I got your attention with that post, huh? Well, I did just that. For 10 years, I take a whole school photo of a local school (where both of my children went years ago). Up until this year, I've always done it conventionally with a ladder, etc. But this year I approached them with the idea of doing it with my Cinestar. I suggested that the kids could assemble in the shape of a Jewish star, and they loved that idea. And I would fly overhead and capture a photo. Obviously, safety was an extremely important consideration. I decided that I had hundreds of feet of open space around the assembled, and that I could easily ditch the copter in any direction should something bad happen. I flew several test sorties on the morning of the photo, and carefully calculated the ideal altitude (50-60 feet) and orientation. I decided to tell the kids that no matter what, nobody should move from their positions until the copter was on the ground. The reason for that was that if something did go wrong, I would be unable to safely land in a hurry if there were people scattering in every direction. And as I took the photos, I had the copter deliberately drifting from one side to the other, so if it did lose power, it would probably fall to the side (I practiced this). Anyway, obviously it all worked perfectly, and I am happy to share not only the "money shot", but some of the photos from the copter showing my rehearsal passes, as well as a couple of glamour shots of the campus. This is a 4s Cinestar 8 with MK electronics, Radian-stabilized 2-axis gimbal, and Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24/2.8 IS lens. I was using the Zeiss Cinemizers for framing with my Iftron FPV gear running off the 5D's composite video output. Exposure mode was Av, (1/640 ƒ6.3) and ISO 400. I actually regret using that lens, as my 17-40L is a sharper lens for stills, but I decided keeping the weight down and variables to a minimum.
Oh...I thought you traveled with the patio furniture and hot tub out to locations just in case.... Andy.
Nice Prep Steve. Nice shooting. Actually, AWESOME Prep. Were you alone or did you employ a spotter just in case?
Thank you, Mike. I didn't have a spotter. I had the school security guard watching for any runaway kids, but I was flying Line Of Sight, so I didn't feel the need for one. I did have the Zeiss Cinemizers on, but they were daintily perched at the end of my nose, so I had the best of both worlds. It's a good setup.
I'm not sure Steve does, but I do. So I wear the Cinemizers low on my nose. Looking up I have direct line of sight. Looking down I have the view from the FPV cameras. Andy.