Took a battering from the elements at the highest point in West Sussex this afternoon but oh how it was worth it.



Thanks for watching

Beautiful... just beautiful.
When I look at your videos, I always want to do something similar, but I do not think I have the nerves to fly as close to trees and branches as you do.

FlyDK Posted at 2018-2-13 14:38
Beautiful... just beautiful.
When I look at your videos, I always want to do something similar, but I do not think I have the nerves to fly as close to trees and branches as you do.

Thanks, that's very kind of you. I always take a few deep breaths, not sure I breath after those! We had gusts of 30mph again, had a really close call flying between the trees right at the top, it's not in this video because the wind made the mavic drift, made me GULP!

Chasing Light & Shadows Posted at 2018-2-13 14:41
Thanks, that's very kind of you. I always take a few deep breaths, not sure I breath after those! We had gusts of 30mph again, had a really close call flying between the trees right at the top, it's not in this video because the wind made the mavic drift, made me GULP!

You must be equipped with some luck too, I guess.
Anyway - very nice footage.

FlyDK Posted at 2018-2-13 14:52
You must be equipped with some luck too, I guess.
Anyway - very nice footage.

I'm just hoping it doesn't run out before the Mavic 2 arrives this is just practice for that badboy!

I've watched a few very good videos today and by far this is top of the batch, it's absolutely fabulous in every respect. Inspirational, well done fella, this is pure class.

Great Video & Beautiful pic - thanks

M2Wair Posted at 2018-2-13 16:12
I've watched a few very good videos today and by far this is top of the batch, it's absolutely fabulous in every respect. Inspirational, well done fella, this is pure class.

Thanks for the compliment it's much appreciated. Was pretty cold and tired when I got home so the editing is a bit sloppy but was excited to share this amazing sunset.

Leftyguy Posted at 2018-2-13 16:20
Great Video & Beautiful pic - thanks

Thanks, glad you like them

Your Welcome

Very atmospheric and moody. The soundtrack seemed appropriate too. How tall were those trees?   Thanks for the share.

Great work!

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-2-14 04:57
Very atmospheric and moody. The soundtrack seemed appropriate too. How tall were those trees?   Thanks for the share.

Thanks for the feedback The trees are approximately 25 metres. At one point I flew between them at the top, the combination of wind gusts and turbulence from the swaying branches was pretty scary, had to counter the drifting with stick input quite a bit. Had my finger on sports mode just in case

Chasing Light & Shadows Posted at 2018-2-14 05:05
Thanks for the feedback  The trees are approximately 25 metres. At one point I flew between them at the top, the combination of wind gusts and turbulence from the swaying branches was pretty scary, had to counter the drifting with stick input quite a bit. Had my finger on sports mode just in case

That's a bit more gutsy than I've dared to be so far.  It has to be pretty still for me to launch the drone ( a Phantom 4 standard in my case)

escore Posted at 2018-2-14 05:03
Great work!

Thank you

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-2-14 05:11
That's a bit more gutsy than I've dared to be so far.  It has to be pretty still for me to launch the drone ( a Phantom 4 standard in my case)

I'm fairly used to flying close to trees I wouldn't risk it with the size of the Phantom though TBF.

Wow, lovely videos. As a new drone owner I'm curious about your method of capturing them. Where are you situated to capture these? I assume you're very close to them so you can judge distances and clearances as easily as possible. For your ones in amidst the greenery, did you record in 1080p/120FPS for slow motion? Did you greatly reduce the input gains? Just really curious, I love your work.

Chasing Light & Shadows Posted at 2018-2-14 05:17
I'm fairly used to flying close to trees  I wouldn't risk it with the size of the Phantom though TBF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdo9Z_Snu_o

Thanks for those. I know the lens foreshortens the apparent distance, but that must have been some pretty precise flying. Hats Off to you.

Stunning work!   

Cool shots. Wow.

ColdForged Posted at 2018-2-14 05:48
Wow, lovely videos. As a new drone owner I'm curious about your method of capturing them. Where are you situated to capture these? I assume you're very close to them so you can judge distances and clearances as easily as possible. For your ones in amidst the greenery, did you record in 1080p/120FPS for slow motion? Did you greatly reduce the input gains? Just really curious, I love your work.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed them. I'm always situated as close as possible without ruining the shot. Some are recorded at 2.7k 24fps but I've now settled on 4k 24fps which through my testings is the best setting for most situations with the Mavic Pro. 1080p 120fps is pretty much unusable unfortunately. Most of it is shot with tripod mode and lots of concentration. I visualise everything first before flying, walk the route and predict (the best I can) any adverse reactions with flying close to stuff. So basically, for every obstacle I always have a plan of action already visualised. Have raced mountain bikes for years and it's pretty standard practise to do this to reduce risk and carry speed. I've had my drone just over a month now, once I've got more experience I'll do a proper post with everything I've learnt.

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-2-14 05:52
Thanks for those. I know the lens foreshortens the apparent distance, but that must have been some pretty precise flying. Hats Off to you.

lol yeah some pretty close calls, have clipped a few small twigs and the mavic doesn't care too much, not advisable though!

A CW Posted at 2018-2-14 05:53
Stunning work!

Thank you

xfirf_ Posted at 2018-2-14 06:15
Cool shots. Wow.

Thank you

These were very well done. Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.

Beautiful video and excellent use of the trees to give your video depth.  Also, I recognize that sun.  About 8 hours after you shot your video, it passed right over California.  

MakerDude Posted at 2018-2-14 09:05
These were very well done. Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.

Thank you

StanfordWebbie Posted at 2018-2-14 09:15
Beautiful video and excellent use of the trees to give your video depth.  Also, I recognize that sun.  About 8 hours after you shot your video, it passed right over California.

Thanks it'd been raining here all day, I suspect you get to see more of the sun than we do!

Oh yeah that was definitely worth it! Lovely!

Chasing Light & Shadows Posted at 2018-2-14 05:17
I'm fairly used to flying close to trees  I wouldn't risk it with the size of the Phantom though TBF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdo9Z_Snu_o

WOW... all the colors! What place is that?

I'm totally impressed how you can feel so comfortable flying backwards I would try it unless I have obstacle avoidance. Thanks for posting!

GoldenSun Posted at 2018-2-14 14:40
Oh yeah that was definitely worth it! Lovely!

Thank you

GoldenSun Posted at 2018-2-14 14:43
WOW... all the colors! What place is that?

This is at a place called Blackdown in West Sussex, England. It had been raining all day and just stopped a few moments before I took the photo.

dji TO88 Posted at 2018-2-14 14:57
I'm totally impressed how you can feel so comfortable flying backwards I would try it unless I have obstacle avoidance. Thanks for posting!

I'm eyeballing it at all times, prefer to have all the sensors switched off except the DVP.

dji TO88 Posted at 2018-2-14 14:57
I'm totally impressed how you can feel so comfortable flying backwards I would try it unless I have obstacle avoidance. Thanks for posting!

You may know this already, but a simple trick is to fly forwards in tight quarters like that but then reverse it in post to get that lovely backwards view.  Of course, you can't do that if there are cars  or people or ocean waves moving in the video   ;)

StanfordWebbie Posted at 2018-2-14 19:28
You may know this already, but a simple trick is to fly forwards in tight quarters like that but then reverse it in post to get that lovely backwards view.  Of course, you can't do that if there are cars  or people or ocean waves moving in the video   ;)

Hmmm.... I never thought about that I'll do that next time. Thanks for the tips!

Absolutely glorious!   Amazing location and weather conditions

StanfordWebbie Posted at 2018-2-14 19:28
You may know this already, but a simple trick is to fly forwards in tight quarters like that but then reverse it in post to get that lovely backwards view.  Of course, you can't do that if there are cars  or people or ocean waves moving in the video   ;)

Also, to add to that when you're flying close to foliage you can see which way the props are blowing it. I generally fly it in both directions and pick which one looks best in post. Most of the time flying backwards has the advantage visually and you can see the rear light.

For me backwards feels more cinematic as you reveal the scene and keep the audience guessing what's next whereas forwards into the scene without any gimbal movement you can pretty much see everything already.

Berg I Imagery Posted at 2018-2-14 20:39
Absolutely glorious!   Amazing location and weather conditions

Thanks The weather had been mental all day!

Chasing Light & Shadows Posted at 2018-2-14 15:06
Thank you

You're welcome! Keep up the good work!