Ojai Valley, CA -- Guidance From Above

[Cosimoto]

Shot over September and October 2021 with a Mavic Air 2.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Music: "D.W. Suite" by Lindsey Buckingham

 

[Dale D]

Shot over September and October 2021 with a Mavic Air 2.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Music: "D.W. Suite" by Lindsey Buckingham

Ojai is a beautiful area and you have captured its essence. The nice shots are the rays of sunshine, and the beautiful green fields. The other shots suffered from a large dynamic range from bright sunlight to dark foregrounds. I wish here were a tool to fix underexposed shadows in video like the gradient filter in photoshop.

 

[Cosimoto]

Yes, sunsets are tricky to shoot because the sensor on the MA2 is tiny and doesn't have much use in shots with low light.

There is a masking filter in Final Cut Pro which enables the ability to split shots between sky and ground and give them each their own exposure settings. I have used it before but it's kind of a pain to work with because you have to line up two versions of a clip on top of each other on the timeline and it's very easy for them to get out of sync and ruin a shot. And the clip of the ground is usually very noisy. But maybe I'll give it a try. Looking forward to cameras with better and larger sensors. Someday....

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Dale D]

Yes, sunsets are tricky to shoot because the sensor on the MA2 is tiny and doesn't have much use in shots with low light.

There is a masking filter in Final Cut Pro which enables the ability to split shots between sky and ground and give them each their own exposure settings. I have used it before but it's kind of a pain to work with because you have to line up two versions of a clip on top of each other on the timeline and it's very easy for them to get out of sync and ruin a shot. And the clip of the ground is usually very noisy. But maybe I'll give it a try. Looking forward to cameras with better and larger sensors. Someday....

Thanks for the suggestion!

Yes- in still photography we always have split ND filters to hold back a bright sky and meter on the foreground. Lee Filters do an especially good job at that. I think there are also split ND filters for drone but they are probably only useful for still images which can be lined up on the screen.

For now, when I shoot towards the sun I kind of wait for it to near or too ch the horizon so I have a fighting chance of an equal exposure for foreground and bright sun and sky. Otherwise I avoid shooting towards the sun.

Dale

 

[Cosimoto]

My experiences with shooting into the sun have been mixed. Sometimes it works beautifully (a bit of strategically placed cloud cover helps too):

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

And sometimes I can get lucky with the right filter at the right moment:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

But it's very hit and miss for me because I'm not expert enough in this stuff to know what the correct solution is before I take off. And once I'm in the air and shooting, I typically only have a few minutes to shoot before the sun disappears, especially in the winter.

 

[Mavic Maxwell]

My experiences with shooting into the sun have been mixed. Sometimes it works beautifully (a bit of strategically placed cloud cover helps too):

That planing along the beach approach to the jetty (2nd vid @2:20) was "strategically placed"...so good!

 

[eEridani]

Audio could use a lot less compression ...

 

[Cosimoto]

That planing along the beach approach to the jetty (2nd vid @2:20) was "strategically placed"...so good!

Thanks! It was cut to the music (obviously). But the music was chosen long after I shot this footage -- it wasn't planned that way. I'm not that organized!

 

[Cosimoto]

Audio could use a lot less compression ...

There is no compression on this track -- at least not that I added. It is possible that Vimeo is adding some when they stream it, especially if you are on a slower connection. But I don't hear that when I play it here. You might try playing directly off the Vimeo site rather than the embed and see if it's any better.

 

[Cosimoto]

That planing along the beach approach to the jetty (2nd vid @2:20) was "strategically placed"...so good!

This one features the same location (the cliffs at Carpinteria, CA -- about 5 miles south of Santa Barbara), but at mid-day rather than sunset. Watch for the herd of seals and sea birds on the beach on the south side of the jetty.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Mavic Maxwell]

This one features the same location (the cliffs at Carpinteria, CA -- about 5 miles south of Santa Barbara), but at mid-day rather than sunset. Watch for the herd of seals and sea birds on the beach on the south side of the jetty.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Especially on the way back ....smooth flying....peaceful track....cheers mate
I have never published any flights.
Only an amateur IMovie of my 3 legged rescue dog (not drone shots).....I reckon she would be chasing those seals.
Cheers mate.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Cosimoto]

Especially on the way back ....smooth flying....peaceful track....cheers mate
I have never published any flights.
Only an amateur IMovie of my 3 legged rescue dog (not drone shots).....I reckon she would be chasing those seals.
Cheers mate.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Awww, what a sweetheart. Love it.

 

[Cosimoto]

Ojai is a beautiful area and you have captured its essence. The nice shots are the rays of sunshine, and the beautiful green fields. The other shots suffered from a large dynamic range from bright sunlight to dark foregrounds. I wish here were a tool to fix underexposed shadows in video like the gradient filter in photoshop.

If you're interested, I went back in and did some masking on a few (but not all) of the sunset shots in the video.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies