Now...To Try And Get This Thing To Fly

 Since we're heading into the weekend, I decided to unbox a drone I bought about a year ago. For me, a drone has been one of those things, that--if I had the funds--I would buy a nice one...

At least, I think I would.

I follow several photographers on social media who use their their drones to capture incredible photos and videos. They make it look so effortless, and for all I know, maybe it is. I suspect, however, like any art form, the more you practice, the better you become.

This drone of mine is not a good one, I fully admit. Then again, I didn't want a good one, really. I wanted something on which I could learn the basics. After I bought it (and a back-up drone was thrown in the garage sale deal...), I went to the backyard and fired it up. It immediately tuned upside-down and crashed. I've had a couple of really cheap drones and they never did that. After a few attempts, I put the drone back in the box and set it aside to open another day.

Today was that other day.

I wanted to check the camera so I took off the propellers (to avoid getting hurt...) and tried it out. I got it to work and even sync'd it with the smartphone app. So far so good. After it got too dark to take outside, I decided to look online to see if there were any instructional videos on this particular model that might help. Yes, there are. Turns out, there are several steps I must do to calibrate the drone and the remote. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'm going to give it another chance.

I've wondered if I really want to invest good money in a top-tier drone. I'm sure I'd like it, but would I use it? Do I want it mostly because I don't have it? That's happened before and I hate finding out the main reason I want something is because I don't have it and once I get it, it's not like I imagined.

Hopefully, I'll get the thing to fly. If so, I hope also it takes photos and videos good enough to share. If not, well, since it was a garage sale find, I won't be out too much.

Wanting Things...

 Wanting things...

For fun, I'll get on Facebook Marketplace and see what's for sale. People post pictures of things they want to sell. They present the best side of the things, make them look appealing, look wonderful. I used to spend time on KSL Classifieds, but Facebook has an easier-to-use interface.

I really shouldn't do it. 

I shouldn't do it for a couple of reasons. First, these are mostly things I DO NOT NEED. That's the biggest reason not to look. Then there's the price of things...don't really have the disposable income to spend on stuff I don't need. I think that's why I like shopping at thrift stores. There I can buy things I don't need and not spend a lot of money on them.

No, I shouldn't be wanting things I don't need and can't afford. It makes life a little miserable, if a person dwells on these kinds of things. There's a reason we can't get everything we want. Life wasn't meant to be that way, because humans tend to want more and more stuff...they get greedy and a greedy person is not a good person. Then, if they happen to get what they want, then they want what they can't get, want what others have. It also makes people believe they should get stuff just because they want it or that it's not fair that others have stuff they can't have.

I'm old enough to notice something else, too. There are times when I've wanted something (something I didn't necessarily need...) and I've bought it. It never quite seems to be as special as I thought it would be. I would love a drone because I love photography. I've had a couple of drones in the past, but they were on the cheap end and they didn't take good photographs--sort of defeats the purpose. But I know if I were to spend good money on a good drone, it would probably sit in my room most of the time, unused. It would be really cool, but I'd most likely get bored and go underused.

And the last reason I should stop looking at things for sale on social media is because spending more time on social media isn't good for me in general. It's full of people (mostly...) twisting the truth about how wonderful their lives are, showing everyone where they've traveled, the accomplishments of their children, how cute are their pets. I know, I know...I do it, too.

No, I shouldn't be looking at the things people are selling, but knowing me as I do, I'm sure I'll do it again.

Breaking Out The Drone...Again

It was years ago. We had just received some inheritance. We were at a hobby shop, I saw the drone, and I bought it. It's not a "top-of-the-line" model, but it's better than those twenty dollar versions. The problem isn't the drone, but my inexperience in operating it. I'd love to get good enough to take great pictures and videos with it.

Hopefully, time will tell.

Over the weekend, I visited another hobby shop. I had to pick up a battery for the drone (the two I had previously sort of blew up...). They found one in the back and I was off and running, or flying, as it were. Tonight was such a perfect night to dust off the drone and see if I still knew how to operate it.

Turns out, I'm about as good as I was before.

I took three videos of my flying attempts. I could only include the shortest video here because of size restraints. The drone made a rather abrupt landing, or I guess I made an abrupt landing and one of the landing supports fell off. In drone flying, landings are SO SO SO important--the same as flying close to power lines or large pine trees. Luckily the damage was easily repairable. I fixed the landing gear and hit the brilliant blue skies again. I did get some views of my neighborhood and house that I just don't get anywhere else--fifty feet straight up.

I'm always excited to see the finished product, but as I watched the videos I realized I've got a long way to go. I need to be much smoother. Watching what I captured can give a person a headache, or make them seasick--sort of like watching The Blair Witch Project, or Cloverfield.

No, drone operation/photography is a work in progress. Like anything, you get better with practice. Now, if I can just keep the drone it in one piece long enough to learn, I'll be fine.

Home...Through Four Camera Lenses

I didn't work today so after we did some shopping, I had a chance to hang out at home. What a great day! Of course, it was too hot, but what are you going to do?

Normally, I carry at least one camera with me at all times, and when I'm packing my Nikon, I have two. Today, I had four. Two cameras were from phones (the technology that's packed in these phones is nothing short of amazing...), one came from my Nikon, and the fourth came from a small little camera attached to a drone.

The fourth is by far the worst quality, but I took this picture from a video so the resolution's not the best. That's fine with me. It's pretty incredible that a small camera can operate on the thing in the first place.

I know there are cameras out there that could combine all four. Maybe you even have such a device. Perhaps one day in the future I'll be able to have one of these uber-camera, but for now, I'll trade off, shoot different shots from different cameras and use them all. Because taking the picture, is sometimes more than half the fun.