Multiple challenging projects this week. The first was a landscape assignment that ran dawn to dusk and yesterday was one with a whole new twist. My Triple 7 clients asked me to document every inch of a 777 that just arrived for conversion. They wanted video of the entire aircraft to establish its condition upon arrival. Chandler and I spent the day making sure that we droned every conceivable part of the aircraft. Looks like this will be a regular thing from now on. The purpose is to protect my client from being blamed for and exterior flaws/damage that might be claimed to have happened when the aircraft was in their care.
The Mavic 4 Pro was the absolute perfect tool for this assignment both for its lensing, quality and flight characteristics. The winds were whipping 20-30 on the ramp at Perot Field yesterday and it performed like a champ.Funny, one of the mechanics stopped me on the ramp and told me that he had a M3 Pro and had volunteered to do the inspection. Management told him that he was welcome to try but if he hit the plane, the repair was on him...................he went back to work. I had Chandler spotting for me while I concentrated on smooth compositions. I won't fib to you, it's a bit nerve wracking, but we got great footage. This was good practice for when we shoot the finished projects in their new liveries at sunrise or dusk on the ramp.
All of those landscape images are low level drone stills from the M4Pro, exceptional quality and dynamic range. The land at that site was so irregular that many of the images needed to be just above tripod level, but lower than the usual drone perspectives. Nice to have the tools to fit the need.
Your photography is fantastic Jim! "Architectural Digest" should be hiring you!
You should be very proud of your photography and all the trials and tribulations had trying to get to the "finished product".
Just super photography.
Dan
Thanks Dan! I have shot several projects for Architectural Digest over the years, and for Southern Living, Architecture, and several other big name publications. I enjoy shooting the projects, the drawback with all of them is, they pay bottom of the scale rates snd very slowly. They leverage the "exposure" and generally do not pay the invoice until the issue is published, which can be as much as six months from the date of the actual shoot. The assignments are always beautiful and make great portfolio pieces and exposure is always good, but like "photo credits" you can't deposit them or eat them.
Some of the publications one sees on the shelves at FBO's that have beautiful photography, and they have contacted me several times, but exposure is the only benefit they will not pay a dime for photography. Every entrprenuer has to weigh the pro's and con's for their particular situation. I love new clients and projects as much as the next guy/gal, but at this stage of my life I'm more about deposits than photo credits and exposure.
As far as the "trials and tribulations", they just come with the territory. That beautiful home was very difficult to shoot because of the lay of the land and it took me the whole day to make friends with the challenges, but in the end it all worked. We had it scheduled three times but when I arrived each time something popped up that made us postpone it. The pool was full of leaves once, it was very windy the second time and stuff was blowing everywhere. This last time I was a couple of blocks away and the client called to tell me that the homeowner just let them know that four vans and a dozen people were arriving to decorate the home for Christmas. I took a deep breath and told them that I'd figure out a way to shoot around them, not easy, but I got it done. Everyone is working through challenges and surprises, I just ry to go with the flow and not make my problems my clients problems. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's just impossible so you find a work around and regroup.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
As far as the "trials and tribulations", they just come with the territory. That beautiful home was very difficult to shoot because of the lay of the land and it took me the whole day to make friends with the challenges, but in the end it all worked. We had it scheduled three times but when I arrived each time something popped up that made us postpone it. The pool was full of leaves once, it was very windy the second time and stuff was blowing everywhere. This last time I was a couple of blocks away and the client called to tell me that the homeowner just let them know that four vans and a dozen people were arriving to decorate the home for Christmas. I took a deep breath and told them that I'd figure out a way to shoot around them, not easy, but I got it done. Everyone is working through challenges and surprises, I just ry to go with the flow and not make my problems my clients problems. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's just impossible so you find a work around and regroup....Show more →
Did this one at least come with some s'mores at the end of the shoot??
Sure Gero! Funny, that is exactly what much of my photography is supposed to do......draw the viewer into the scene and have their imagination run. The next logical step is for them to find out who my client is and have them create something unique for them, then I get to shoot that.............it's like "the circle of life..."
BTW, I called Jeremy Boyd the other night when the UPS crash happened. He answered but I could tell that he was pretty shook up. He's had a couple of close calls that really tested his skills recently in his AIRBUS. He flew the MD-11 for UPS since he signed on but transitioned to AIRBUS captain last year. When I spoke with him the accident was less than an hour old but he had all the facts that are trickling out now, and a few more. Poor crew, what a helpless feeling have your engine depart the wing in an explosion and then have your wing melting off, all in a matter of seconds. Every once in a while we get a reminder that this thing that we love so much exacts a toll. Prayers for all involved and the UPS family.
Hope everyone is doing well! Haven't stopped by for a while. Haven't shot any planes since the Oceana show, that was my last show of the season anyway, shutdown or not. Camera gear wise, I bought two cheap RF lenses for my black and white Canon R5 infrared camera, bought a few more lenses for my Sony system. The new Canon R6III sounds like a very exciting camera!
Went to Denver for my daughter's wedding last month, took a trip to visit the Arches NP and the Canyonlands NP in Utah, beautiful places. The parks were still open, toilets were still in service . Did some leaf peeping locally the last two weeks, not a great year for colors. Now I am waiting for the bald eagle season to pick up at Conowingo.
That pretty much summed up what I did the last two months. The next airshow that I will likely go will be in May 2026. In winter I mainly shoot eagles, snow/ice, if any.
Good to hear from you Douglas! Maybe I'll get an assignment close enough to you that we can shoot some Eagles together this winter. Glad that you are doing well.
I have been working on the 777-200 inspection video since 3 am and I am just blown away by the quality of the footage from the M4 Pro. We captured every square inch of the aircraft from multiple angles, looks like the finished video will be about an hour and twenty minutes long. My mind is racing just thinking about how cool the footage will be when we can do the finished products in beautiful light.
I can't help but think of how much I appreciate Mike Brewington for his encouragement, heck, his foot in the middle of my back, way back when I had zero interest in mastering a drone. We were skimming the fuselage of this aircraft at distances that were making my knees shake, and I was smiling thinking about what Mike would be saying if he could've seen us at work. Thank you Buddy, you are the best!!
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Thanks Dan! I have shot several projects for Architectural Digest over the years, and for Southern Living, Architecture, and several other big name publications. I enjoy shooting the projects, the drawback with all of them is, they pay bottom of the scale rates snd very slowly. They leverage the "exposure" and generally do not pay the invoice until the issue is published, which can be as much as six months from the date of the actual shoot. The assignments are always beautiful and make great portfolio pieces and exposure is always good, but like "photo credits" you can't deposit them or eat them.
Some of the publications one sees on the shelves at FBO's that have beautiful photography, and they have contacted me several times, but exposure is the only benefit they will not pay a dime for photography. Every entrprenuer has to weigh the pro's and con's for their particular situation. I love new clients and projects as much as the next guy/gal, but at this stage of my life I'm more about deposits than photo credits and exposure. ...Show more →
I am happy that "you have work" that pays however long it takes to get your fee.
I had 5 clients at 1 time and 3 were restaurants. Sooooo.....my "fee" was food!!!! I only have 2 now and both are resturaunts that "pay" very well.
My"takeaway" from your delinquent payers is "notoriety"! But as you say...."pay to play"!!!!
It looks great on your resume' anyway brother!
Dan
JIII's school principal asked him to give a presentation to his class on photography and the photographs that he took at the nature center last week. I got a picture of him sitting in a chair with his class all around him as he described one of his shots on a big flat screen. I surprised that he rose to the occasion, he gets a bit shy in those situations. I asked him if he liked doing it and he enthusiastically said "Yes, I loved it!" He got this shot of the "Beaver Moon" last evening, taken with my RF200-800 at 800, pretty impressive. I did help him steady the lens a little because he was hand holding the R5II and that horse of a lens, truthfully I didn't hold out much hope for a sharp shot, but he pulled it off.
That is mighty high praise coming from the Master Photographer. Many of you will remember when Jim had a tiger by the tail that left some nasty marks on him when an early DJI Phantom with a mind of its own worked him over. I know for a fact after that incident he would never let the Phantom in the same hangar with his beloved 777's! The control systems and sensors have improved immensely since those days to where we can point them where we want them to go and they will obey. It is kind of like raising teenagers watching the response level and our trust grow. It is funny how Jim and I had been debating buying $4000 drones off EBay from Korea with all the politics in play. We did our best to convince ourselves the Mavic 3 was good enough but we both had the need to own the Best. One day Jim called and said the one we were watching had a $400 price break and he had ordered one. Well I was not about to be outdone by the Master Photographer so I rolled the dice and ordered one too ten minutes later. Jim's timing was not the best and he was off in Florida jet skiing with the grandkids when his arrived so I got my hands on mine first. I know for a fact these few months later Jim probably has 5X more hours at the controls than I do thanks to our very different climates. His confidence level has surpassed mine. I'm not sure I would be comfortable skimming along multi million dollar airplanes trusting the drone knows best especially considering his GPS positioning was out to lunch!
Right you are Mike, and all you have done for me means a lot, but not as much as the great friendship that has evolved from this UAV journey. Now that I have edited and delivered the 1:09 inspection video, I'll pull out a clip and post it so you can see what it looks like. Flying the belly was pretty breathtaking because the drone launches to a point about a foot from where the metal starts and there are a zillion antennae and bumps protruding from the bottom. Even Chandler had his doubts about getting that footage.
Been a really busy week, capping it off with another pool shoot today then I have a breather.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
JIII's school principal asked him to give a presentation to his class on photography and the photographs that he took at the nature center last week. I got a picture of him sitting in a chair with his class all around him as he described one of his shots on a big flat screen. I surprised that he rose to the occasion, he gets a bit shy in those situations. I asked him if he liked doing it and he enthusiastically said "Yes, I loved it!" He got this shot of the "Beaver Moon" last evening, taken with my RF200-800 at 800, pretty impressive. I did help him steady the lens a little because he was hand holding the R5II and that horse of a lens, truthfully I didn't hold out much hope for a sharp shot, but he pulled it off....Show more →
My "buddy's" moon shot is better than many astro photos I took when I was "into" Astronomy and astro photography.
Tell JIII " OUTSTANDING!
The "Beaver Moon" was NOT as bright as I expected. The next night the moon was phenominally bright and the mare and polar cap was very visable to the naked eye. I took a couple of quick shots with my 100mm Macro but havent dowloaded them yet. Not a good lens for that distance but it was fun.
Dan
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Hi. Dan, Well that circumvents the bank and the greedy government, seems like a great plan to me..............
At my age now Jim, it is all about enjoyment. The Light Horse Restaurant and Bar in Leesburg, VA keeps me busy all year as the 2 sisters that own it are very engaged in its function as an eatery and place of enjoyment.
Both sister's took a bank and kept the teller windows and bank vault doors for the decor. Ingrid is a 5-Star chef and professional food photographer also. Her sister Carrie "runs" the place.
Yes if I can get out of adding to any "welfare" funds to Uncle Sam I do!
Thanks!
Dan
Front Vault Door#1
Rear of another vault door(#3). The restaraunt has 3 full vault doors.
I had Chandler spotting for me while I concentrated on smooth compositions. I won't fib to you, it's a bit nerve wracking, but we got great footage. This was good practice for when we shoot the finished projects in their new liveries at sunrise or dusk on the ramp.
