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Beginner Drone Footage of Benny on the Columbia

Steve J

Steve J

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I recently picked up a DJI Mavic Pro drone and have been enjoying learning to fly and shoot footage with it. I'm actually considering putting a vinyl circle-H on my top deck, since it's a perfect drone launch pad for river shots!


The cinematography is beginner level, but I really enjoy playing with this drone from my 'toon! My wife and I spent last week at our place on the Columbia River outside Wenatchee, WA. I was lucky enough to get some footage before all the smoke from the BC wildfires drifted in the next day.

 
Very nice.  Drones are "in the news" more and more.  Looks like fun!
 
Nice production Steve.
 
Beautiful area to boat, Mr. Steve! So, how does one go about getting their own private (at least up to 3:04) river to run??
 
Have you tried the feature where the magic automatically follows you when your under way?  There are some cool pre program features on that drone.  Nice video!
 
Michiman said:
Beautiful area to boat, Mr. Steve! So, how does one go about getting their own private (at least up to 3:04) river to run??
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Thanks! We're anchored pretty much directly in front of our cabin/lakehouse. This portion of the river is called Lake Entiat, and is about 5 miles upstream of Rocky Reach Dam, which is why the river is so wide there. There's a public boat launch at Lincoln Rock State Park near the damn, but the "parkies" generally hang around the park area and rarely come farther upriver than Turtle Rock. The next public boat launch is another 10 miles upriver from us at Daroga State Park, and those who launch there seldom venture the 10 miles downstream. So it's effectively a "locals only" area for a few miles of river. Even on a holiday weekend, if I see 4+ boats in a day, that's a busy day! Nearby Lake Chelan gets most of the tourist boating traffic, as does the area downstream of Rock Reach Dam. We're "dam" lucky to be on this spot of river, with a side benefit being that the "dam" electricity only costs 2.5 cents per Kw/hour. :)
 
ugleeual said:
Have you tried the feature where the magic automatically follows you when your under way?  There are some cool pre program features on that drone.  Nice video!
Click to expand...

I have played with it a bit, but am focusing on becoming more smooth in manual operation. The Point of Interest feature is awesome, tho, and I'll take some boat shots with that next time!
 
Pretty cool Steve! 
 
I thought this was a fantastic video. Looks like a beautiful area to have a cottage, and enjoy the water.  Thanks for sharing!


I have never piloted a drone, but have often been curious.  With our new boat and being on the lake now, the idea of having a drone to play around with out on the lake has intrigued me a lot this past year.


What keeps me from it is price mixed with me being a total rookie, and my fear of crashing it on land, in trees, or in the lake.   :wacko:
 
Vikingstaff said:
I thought this was a fantastic video. Looks like a beautiful area to have a cottage, and enjoy the water.  Thanks for sharing!


I have never piloted a drone, but have often been curious.  With our new boat and being on the lake now, the idea of having a drone to play around with out on the lake has intrigued me a lot this past year.


What keeps me from it is price mixed with me being a total rookie, and my fear of crashing it on land, in trees, or in the lake.   :wacko:
Click to expand...

That's what kept me from pulling the trigger for a while, too. But I paid for it with my American Express, which gives me 90 days of "theft/loss/damage" coverage. So I figured I'd take lots of risks while learning for those first 90 days... because if I drop it in the drink it will be covered by Amex. :)
 
Vikingstaff said:
I thought this was a fantastic video. Looks like a beautiful area to have a cottage, and enjoy the water.  Thanks for sharing!


I have never piloted a drone, but have often been curious.  With our new boat and being on the lake now, the idea of having a drone to play around with out on the lake has intrigued me a lot this past year.


What keeps me from it is price mixed with me being a total rookie, and my fear of crashing it on land, in trees, or in the lake.   :wacko:
Click to expand...

http://www.droneguru.net/5-best-waterproof-drones-awesome-waterproof-quadcopters/
 
Just remember to read up on the "regulations" on these. Even though you are using it for hobby purposes, if you "piss off" the neighbor and they report you to the FAA, you could be spending quite a bit of money defending yourself. I was one of the first 50 or so in the US to obtain my 133 exemption for commercial use, and at the end of the day, I decided to walk away from my business venture till the dust settles. I know, lots of people say blah....blah....blah...... but it costs you much more than it costs them to fight it. 
 
Also, get yourself one of these just in case it goes in the deep drink. At least you can salvage what's not water damaged. 


http://www.getterback.com/
 
Believe a fed appeals court judge struck down the drone licensing requirement set by FAA... might want to research.
 
Steve J said:
Thanks! We're anchored pretty much directly in front of our cabin/lakehouse. This portion of the river is called Lake Entiat, and is about 5 miles upstream of Rocky Reach Dam, which is why the river is so wide there. There's a public boat launch at Lincoln Rock State Park near the damn, but the "parkies" generally hang around the park area and rarely come farther upriver than Turtle Rock. The next public boat launch is another 10 miles upriver from us at Daroga State Park, and those who launch there seldom venture the 10 miles downstream. So it's effectively a "locals only" area for a few miles of river. Even on a holiday weekend, if I see 4+ boats in a day, that's a busy day! Nearby Lake Chelan gets most of the tourist boating traffic, as does the area downstream of Rock Reach Dam. We're "dam" lucky to be on this spot of river, with a side benefit being that the "dam" electricity only costs 2.5 cents per Kw/hour. :)
Click to expand...

Wow, I guess you are lucky to have a cottage in that area. Seems like if you ever have to sell, the location, electricity rate (LOL) and almost private river area will fetch a nice price. Enjoy...
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
Just remember to read up on the "regulations" on these. Even though you are using it for hobby purposes, if you "piss off" the neighbor and they report you to the FAA, you could be spending quite a bit of money defending yourself. I was one of the first 50 or so in the US to obtain my 133 exemption for commercial use, and at the end of the day, I decided to walk away from my business venture till the dust settles. I know, lots of people say blah....blah....blah...... but it costs you much more than it costs them to fight it. 
Click to expand...

My homeowners insurance will not cover any drone related claims (liability or otherwise) without an individual rider.


I bet there are a lot of people flying drones around that could lose everything from a simple mishap.
 
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