Capturing cinematic video clips necessitates a variety of elevations, flying and gimbal techniques. I elevate and descend, tilting gimbal down and up respectively. Passing trees and other features closer provides the dramatic parallax effect.
The Harpers Ferry launch area is on
E. Ridge St. It’s on the high bluff above the Potomac River and town. There’s a good sized parking area there and along E. Ridge st. There’s always a security guard up there to prevent people from venturing into the collapsing hotel, but they’re friendly and are generally entertained by the droning. There’s a bench to set your stuff although, depending on the number of people around, you may want to launch from the grassy area just below while standing near the flagpole. Set your RTH lower as you’ll be at a fairly high elevation and another 200’ above launch will just be in more wind for the return.
There are 2 optimal times of day to fly here. Mid-morning, the town is in best light, so fly upstream towards the town and the point. I start low along the Potomac and increase elevation as I tilt gimbal down. You can fly right past the church steeple. The other great time to fly is toward late afternoon when the cliffs are in full sunlight. It’s probably the most preferred time if you can’t spend the whole day waiting between flights. If you’ve parked on the hilltop, it’s a reasonable and enjoyable walk into town for sightseeing, lunch and shopping. There are at least a few good POI’s to film: the church steeple (counter clockwise from South, pulling away to reveal town as you spiral out and vice versa in clockwise reverse); the town using the Point as POI; the cliff face and railroad bridges; the plantation style house on the adjacent hilltop to the South above the historic cemetery. There are so many ways to film this locale. The town, bridges, river junction, cliff faces, kayakers, etc. It’s a great place to practice your skills. I’d meet you there sometime if you’re interested. I may go on Sunday.