My love for travel has reached new heights in recent years. I use to jump on a plane and explore countries with no intent to showcase my experience to the world. This was largely due to the availability and cost of equipment needed to capture stunning artwork and motion.
But all has now changed thanks to the technology at DJI. My most recent adventure took me on a journey covering17,000kms in 20 countries over 51 days. With the help of DJI I was able to showcase an epic journey using the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced. It was a no brainer to chose the Phantom as it recorded in High Definition using a camera stabilized with a 3-axis gimbal. In simple terms, it creates super smooth aerial footage that can be easily integrated into your project and mixed with ground camera footage. It also allows for 12.4megapixel RAW photos to be captured at the ease of a button click on the remote. The drone itself is extremely easy to fly and is stable even in windy conditions. The live stream from the camera to the DJI APP allows for precise framing and makes it simple to capture the moments as they happen. Being on the road with many of the locations remote, multiple batteries and a car charger allowed me to always have the drone ready to capture. This was a big deal as I never wanted to miss an opportunity. A few helpful features of the DJI Phantom 3 allowed me to create cinematic shots. One of them was the ‘Point on Interest’ mode. The ease of setting this up and then being able to adjust the radius, speed and direction allowed me to create content that highlighted a subject and quite frankly looked as if it was shot professionally.
17,000km is a long way right? It sure is. I didn’t mention that this was done in a small 2WD car with 3 other mates. How did the Phantom cope with that much mileage and ‘abuse’. One word simple describes it “Amazing”. Before heading off on the journey one of the reasons I purchased the Phantom was its reputation and sturdiness. I can safely say that both of these qualities have out done themselves.
My goal of this journey across two continents was to experience new cultures, have fun and let others see how awesome it is to travel. By bringing my Phantom along with me, it gave me the ability to see and experience the places I explore at a new level. There is nothing quite like aerial footage and it adds a much needed layer. From landscape shots, point of interest shotsor bird’s eye shots, I could depend on sending my Phantom up andcapture my story.
To edit my footage, I use Apple’s Final Cut Pro X. The Phantom 3 has been certified by Apple to work with the Final Cut Pro X program and this gave me the confidence that my hard earned footage can be edited to its full potential.
At the time the DJI Mavic Pro was not available. It was in the making of becoming one of the best drones ever. Since my journey of 17,000km I have since upgraded to the DJI Mavic Pro and ‘wow’ this drone has it all for the traveller. In saying that its older sibling the Phantom 3, still has its spot and is still one of my favourite aerial tools.