Jacaranda

By way of explaining a long absence of blogging I'll only say that sometimes life (and work) get in the way of our being able to do the things that bring us the most joy. But over the last few weeks as I've made Friday drives up to Waimea Airport to check on the weather equipment I couldn't help but be reminded that this is my favorite time of year here. It's that short window of time when the Jacaranda, Silver Oak, and Ohia trees all blossom at the same time. So I've been waiting for a day when a trifecta of conditions come together: 1) It has to be a calm day... not too windy; 2) The weather has to be clear and the lighting good (end of day being best); and, 3) I have to have a set up drone with me and time to fly. All of that came together this past week and here is the result.

Enjoy!

Alex & Beatriz - South Point, Hawaii

A random encounter. New friends made. And a fun little video made from a brief moment within an incredible weekend of travelling my beautiful island.

For the full (if not more complete) story of how this came about be sure to read the Description under the YouTube video.

Enjoy!

Olivia

"Olivia"... the hurricane, er, tropical storm, er... event that never really was this past week... at least not here in sheltered Kona. Regardless, we have had a full summer of hurricane scares, warnings, preparations, close calls, earthquakes, eruptions, wildfires, and overall angst out here it seems. It's been an interesting summer on the Big Island.

So, Olivia, and to all your friends and named events... Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Kuainiho

Found perfect sunset light on my second day out with the new Mavic 2 Pro and flew over a favorite pu'u. I'll continue to struggle with only having a single battery and no neutral density (ND) filters for a while, but the batteries will come soon and I've made inquiries with Polar Pro about a custom set (ND4 thru ND64) of filters. So by late October or so all the gear should be here and we'll be into this new rig thru a couple of software and firmware updates. Things on the settings side should settle in by then too and quality improve from here.

... Which is awesome because it's all starting at a pretty high bar I'd say! The dynamic range on this new camera is amazing.

Enjoy!

Grasslands

I need a lot more stick time with the DJI Inspire 1 but finally got some this week during a period of really nice weather and a work holiday. So my subject was largely the contrast between what the area out toward Waimea looks like between normal pasture conditions and the occasional wildfire. I considered combining footage using both drones, the Inspire and my Mavic Pro, but in the end decided to keep the color and look consistent and just used material captured with the Inspire. In the end I think this turned out better.

Enjoy!

Vocanic Time Lapse

This set of time lapse videos is extremely well done. It pains me that this event is so close to where I live and yet because of the location I'm unable to capture any of it. I would certainly be doing time lapse imagery if I could get in there however.

Enjoy!

Big Island Eruption May 2018

This Google My Maps page is a crowd-sourced, community effort that is being updated quite frequently. It's a great resource for those wondering what is going on out here, where the action currently is, and how much land and property have been affected. I freely admit that I'm quite late adding a page about all this here, but it's likely I'll add more in the days ahead. Honestly I've been too taken in by the events and slack-jawed over it all to do much.

Pasture Lands

It's really hard to *not* find a way to get my Mavic up in the air when the winds are calm and the sky is clear, so when a day starts shaping up this one did the other day I hit the road, visit some of my airports, and fly until sunset. Theese images are probably not the first ones that come to mind when someone mentions Hawaii; beaches, coconut trees, and mai tais come well ahead of ranch lands. But this is Hawaii too... here seen on the slopes of the Kohala Mountain on the Big Island.

Enjoy!

Kohala Mtn

A stunning day here simply demanded that I put my newly repaired Mavic up in the air. Must say that the camera on this bird is better than before it went in for repair. DJI didn't actually repair my drone, they swapped it for a different one. I noticed the serial number on the unit I got back was different than the original. So it not only works once again but I have a better camera as well! And I'd be remiss if I didn't send props out to the West Coast DJI Repair center. They did a great job and provided a very reasonable turn-around.

Enjoy a brief tour of the ranch land side of the Kohala Mtn and Mahukona harbor!

Hawaiian Pu'u

My Mavic has been out of service (OTS) since I got back from the mainland in mid-October. DJI eventually fixed it for free since the problems were within my warranty. I also had a DJI Care Refresh policy so it would have been free anyway. So it was great that a Friday afternoon coincided with a perfectly clear, wind free day to let me get up in my little bird again. Over time I hope to fly many more pu'u around the island. For now here's a short look at countryside I get to see on a regular basis.

Enjoy!

Maiden Flight

I had just enough time late this afternoon for a quick flight with the new DJI Inspire 1 v2 I bought for the State this past July. There's a lot to learn yet, and she flies a bit differently than my little Mavic Pro. One thing is certain: transport and setup is a LOT more tedious with this than with my little, backpack friendly Mavic. The case and sheer weight of all the gear required to run an Inspire is one factor. More things need to be attached and installed to get up in the air than the Mavic requires. But the Inspire X3 camera is better by far... tho' I still need to dial in settings just like I had to with the Mavic.

But it's a start. And I needed to make a start. Life and work really got in the way these past few months. Now that I've inched a little closer to being caught up I suppose I can afford to fly this thing more. And study for the Part 107 exam... aargh. Please. Don't remind me! :)

Enjoy! More to follow...

2017 KOA ARFF Triennial Exercise

Every three years the FAA requires Part 139 certificated airports to conduct an Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) simulation of an airfield mass casualty incident. In so doing the airport will typically invite as many potential local responders and interested players to participate as well. This often includes local fire, police, ambulance, hospital(s), Red Cross, military (if nearby), and a community emergency response team (CERT). In addition, live bodies and an aircraft mock-up or vehicle is included. This year Kona did not have an aircraft available, so they used a couple of school buses. "Casualties" (including their moulage, or simulated injury make-up) were played by a group of very enthusiastic local high school kids.

Things never go entirely as planned with these exercises, but that's why we practice. It's also why we try and do even more in the intervening 3 yrs. Enjoy!

Kona Courthouse

I just realized that in my rush out the door to the mainland last August I forgot to put this up here... as well as a few others. So I'll start to get caught up. I'm behind on everything really... sigh.

South Kona Sunday Sunrise

It may be true that age will never cure me of burning the candle at all ends. After being up all day and working all night I still found energy to take off for a sunrise shoot with the DJI Mavic Pro this past Sunday. For my sacrifice I was rewarded with some stunning light, calm air, and beautiful scenery. There is still a lot to learn about flying, cinematography, and editing for sure, but I'm making progress I hope. In any event I'm posting my journey as a record for myself. You're more than welcome to ride along if you like. Enjoy!