I watch a lot of YouTube videos, and the ones that impress me are ones with stunning drone cinematography. Being able to have a bird's eye view down onto earth is just amazing. Earth looks so much different from above. All the different textures, colors, and lines you can not appreciate from the ground is magnificent from above.
So, last year on Black Friday, (yes, you read that right, LAST YEAR), after a long day at work, I drove down to the local Target store. I had my eye on the DJI Phantom 3 Standard because I knew that day it was $100 off, which is a big deal. Since it was late afternoon when I drove to Target, I didn't have high hopes of any being left. I told myself, ok, if there is one left it is destiny, and I will buy it, if not, then I am not going to worry about it, it just must not be our time yet. Cruising down the store's central aisle, I finally came upon the electronics section. Sitting alone in it's locked cage was a single DJI Phantom 3. I stood there for a couple of minutes having second thoughts on spending so much money on a drone but finally decided it was all in the name of photography and fun, I called the clerk over and told him I would like to purchase the last drone. He immediately told me how the rest of the drones were sold rather quickly that day and he had assumed the store was sold out, but just a few minutes before I walked in, he happened to be in the back supply room and found just one more drone. See, it is destiny that brought me to my drone. Lucky me!
We have brought our drone out with us on several trips in hopes of getting fantastic shots but either it was too windy, drones were not allowed, or I was just embarrassed to fly it. I have charged it countless of times, but it has never been flown. Looking back, I do regret not flying it along the coast in Monterey, CA. The ocean is such a stunning blue and the contrast of the sea with the rocky shore is just crazy.
Finally, I decided enough was enough. We are going out, and we are going to have our first flight. Now, finding a place to fly it in Southern California is hard. Drones are not allowed in the city of Laguna Beach, you can not operate them in parks, in neighborhoods, or near an airport or military base. I searched on Google Maps for a vast open space, not near any housing and came upon a place called Ortega Falls.
Saturday morning came, we all piled into the truck and headed on down to the falls. We pulled over to the parking spot on the side of the road and saw a little trail leading down the bottom of the hill. This trail was pretty steep and full of bushes and plants. We got down just a few feet and decided to turn back and try flying the drone from the flat area we saw just on the other side of the highway. So, we ran across the street and quickly placed the drone down on the ground. It was a little breezy at the particular spot and being drone novices we were not prepared for it to be blown away over the edge of the hill right after take off. Fortunately for us, the drone was swept into a bush and not over the side. Our next problem was how do you turn this thing off?!? After looking like total noobs reading the directions, we finally managed to turn the propellers off.
My husband and I talked things over and decided we should go to a flat area for our first flight and just our luck, according to Google Maps, a flat field was just down the road. After making sure we did not see any no trespassing signs we set the drone down and took off on our inaugural flight. We learned how to maneuver the drone and control the camera at the same time, how far we able to fly away from us, and how to land.
It was a great experience, and we had a blast flying it around. The video that was recorded came out better than I thought it would and I was even able to grab a screenshot and post a picture on Instagram. We are all looking forward now to flying it along the coast. I have no doubt some great photos and videos will soon be published because of our year old drone.
