Venice, CA Like You’ve Never Seen It!

Venice, CA—In this community there are stark contrasts in people and lifestyles.  Let me take you on a magic carpet ride to the better side of town along their famous canals!

The FAA and CNN Agree on Using Drones For Electronic News Gathering!

This is an Align quadcopter with a Panasonic GH4 4K motion picture camera perfect for electronic news gathering assignments. 

Atlanta, GA—All Federal Aviation Administration regulations were and are conceived and written in blood, literally!  That is, that there is a deadly aircraft accident behind every rule.  That has always been the case except when it came to drones.

We all must take safety seriously and any legitimate concern deserves study and respect.  The drones are somewhat expensive and their owners simply don’t want them damaged through recklessness.

For some strange bureaucratic reason the FAA has outlawed the use of a drone to make money.  As un-American as that seems, they’ve gotten away with this form of economic tyranny.

The FAA has always allowed the use of drones for recreation and hobby activities with scant few restrictions.  Rather than make rules just last month they’ve finally issued a few advisory Dos and Don’ts for those drone operators using devices that weigh less than 55 pounds.

There are now well over a million little multi-rotor camera drones in the hands of Americans. Still there’s still never been a reported fatal, serious injury or property damage accident with a multi-rotor drone.  There is still no blood evidence available for any traditional FAA rule making.   

The FAA like all government agencies wants to build their kingdom and expand their power and jurisdiction whenever possible.  Drones are the perfect excuse to give us much more government we don’t need.

TV news organizations have been buying drone video footage from freelancers willing to assume the risk of doing battle with the FAA. 

Lost somewhere in this shuffle are any concerns about our First Amendment rights to capture images with cameras.  Many news organizations have already acquired drones and have been using them clandestinely or at least experimenting with them.  

One drone use application has suddenly been  granted with an exciting and groundbreaking agreement between the FAA and CNN allowing for the use of various drones in their news operation.

The obvious safety concerns for drone newsgathering are related to flying over the heads of people and their property.  Are drones a safety threat? Statistically the answer is a resounding no!

Chicken Little, is a folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes the world is coming to an end. The phrase "The sky is falling!" features prominently in the story, and has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent. Versions of the story go back more than 25 centuries; it continues to be referenced in a variety of media.  Thankfully Chicken Little’s prediction has not yet been realized. 

Rather than making rules based on real blood, when it comes to drones the FAA has taken the Chicken Little route. 

Common sense for drone operators would dictate that avoiding close contact with people or delicate property is necessary.   Rather than fly directly over crowds photographing the action from a 45-degree angle is safe, reasonable and will provide superior video or still images.

A multi-rotor drone operator would be foolish to begin flying in an urban setting or areas where there are too many trees.  Learning the ropes in a wide-open field until reasonable control skills are acquired is a must. 

We all know about those epic and deadly news, rescue, military and police helicopter crashes.  There is no question that drones are much safer than helicopters.   Should there be a camera drone mishap in an urban area the likelihood tragedy or property damage is nearly zero!

I’m convinced that there will never be a notable accident with a drone being used for newsgathering.   There will be some mishaps that will damage the drones but the public and their homes will remain unharmed.

Ethics for Newsdronies? What New Rules Should We Establish?

Los Angeles, CA—Before I share my thoughts I want you to see what a seemingly thoughtful journalist, Matt Waite has to say about the use of drones for Electronic News Gathering or ENG.  It’s important that you first watch his video presentation. My response is below the video.

Okay, Waite made a really melodramatic example of anecdote from his reporting past to make a point.  It was a really unfair and simplistic overstatement of a highly unusual situation he once encountered. 

Waite’s dramatic example is one we all can resolve by simply keeping enough distance between the drone and the grieving woman that Waite described. Only the most soulless bastard would dare to bring a buzzing drone into that poor woman’s face! 

Additionally, Waite unleashed his little drone inside the theater where he’s speaking and the natural acoustics there exaggerated the multi-rotor drone’s noise substantially.   

At 40 or 50 feet outdoors that noise is barely noticeable.  Animals will hear it much better than humans.  Actually is it substantially quieter that any typical news helicopter.  We need to first consider the current ethics of a news helicopter ENG crew for comparison.   

Helicopters make much more noise and everyone knows they are probably using very expensive high definition telephoto cameras because they are!

The little drones are much less intrusive or noisy than helicopters unless and until you begin to invade someone’s personal space. Frankly doing that would interfere with obtaining video that you’re there to capture. 

I must of course, beg the question, would invading the personal space of a rapist, murder or armed robber with a drone causing the termination of a horrific act be somehow unethical?

It may not be the job of journalists to interfere with crime but we must remember that we all have a much higher duty when human life is at stake.   Or is it somehow more virtuous or ethical to give our content viewers a voyeuristic view of a horrible crime we may have easily thwarted?

News directors and journalism professors will be struggling these drone issues just like they did when the first helicopters were utilized for ENG decades ago.

The job of the ENG Newsdronies will be to get the images.  Most of the important “ethical” decisions will be made inside TV control rooms and editing bays.  

Live shots are different and everyone involved in newsgathering and broadcasting must consider the safety of hostages and cops.  A ten-second delay solves many problems inherent or pulling out for a wider shot may be what’s called for.  Simple common sense must be applied.

Actually drone propeller noise can be greatly reduced by using special, balanced carbon fiber propellers instead of the plastic ones that come with most mini-drones.

How close to the news-making event is too close for an ENG drone?  Obviously bringing a drone within 20 feet of people will change their behavior.  If someone were being viciously attacked would that drone distraction slow or stop the crime?  Could it also give a victim a chance to flee and survive? Is that somehow a bad thing?

I can’t help but think about the TV news helicopter video shot during the Rodney King Riot in L.A.   That image gathering provided a solid identification of the person trying to kill truck driver Reginald Denny in that shockingly savage attack.  As a result of the images gathered the offender was quickly captured by police and removed from our streets.  

Those people involved in news reporting really don’t need new drone ethics.  They simply need to apply the old ones to the current technology. 

The drones belong in ENG more than the helicopters we’ve grown accustomed to seeing at newsworthy events.   Technology now has provided a gift that will give us better news video at a fraction of the cost or danger of utilizing conventional helicopters.

2015 Will be the Year of The “Newsdronie” (TV News Drone Correspondent)!

Phoenix, AZ—My spies at the FAA insist that they will very quickly authorize the commercial use of multi-rotor, mini-drones weighing in at less than three pounds for among other things, newsgathering.

Any TV station news department that has not made plans for this new technology will be left in the dirt.  The very day the drones are authorized is when the promotions departments should be heralding their new newsdronie correspondents.

They all should be up and running with two or three of these prime time ready “newsdronies” to cover routine accidents, crimes and fires.  Sending a helicopter to a school lockdown for example is foolish when you can use a drone and only pony up a fraction of the price.  

That FAA weight constraint will limit the size of the cameras that of the GoPro types.  But they can really capture epic and stunning imagery.

What that means is the local television markets can dispatch a drone pilot that’s able to operate the device, camera and edit the video with voiceovers. It's just another needed storytelling skill.   

Many stations want live shots from the news making scenes for their newscasts.  That can be done easily with almost no delay of the aerial shots. 

The drone correspondent will be the ultimate multi-media journalist.  The drone correspondent should also carry gear to obtain ground shots and video interviews too. 

The days of the helicopter pilots are numbered especially in all but the largest TV markets.  Unlike helicopters the drones are inexpensive, inherently safer and completely green. 

The drones can be sent up in less than favorable weather conditions since there are no real safety concerns. 

Nearly any news story will be more watchable with quality aerial video.   News making locations, conditions and hazards can be brought to the viewer’s screen better than ever before. 

A picture may be worth a 1,000 words but aerial video takes everything to a whole new level.

Okay let me say I want to be the first newsdronie correspondent in America!  I certainly can teach TV news journalists how they too, can be Newsdronies! 

Meet the Latest and Greatest Prosumer Camera Drone! Wow!

Los Angeles, CA—Yes! As most of my visitors know I’m pumped up and over the top about camera drones as a photographer and filmmaker.  I already own two of them.  My current flagship is the DJI Phantom 2, which uses a GoPro camera.

Today, worldwide there are more than a million multi-rotor camera drones in civilian hands.  They well outnumber conventional helicopters.  They have a perfect safety record of no reported deaths or remarkable injuries.  To date there are still no known collisions between a camera drone and any conventional aircraft. 

Like all of the DJI drones the new Inspire 1 model they unveiled yesterday is relatively easy to fly.  If you have or acquire photography and video editing skills you have the time of your life capturing images.  I find flying these multi-rotor copters incredibly exciting, addicting and empowering!

Now there is a new must have camera drone in the skies as I speak.  It’s the DJI Inspire that has taken the industry by storm. 

The sleek looking Inspire can go easily travel at 45 mph and has already been clocked by one user at 60 mph.  Because of special built in navigation cameras it can fly safely indoors like in convention halls and churches where GPS signals are interrupted.

The fail-safe, return home feature now sends the drone to the radio controller radio instead of take off point.  That so you can operate this from a moving vehicle or boat.
Previously the DJI drones would only land at the spot where it took off.  This means operating the Inspire from boats and motor vehicles can be accomplished with out fear of losing the drone in the drink! 

The Inspire boasts a better camera that shoots in 4K.  The Inspire uses the DJI Lightbridge technology sending back startling real time HD video for nearly a mile. The Inspire works with common TV screens, IPads and monitors.

The telemetry display gives distance, altitude along with precise battery usage information.

It has a better camera 4k and you can use two controllers and pilots.  One pilot operating the drone while the other operates the camera for much better control of the shots. This is made by the same company as my Phantom 2 and was released yesterday.  

I must have an Inspire for my own camera drone air force and I hope to somehow get one to use from DJI for demonstration purposes soon. 

The cost is just under $3K with a second controller at an additional $600.00. 

There can only one word for the new Inspire, WOW!

Sit back and watch the three videos.  Most of the aerial shots were done in and near beautiful Frankfurt, Germany. 

Little Camera Drones and FAA Tyranny

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 Washington, DC—The Federal Aviation Authority was created for and exists for serious public safety issues.  They regulate airships and pilots in order to keep our air space safe.   That is absolutely an honorable mission.

However they have overstepped their mission by banning the use of small drones for so-called commercial purposes. 

Hobbyists currently can fly their drones virtually anywhere without any interference.  Flying at a lower altitude than 400 feet and staying away from other aircraft makes sense.  Nobody wants to endanger anyone or anything including his or her own drone.

They will eventually formally regulate drones.  Common sense should dictate that the size and weight of these air vehicles should determine what is or is not regulated.   

The FAA will never have enough inspectors to regulate every teenager with a drone in America.  I don’t think that the taxpayers could or would pay for such government silliness.

Currently the FAA has totally banned anyone for using these machines in commerce.  Specifically they have threatened prosecution of those that would use a drone to gather video or still photos of a news event for broadcast. 

I guess the FAA thinks they are above the law and the First Amendment rights of Americans.  To ban newsgathering while allowing anyone else to operate these drones is nothing less than tyranny.

Somewhat like the old TV series about a San Francisco gentleman, hired gun called, Paladin I will offer my services with a business card that reads, “Have camera-armed drone, will travel.”

I’m additionally a licensed private investigator and need to gather atrial shots of crime and accident scenes for court I’m going to ignore the FAA.

I just got an off the cuff opinion of a very respected Arizona attorney that specializes in media and First Amendment issues.  He said, the drone commercial use ban does not seem to be based on content or expression but about the use of air space.  Therefore he thinks the FAA may win that argument.

I respect the attorney and his opinion but I think banning them for newsgathering while allowing any hobbyist to use them seems to violate at least the spirit of Equal Protection.

Of course if I’m flying my drone for any purpose and am asked by anyone from the government what I’m doing I have only four simple words for him or her, I want a lawyer.

Let me also say that I will be flying mostly for fun and as a hobby. 

Let me throw down the gauntlet and challenge the FAA!  They will only take my drone from my dead cold hands!