag the story.

The tiny GoPro needs some stabilization when handheld and there are solutions in the way of small Steadcam type devices that can be obtained and employed.  
Most mainstream news directors and editors are presently fumbling around with the lawyers, journalism ethics professors hoping to learn if they can embrace the technology for their own reporters and photographers.  In the meantime I will go out and get the story! 

The Blade 350 can be purchased from B&H Photo 1-800-221-5743



Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Go Pro Cameras and Streaming Video is a Media Game Changer



Go Pro Camera with WiFi kit

Chicago, IL—During the recent NATO protests in the Windy City, there were as many as a dozen people using IPads and IPhones to broadcast live streaming video to the Internet.
The images were only as good as the WiFi connections available and the tiny camera lenses would permit.  Some were better than others.  The real breakthrough here was that this technological marvel could be managed by nearly anyone.
I spent several hours watching what the NATO protest I-cameras were broadcasting and found it interesting along with some very candid remarks by protesters.   I had to guess the locations they were broadcasting from, by the local landmarks because the camera operators were not professional or even marginal reporters.  They simply let the cameras roll.
Perhaps ustream.com or the camera makers could direct their consumers to some places where they could get some very basic reporter instruction.  Reporting on who, where and why this event is unfolding is as important as broadcasting the pictures.   Of course you never want to interrupt important sound from your newsmakers.  YouTube has several such tutorials posted right now.
The incredible power here is that with minimal cost anyone can instantly broadcast live video at a breaking news event where the whole world can see exactly what’s happening.  
Go Pro has been making inexpensive cameras for primarily capturing sporting activity from skiing, surfing to every form of racing sports.  The quality of the video and images is breathtaking.
Now they are offering Wi-Fi kits that would enable people in the thick of civil unrest, rescue efforts or any major newsworthy to wear live HD video cameras.   The images can be seen on sites such as ustream.com and can be picked up by any other broadcasters such as television news.
I fully expect to see a variety of inexpensive, stand-alone WIFi kits being offered to use with today’s prosumer video cameras for even better images and audio. 
The only limitation for live broadcast is a steady broadband Internet connection.   In populated areas outside of the Third World this is less of a problem every day.  
In case you were wondering these cameras are also incredibly effective for surveillance applications.  They can be placed covertly almost anywhere subject to battery life or external power sources.
I favor Go Pro because of the price, quality of images and their commitment to engineering every possible way to mount their products.