With one simple click on the camera button of the DJI Mavic Pro remote controller, I was able to reproduce an image of my parent's house which was first taken 31 years ago in 1986.  I was born into this house way back in 1969.  This is not just a beautiful house, it is also a beautiful home.  

If you examine both photos you can see the way this beautiful home has changed over the years. Each change has many stories and my parents, brother, sisters and I reminisced for many hours over the old photo and admired the beauty of the new photo taken by the Mavic Pro.

Mavic Pro - Simple To Fly, Film And Photograph With

Taking this aerial photograph of my parent's house was so easy and quick with the Mavic Pro.

Preparing The Mavic Pro To Fly

I took the quadcopter out of the Mavic Pro shoulder bag, unfolded the legs and extended the propellers.  I removed the camera cover and gimbal guard.  I placed the Mavic quadcopter on my parent's lawn and switched it on.

Next, I took out the DJI Mavic Pro Remote Controller. I attached my Samsung S6+ Galaxy cellphone to the Remote Controller and switched on the Remote.  The DJI Go 4 app is installed on my cellphone.  I switched on the Remote Controller and the DJI Go 4 app opened automatically and connected to the Mavic quadcopter.  So very simple.  

Then, with a couple of quick clicks in the DJI Go 4 app, I can now see what the camera on the Mavic Pro is seeing. This technology is called FPV (First Person View).

Flying The Mavic Pro And Recapturing The 1986 Photo

Holding both sticks of the remote control downwards and inwards, the Mavic Pro motors start up.  With my thumb, I push the left stick upwards and the Mavic Pro takes off straight up until I release my thumb.   

With my other thumb on the right stick, I hold the stick forward and the Mavic instantly flies in the direction of where I want to take the photo.  

I use the left stick again and move it left to turn the Mavic around and with a little backwards and forwards, I can now position the Mavic's position to be like the old photo taken way back in 1986.  The Mavic Pro is without doubt the easiest drone on the market to fly.  It's a dream.

On the Mavic remote control, there is a dial to angle the quadcopter camera up and down.  There are buttons to take photos or to record video.  I click on the button to take the photo.


Camera Settings For This Photo




For this photo, I didn't use any special camera settings.  Amazingly, I used only the auto camera setting which are set from the factory. In other words, to take beautiful aerial photos and film, you don't need to be a professional photographer or film maker.  I didn't even use my Mavic Pro lens filters for this photo.

Now, for the professional aerial photographer, there are many manual camera settings to get the exact picture or film you want.

Weather Conditions For the Photo

For this photo, the weather wasn't ideal at all.  There was a strong enough wind but the Mavic Pro quadcopter was stabilizing itself perfectly.  In fact, the flight controlling technology in the Mavic Pro allow it to stabilize itself hundreds of times every second.

Going Global Immediately With The Photo

A couple of seconds after I took this photo and while still in the air, I shared the new photo on Facebook.  This is because my Samsung cellphone is attached to the Remote Controller.  When I clicked the camera button it saved the photo to my cellphone.  The Mavic Pro quadcopter has a MicroSD card slot where your aerial photos and film will also be saved to.

So simple. From removing the Mavic Pro from the small shoulder bag to taking the aerial photograph and sharing it to my friends around the World took only 5 minutes.

What's So Good About The Mavic Pro?

The simple answer is everything.  Yes, that's right.  It is the right size.  It is almost pocket sized and easy to carry. Getting ready to fly only takes 2 minutes.

The Mavic Pro is so very easy to fly.  In fact, my father who is 80 and my mum who is 73 (see below) are able to fly the Mavic Pro.  My parents are not one bit tech savvy and I was able to teach them how to fly very quickly by just running through the sticks on the remote controller.

Many people would like to own a drone but are afraid of crashing.  However, this Mavic Pro is really simple to fly.  Even in the beginning if you get confused with the flying directions, all you have to do is take your thumbs off the remote control sticks and the Mavic Pro will just hover where it is.  This quadcopter has automatic flight modes, collision avoidance technology, automatic return to home and many other safety features.

This Mavic Pro has terrific stabilization and camera technology which allow it to produce super smooth photos and film.

The Mavic Pro price is also very good and there are options to buy the Mavic on its own or in a combo pack.

Cessna 172 Aerial Photo from 1986 - Not So Easy




This original aerial photo was taken from a small Cessna 172 aircraft way back in July 1986.  My parents recall the story. A door to door salesman who had a lot of charm and was a very good talker convinced my parents that an aerial photograph would be something unique to hang on the wall of their sitting room.

My parents paid 60 Irish Pounds for this aerial photo.  This was a lot of money back in 1986. Counting for inflation, this photo would have cost about USD 200 in today's money.

The salesman gave my parents a date and time when the photo would be taken.  Rightly enough on the date and time, my parents were looking out the front window of their house, when this small Cessna 172 swopped down real low and flew past their house, perhaps 150 feet off the ground.  

They recall seeing 2 people in the aircraft.  1 pilot and 1 photographer.  In other words, it took 2 people and a small aircraft to capture the 1986 photo.

If you wanted to take this photo from a Cessna 172 today, the price is approximately USD 50,000 for a used Cessna 172 aircraft.

Now, the story doesn't end there.  When the photograph was taken, it was another 4 weeks before the photograph arrived through the post.  

My parents loved the 1986 photo so much that they wanted to send copies to their family and friends abroad. This took many weeks.  They had to first write to the company for the negative of the photo to be posted to them. Then, they drove to the nearest town and had photos made from the negative.  This took another few weeks. Next, they posted the photos to friends and family in the UK and US.

From the time the salesman had the order to our relations receiving the beautiful 1986 photo, it took approximately 3 months.

DJI Mavic Pro - Bringing The Past Into The Present

Our lives have greatly changed over the 31 years since the old photo was taken.  My parents were young and my siblings just teenagers, our lives and dreams still ahead. I am now grey and middle aged but still young in mind and heart.  The Mavic quadcopter has certainly brought plenty of new fun into my life.

Old 1986 Cessna 172 Aerial Photo




In this photo there is a glasshouse. My parents, my siblings and I are working in a field filled with small lettuce plants.  Also in the field is our neighbors very friendly Alsation dog called Randy lying lazily enjoying the sun.  We loved this dog so much.

There is an old 35 horse power tractor covered with polythene, a Toyota Liteace van and 2 old sheds. Also in the photo are some curved beams for a new polythene tunnel to be built at the top of the field.

Now, 1986 was a bad summer.  It was the year when Hurricane Charley landed in Ireland.  Ireland doesn't get hurricanes so our weather forecasters were taken by surprise.

Hurricane Charley started as a tropical storm in South Carolina, USA.  Generally, hurricanes finish somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. However, Hurricane Charley kept coming.  It landed in Ireland on August 25th, 1986 and left our country with many damaged buildings and a lot of flooding.

Now just 2 days before the hurricane landed our new Polythene tunnel (beams are in the photo) was built at the top of the field.  The soil around the polythene foundation was still soft.

All our family were out trying to hold the tunnel down in the hurricane force winds and rain but it was no good.  After a few minutes, we could not hold any longer. The hurricane ripped the tunnel from our hands, ripped it to shreds and blew it away.  It was heartbreaking.

New 2017 Mavic Pro Aerial Photo

The Mavic Pro takes superb photos.  The color is amazing and there is never any camera shake. You can see how the Mavic Pro has captured my Parent's house in stunning quality.  You can see and feel how our lives have changed since the old photo was taken.  

Most of the glasshouse is gone with just a small piece kept as a greenhouse.  The old Massey Ferguson 35 HP tractor is long gone and a new shed has replaced the 2 old sheds. A new kitchen extension has been built and central heating installed. The old Toyota Liteace van is gone and a couple of new cars fill the driveway.  

This photo is of a warm loving home, a field of green meadow grass and manicured gardens lovingly attended to by my parents, captured vividly by the DJI Mavic Pro.

Without the simplicity of the Mavic Pro, this 2017 aerial photo would not have been possible.  Flying with the Mavic is easy and fun.  It produces beautiful aerial photos and film to be admired now and reminisced in the many years to come.

This is great! Some fantastic work.

thank you for sharing your story!

Wow, what a gorgeous work! Thanks for sharing this and we are so happy that our drone brings you this joy. Thanks again, have a nice time.

Very nice work!

How times have changed and yes it's a terrific story indeed. Dronezon also has a well established website with plenty of great articles and knowledge. https://www.dronezon.com