So, my first week with the DJI Mini 2 and THIS SHOT (with sound)
This happened right at sunset...
I very clearly miss judged the height of this one tree. Something of an optical illusion made me think it was no more than 30 feet tall… In reality it was closer to 80 feet tall. And I could not see the drone in it, not at all. I turned on beeping and flashing under find my drone, and I did eventually hear it, but I was unable to see the blinking lights as they are simply too dim on the Mini 2. After nightfall I was just able to make out the blinking lights way up in the tree and I was able to identify the approximate location.
iPhone 12 images:
To better see it, using my Nikon and 300mm lens:
I ran to Home Depot and Harbor Freght buying ladders and really long poles, twine and weights.. and... I don't know what I was thinking—that tree is way too tall for a ladder or even a 24 foot long pole… So by 2 AM I gave up and went home to get some rest, as the last photo I took showed it was pretty solidly in there and it wasn't gonna rain, so there wasn't a huge rush to try and get it down.
The next day I took a look again, and in daylight I realized how tall that tree really was.
And my DJI Mini 2 was still safely stuck!
But HOW am I going to get it??!!
So, crazy thing, immediately next door was a tree trimming service with guys scaling the trees with ropes, like Tarzan.
I was able to convince the foreman (with a wad of cash) to get his guys to retreive the drone...
You can see when there are these big guys there next to the tree, for scale, how really big this tree is...
It was a lot of work for them, probably over an hour... the drone was above any climbable branch, but he was able to pull the branch down and grab the drone.
He hoisted up my laptop case and used it for the drone while he climbed down. Mission Accomplished...
HAPPY ENDING
And the drone? NOT A SCRATCH. Still works perfectly... (well except for not avoiding obsticles as much as I'd like, LOL).
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