Mini 3 A Neolithic Dream - the Ring of Brodgar...

[AlbionDrones]

The Ring of Brodgar at the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, the first place on my list for a drone flight, taken at 6am a few days after the Summer Solstice and at the first possible opportunity during our Summer visit...

One of the most enigmatic, beautiful, atmospheric and photogenic ancient sites - which in a place filled with history is something in itself - and somewhere that has to be seen to be truly appreciated, I only hope the video is able to pay the respect and homage the place is due, and perhaps encourages others to make their own pilgrimage north to these beautiful isles...

The Ring of Brodgar is a Historic Scotland site, so take off and landing the drone has to be done remotely, and in considertion of other visitors, hence the need for an extremely early morning flight before it got busy...

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[macfawlty]

Beautiful site. Good flying. I'm really enjoying seeing your aerial travel vlog. What happened with that transition cut for the intro approach shot? Try to keep the first and last shots clean. You almost got the right move for that approach. If you're approaching from a low altitude, try increasing altitude quickly as you approach and slow forward progress as you do a slight gimbal down to maintain axis with the horizon line (or prominent feature). When there's a long travel or POI, experiment with some speed ramping in post. I like seeing the wide cuts with the Lochs and sun reveal, the straight down spiral. The forward/backward POI's are real good. Did you notice how much variety they provide for essentially the same move, at different distances and initiated from different tangents? I can see a lot of variety in the textures on the ground. Try some very slow travel (or straight up/down) gimbal down low altitude shots, as the variations in textures and colors of grasses and trees are often very intriguing straight down. I think I know what you were trying to do with the closing shot, essentially the reverse of the intro approach. You could try starting from a higher altitude w/ gimbal down, then tilt gimbal up as you pull away and decrease altitude, maintaining axis from the centerpoint of gimbal rotation.

 

[JimSteadman]

Beautifully done.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Beautiful site. Good flying. I'm really enjoying seeing your aerial travel vlog. What happened with that transition cut for the intro approach shot? Try to keep the first and last shots clean. You almost got the right move for that approach. If you're approaching from a low altitude, try increasing altitude quickly as you approach and slow forward progress as you do a slight gimbal down to maintain axis with the horizon line (or prominent feature). When there's a long travel or POI, experiment with some speed ramping in post. I like seeing the wide cuts with the Lochs and sun reveal, the straight down spiral. The forward/backward POI's are real good. Did you notice how much variety they provide for essentially the same move, at different distances and initiated from different tangents? I can see a lot of variety in the textures on the ground. Try some very slow travel (or straight up/down) gimbal down low altitude shots, as the variations in textures and colors of grasses and trees are often very intriguing straight down. I think I know what you were trying to do with the closing shot, essentially the reverse of the intro approach. You could try starting from a higher altitude w/ gimbal down, then tilt gimbal up as you pull away and decrease altitude, maintaining axis from the centerpoint of gimbal rotation.

Thanks, and thanks for the debrief.. The initial shot was too long, even with a speed ramp it didnt fit into the musical phrases... The final 2 shots were one shot, but as the loch came into view the colour of the grass changed - I was shooting in auto WB - which made it really odd, hence the 2 shots instead of one long smooth pull away...

 

[AlbionDrones]

Beautifully done.

Thanks Jim, I am happy with it

 

[Bilby1]

Well shot. It certainly is a remarkable site, one of many in Orkney. On our visit the heavens opened and we were drenched.
It is amazing that many of the sites on Orkney predate Stonhenge. I'm looking forward to your next work. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Well shot. It certainly is a remarkable site, one of many in Orkney. On our visit the heavens opened and we were drenched.
It is amazing that many of the sites on Orkney predate Stonhenge. I'm looking forward to your next work. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks... I have ncaptured some relics of the World Wars, and many of the Neolithic sites on mainland, but the weather has not allowed me to fly every day, so a lot of the places I was hoping to fly have yet to be done, and we are homeward bound tomorrow early - which just means a great excuse to return again in the next year or so

 

[macfawlty]

Thanks, and thanks for the debrief.. The initial shot was too long, even with a speed ramp it didnt fit into the musical phrases... The final 2 shots were one shot, but as the loch came into view the colour of the grass changed - I was shooting in auto WB - which made it really odd, hence the 2 shots instead of one long smooth pull away...

Yeh, definitely always set a preferred white balance. There can be a considerable difference in WB, especially at sunset, depending on the camera's orientation. It's a lot easier to make WB adjustments in post than attempt to correct auto WB variance in a clip. I'd set white balance based on the best visual orientation. When flying away from a sunset, color balance is more important as foliage and natural features are well-lit. When flying into a sunset, most features are in shadow, so you can grade the sunset whatever color you like. The challenge with sunset flight is the difference in exposure with a turnaround or POI. That's why I really like aperture control.

It's fairly common to have a long travel clip at the start (for reveal) and ending (departure). Obviously music dictates cut points. These drones never fly perfectly straight, so whether it's a speed ramp or a transition, the directional change will be noticeable. Sometimes I'll try to match a linear flight path for a roadway, dock or fence line or splitting 2 uprights and the drone will drift off of the intended axis. I decided it can look better crossing an axis at an acute angle than staying directly on line.