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Angry people pointing fingers at my drone and taking photos of it

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Today I was filming the beautiful beach of Cala Millor, Mallorca when I saw a public tourist boat was boarding. I Decided I could Active Track it from a distance.
There are no laws (that I'm aware of) in Europe against tracking a boat, so I select it in the app, and click Start (Point-Of-Interest). Everything was fine, the flight went well, or so I thought!
After coming back home, and reviewing the footage, I noticed that 5 people that were on board of that boat were angry about my drone and started pointing at it, waving, and taking photos of it, and the most ridiculous thing, calling other tourists to check out my drone; come on, WHY would anyone do that? It seems crazy to me!

I don't want to post the video here, but here are some screenshots of it:

This guy is trying to take a photo of the drone:
View attachment 146874

And another guy is pointing at it with his finger and waving like he wants it to go away:
View attachment 146875

I just don't understand how they could hear the drone, let alone see it! It was 50 meters (160 feet) high at that moment, about 80 meters away! The waves, water is loud, how?
I think even I wouldn't be able to see the drone from that high even if I was searching for it. All the screenshots above were zoomed in many times (I don't know how many times exactly)

Just for reference, here is a photo without any zoom from (relatively) the same frame as before:

View attachment 146876

As you can see it is pretty far away!
If you are take a video/photos of them, why cannot they do the same? I see nothing here to be upset with.
 
Okay, I agree. Maybe they weren't angry, just interested.
It's fine, I was just wondering why they are doing so.
Mods, you can close this thread.
 
How do you know they were angry?

Most probably they weren't used to drones at all, never seen one before & pointed.
Today I was filming the beautiful beach of Cala Millor, Mallorca when I saw a public tourist boat was boarding. I Decided I could Active Track it from a distance.
There are no laws (that I'm aware of) in Europe against tracking a boat, so I select it in the app, and click Start (Point-Of-Interest). Everything was fine, the flight went well, or so I thought!
After coming back home, and reviewing the footage, I noticed that 5 people that were on board of that boat were angry about my drone and started pointing at it, waving, and taking photos of it, and the most ridiculous thing, calling other tourists to check out my drone; come on, WHY would anyone do that? It seems crazy to me!

I don't want to post the video here, but here are some screenshots of it:

This guy is trying to take a photo of the drone:
View attachment 146874

And another guy is pointing at it with his finger and waving like he wants it to go away:
View attachment 146875

I just don't understand how they could hear the drone, let alone see it! It was 50 meters (160 feet) high at that moment, about 80 meters away! The waves, water is loud, how?
I think even I wouldn't be able to see the drone from that high even if I was searching for it. All the screenshots above were zoomed in many times (I don't know how many times exactly)

Just for reference, here is a photo without any zoom from (relatively) the same frame as before:

View attachment 146876

As you can see it is pretty far away!
The guy in the first photo was afraid the drone was going to beat him to dinner.
 
I was piloting my Mini 2 along the lower Salt River in Arizona a couple of weeks ago looking for the famous wild horses & taking pics of stand-up paddle boarders, kayakers, tubers, etc, from a height of about 50-60 ft along the way. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures later, I saw that several of them were looking up at the drone as I passed by.
 
I was piloting my Mini 2 along the lower Salt River in Arizona a couple of weeks ago looking for the famous wild horses & taking pics of stand-up paddle boarders, kayakers, tubers, etc, from a height of about 50-60 ft along the way. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures later, I saw that several of them were looking up at the drone as I passed by.
DSRT Vult- Brother, I am jealous. that lower Salt River- heck, the entire Salt River flow- is a place I want to drone photograph badly. the wild horses, too. Now, at 50 feet altitude, i am positive the folks clogging up the river could hear you, especially in the slower, calmer stretches of the river where it's quiet. If you were at 200+ feet, they'd never have known you were overhead.
Please keep letting us know where you fly and photograph out there- I want to come back to AZ badly- and not just to see the grandkids, either.

you all be safe and keep well-Ed
 
The Mini 3 Pro is indeed quieter and less disturbing than other DJI drones. But it's still audible at 300' overhead in a quiet location. At 50' it is readily apparent, especially when maneuvering or holding position in gusty wind.
It's also much more expensive and doesn't have an SDK.
 
DSRT Vult- Brother, I am jealous. that lower Salt River- heck, the entire Salt River flow- is a place I want to drone photograph badly. the wild horses, too. Now, at 50 feet altitude, i am positive the folks clogging up the river could hear you, especially in the slower, calmer stretches of the river where it's quiet. If you were at 200+ feet, they'd never have known you were overhead.
Please keep letting us know where you fly and photograph out there- I want to come back to AZ badly- and not just to see the grandkids, either.

you all be safe and keep well-Ed
I fly along the Lower Salt River from the Coon Bluff Recreation Area just off Bush Highway in Mesa. The picnic tables are shaded by mesquite trees & there are pit toilets. Here's a selfie.
 
DSRT Vult- Brother, I am jealous. that lower Salt River- heck, the entire Salt River flow- is a place I want to drone photograph badly. the wild horses, too. Now, at 50 feet altitude, i am positive the folks clogging up the river could hear you, especially in the slower, calmer stretches of the river where it's quiet. If you were at 200+ feet, they'd never have known you were overhead.
Please keep letting us know where you fly and photograph out there- I want to come back to AZ badly- and not just to see the grandkids, either.

you all be safe and keep well-Ed
 

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I once had a funny experience similar to yours. I was flying my drone normally and I left it hovering for a second to check some stuff. Right under the drone, there was a group of kids that started to look at the drone and one of them even tried to throw a stone at it (the drone was quite high so it was not very easy to see let alone hit it with a rock) at least thats how it looked like from the footage.

But generally people who spotted my drone never complained, they usually just look at it couriusly and politely ask questions about it and most people tend to smile while looking at it.
 
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I just noticed that there are two people in the bottom left of the pic that are apparently watching me.
 
I once had a funny experience similar to yours. I was flying my drone normally and I left it hovering for a second to check some stuff. Right under the drone, there was a group of kids that started to look at the drone and one of them even tried to throw a stone at it (the drone was quite high so it was not very easy to see let alone hit it with a rock) at least thats how it looked like from the footage.

But generally people who spotted my drone never complained, they usually just look at it couriusly and politely ask questions about it and most people tend to smile while looking at it.
They are indeed great conversation starters when others are around. Just one more thing I love about them!
 
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On the few occasions I've photographed people, I always stay high enough that my subjects can't be recognized (a 12MP camera also helps obscure ID). I'm not interested in invading anyone's privacy, just trying to get a pic with general human interest and not another empty landscape.
 
You are fooling yourself.
There's no way you can tell they were angry from that distance.
One can easily see they're angry. Especially that one guy whose shoe is untied.

Correction: his shoe is tied. He just happens to be standing on some string.
 
Mods, you can close this thread.
Ok I will cause I beleave about all that can be said has been.
Next time you want a Mod report or flag one of your choice with a @ in front of their name.
CLOSED AS THREAD HIT WALL.
8880A040-EBB1-42D5-A816-037A14989C8E.gif
 
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