Highlights from Utah's Endless Scenery - Winter 2019

[GDadd]

Hi all, first video post.

I headed to Utah in February to get some shots with the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom. Having visited throughout the state several times, I was anxious to go while there was snow and few tourists.

Turns out it was fortunate timing in that some of the state parks restrict drones between March and October, but allow them from November through February with a $10/day permit, assuming the 107 rules are followed.

Drones are not allowed anywhere in Monument Valley, so the hyperlapse is the Zoom sitting on the railing of my hotel balcony - no motors involved.

I captured hours of video and scores of photos, and decided to put a montage together as it reminds me of special moments on the trip. Winter was so peaceful among such spectacular scenery, and I'm fairly sure it will now be a yearly pilgrimage.

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[Evnbehr]

Wonderful footage and music selection. I really enjoyed seeing this.
I'm retired Air Force, been living in Northern Utah for the last 15 years. I'm a new Mavic 2 Pro owner; only have had it for a couple months. I'm not a professional so I'm just registered as a recreational hobbyist. I have to be mindful to follow and respect federal and state rules for UAVs.

Thank you again for sharing this beautiful video.

 

[AMann]

Well done! Really like the contrast of redrock and snow, and your Hyperlapses with clouds looked great!

 

[Hauptmann]

Hi all, first video post.

I headed to Utah in February to get some shots with the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom. Having visited throughout the state several times, I was anxious to go while there was snow and few tourists.

Turns out it was fortunate timing in that some of the state parks restrict drones between March and October, but allow them from November through February with a $10/day permit, assuming the 107 rules are followed.

Drones are not allowed anywhere in Monument Valley, so the hyperlapse is the Zoom sitting on the railing of my hotel balcony - no motors involved.

I captured hours of video and scores of photos, and decided to put a montage together as it reminds me of special moments on the trip. Winter was so peaceful among such spectacular scenery, and I'm fairly sure it will now be a yearly pilgrimage.

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

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Wonderful video! Can't wait to see more of your work. Utah has some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere. Would love to fly Bryce Canyon, but of course I can't.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Beautiful place.

 

[John Kyte]

Just absolutely beautiful- well done ? Someday I might be able to edit a video this good but I doubt it. Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful piece of work.

 

[Aspri]

Excellent panoramic views, thanks for sharing.
Adolf from Argentina

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Really beautiful! I've been a few of those places. Love that red rock with contrasting winter snow now on it!

 

[ddebello]

Stunning. Well done

 

[TheWolfen]

Great video! Utah is one of my favorite places to visit - and it's not very far away for me. Good idea on how to get a little video in Monument Valley! Yeah you definitely don't want to push your luck flying against restrictions on the reservation there.

 

[Photo Beaty]

Very well done. I live in southeastern Utah and thought I recognized much of the scenery in your excellent video.

 

[MetalDetectingMichigan]

Hi all, first video post.

I headed to Utah in February to get some shots with the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom. Having visited throughout the state several times, I was anxious to go while there was snow and few tourists.

Turns out it was fortunate timing in that some of the state parks restrict drones between March and October, but allow them from November through February with a $10/day permit, assuming the 107 rules are followed.

Drones are not allowed anywhere in Monument Valley, so the hyperlapse is the Zoom sitting on the railing of my hotel balcony - no motors involved.

I captured hours of video and scores of photos, and decided to put a montage together as it reminds me of special moments on the trip. Winter was so peaceful among such spectacular scenery, and I'm fairly sure it will now be a yearly pilgrimage.

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Very cool

 

[davidzimagery]

Absolutely awesome, epic scenes of some beautiful country! I'm not a fan of the quick sweep transitions. Everything else is smooth and easy and they interrupt that flow. Maybe if they had a longer duration it would fit in better. Just my humble opinion.

 

[Lets Fly]

Just beautiful, I too am not of fan of quick transitions but still nice. I just can't helping thinking where are you people sometimes while videoing. I really like it when the pilot
shows for a brief moment where they are for perspective.

 

[Harro]

Apart from the transitions is is a great video. Loved it!

 

[Drbobk]

Absolutely awesome, epic scenes of some beautiful country! I'm not a fan of the quick sweep transitions. Everything else is smooth and easy and they interrupt that flow. Maybe if they had a longer duration it would fit in better. Just my humble opinion.

I agree. The scenery is stunning, and the slow controlled movements and panning are great, but I found the transitions jarring. Nevertheless, beautiful video.

 

[GDadd]

All, sincere thanks for all of your comments. Regarding the transitions, I generally select the music and then put the transitions against the beat or cadence.

In this case I started by doubling the length of each clip, but that would have doubled the length. With the world's attention span, I opted to try the shorter length.

But with all your fresh eyes, understanding your perspective is very helpful. Thank you.

And there is another comical challenge - there are at least three roles one plays when filming aerial video:

- Pilot: "I'll fly over here. No wait, need to be sure I can make it back with enough battery. Better stop so I don't lose signal behind that spire. Maybe I'll just use RTH because I'm having a hard time with VLOS."

- Director: "Hey pilot, can you stop jerking your movements? I'm trying to line up my composition. Ok, a little more angle to the camera - wait that's too much. Ooh, let's follow the ground for a bit. No wait, that's a great cloud pattern."

- Editor: "You guys are killing me!"

In summary and full transparency, some of the sweeping shots were simply not long enough because my inner pilot and director were not on the same page.

 

[Drbobk]

All, sincere thanks for all of your comments. Regarding the transitions, I generally select the music and then put the transitions against the beat or cadence.

In this case I started by doubling the length of each clip, but that would have doubled the length. With the world's attention span, I opted to try the shorter length.

But with all your fresh eyes, understanding your perspective is very helpful. Thank you.

And there is another comical challenge - there are at least three roles one plays when filming aerial video:

- Pilot: "I'll fly over here. No wait, need to be sure I can make it back with enough battery. Better stop so I don't lose signal behind that spire. Maybe I'll just use RTH because I'm having a hard time with VLOS."

- Director: "Hey pilot, can you stop jerking your movements? I'm trying to line up my composition. Ok, a little more angle to the camera - wait that's too much. Ooh, let's follow the ground for a bit. No wait, that's a great cloud pattern."

- Editor: "You guys are killing me!"

In summary and full transparency, some of the sweeping shots were simply not long enough because my inner pilot and director were not on the same page.

I didn’t mean that I was bothered that there were transitions. I was referring to the particular transition that you used most frequently. I felt like my eyes were losing focus as they occurred. But that’s just my opinion - that’s why there are so many transitions to choose from, because different people like different things. I agree with your assessment of people’s attention spans, but that footage was so stunning I would have watched it for twice as long.

 

[GDadd]

I didn’t mean that I was bothered that there were transitions. I was referring to the particular transition that you used most frequently. I felt like my eyes were losing focus as they occurred. But that’s just my opinion - that’s why there are so many transitions to choose from, because different people like different things. I agree with your assessment of people’s attention spans, but that footage was so stunning I would have watched it for twice as long.

Ah, helpful. It was a lazy man choice - and called Blur, btw.

I'm grateful for all of the feedback. I need to discipline myself to maintain longer, uninterrupted movements in my flying and camera moments. Can't tell you how many times I've looked at footage after getting home and wanted to wring my own neck!

 

[davidzimagery]

All, sincere thanks for all of your comments. Regarding the transitions, I generally select the music and then put the transitions against the beat or cadence.

In this case I started by doubling the length of each clip, but that would have doubled the length. With the world's attention span, I opted to try the shorter length.

But with all your fresh eyes, understanding your perspective is very helpful. Thank you.

And there is another comical challenge - there are at least three roles one plays when filming aerial video:

- Pilot: "I'll fly over here. No wait, need to be sure I can make it back with enough battery. Better stop so I don't lose signal behind that spire. Maybe I'll just use RTH because I'm having a hard time with VLOS."

- Director: "Hey pilot, can you stop jerking your movements? I'm trying to line up my composition. Ok, a little more angle to the camera - wait that's too much. Ooh, let's follow the ground for a bit. No wait, that's a great cloud pattern."

- Editor: "You guys are killing me!"

In summary and full transparency, some of the sweeping shots were simply not long enough because my inner pilot and director were not on the same page.

You nailed it here. Pretty much every one of my video making sessions plays out this way. So I swear I'm going to do better next time...and sure enough, I swear.