I recently swapped out my DJI Air 2S for a Mavic 3 Pro because I "needed" something with a tele lens. The new toy made me think about suitable places to fly it near by, so I spent quality time with Google Earth and CalTopo. Ended up rediscovering some locations that I had been driving by for years. Medium sized links below, larger size images(up to 2400px on the long side) here https://bboyanov.com/gallery/index.php?/category/past-year
San Vicente Reservoir at sunrise. This had been on my todo list for years but I had never dragged by butt out of bed for the relatively short drive
And the main attraction - badlands just outside Anza Borrego (the park iteself is off limits to drones). The conditions were not quite what I was hoping for, so I will be coming back for more every weekend that is not bluebird skies.
That's one where the 3x tele lens really came in handy, reduced the amount of flying required to get this perspective. The formation reminds me a bit of an image I took a while ago from the "blues" area near Factory Bute, where I had much better light. I have now a really mapped out this area pretty extensively so I can go back under better light conditions
Ross Martin wrote:
Absolutely loving # 6, Boyan. I always enjoy shooting these badlands when I’m in the A-Z region, and the drone view adds a lot.
Boyan, Drone really gives an amazing perspective to landscape. Really enjoyed viewing them. In one of the images, it seems like there is a road going thru....is that drivable with 4WD? I might look it up too. Thanks for sharing.
keepclicking wrote:
Boyan, Drone really gives an amazing perspective to landscape. Really enjoyed viewing them. In one of the images, it seems like there is a road going thru....is that drivable with 4WD? I might look it up too. Thanks for sharing.
The part where the pics with the road were taken have a road going through them but at least for the moment they are closed to vehicular traffic because of the breeding of bighorn sheep. With that said, it seemsoke motocross bikes ignore most regulations against off-road travel.
Having 4x4 is needed to get close to where the interesting colorful areas are. Most of the badlands are actually rather drab brown, with about half a dozen patches easily seen in GE. You can get to these patches from the part of the road accessible with any vehicle but you need to fly around 2 miles one way to get there, which reduces the air time (and violates VLOS requirements if you think they are reasonable in the middle of nowhere). The 4x4 road is not particularly challenging but may require a locker at 1-2 places if you are not careful.
