Drone Pilots

Weekend Drone Piloting? What were you thinking!?

Weekend Drone Piloting? What were you thinking!?

Cray-Cray (Crazy-Ass) Weekend Pilots Is that a mosquito? No, it's another drone. If you're an adult and semi-conscious of your environment, you've likely seen dozens of drones flying overhead by now with the ubiquitous and all too familiar droning buzz of the small aerial flying "machines.   Perhaps you too may be tempted to fly one or at least slightly-more-than curious about who flies these things, how to fly them or why the drones are becoming so popular. If so, (or if your spouse, significant other or partner seems keen to take to the skies) here are a few things to consider.     The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) currently requires both hobby and for-profit pilots to register with the FAA before letting the drone go airborne.   Here's a helpful link: https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/model_aircraft/ According to the FAA website, to become a pilot there are a few requirements. To become a pilot you must: Be at least 16 years old Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English (exceptions may be made if the person is unable to meet one of these requirements for a medical reason, such as hearing impairment) Be in a physical and mental condition to safely operate a small UAS Pass the initial aeronautical knowledge exam at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center   The list continues for a long page of requirements and qualifications. As these change or may be updated from time to time, it's best to read it on their site or to bookmark this post for reading later on.   The FAA divides people into two types of pilots:  What? WHY? Hobbyists and everybody else (anyone profiting from flying directly or indirectly).    The catch-all is that, if you collect income (money or compensation of any kind) for flying the drones, you are what is categorized as a "commercial" UAV pilot That means you have to file for and become certified in "Part 107" through an FAA-certified course or location.     “I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery     About us: Air805.com features aerial video and still photography for real estate, special events and fairs, corporate promotions, urban planning and for growing your business, no matter if it's "just you" or a team of 5,000. Well-planned and highly effective photography with an award-winning photojournalist.

Becoming a meme?

Becoming a meme?

How hard could it be to make your own social media video? Smiling. I can see it clearly. You take out your smartphone, GoPro or DSLR, aim it at yourself and all of a sudden you're an internet influencer, right? Or a meme, if you come out looking like someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Don't become a meme. As exciting as it may appear to be an internet sensation, don't. Unless you want to star as someone who absolutely doesn't know what s/he is doing, you really don't want to become a meme on some Look-At-This-Complete-Jackass site.   So, how to be a non meme-ish straight-shooter. Or, how to shoot a short social media video that people will like and hopefully share. Let's look at why  people post social videos.   For the sake of simplicity, I have divided these into two types.   The first kind of posting is personal. You've come across some flowers, puppies, a sunset, a small child playing or an interesting scene and want to share this with friends. Shoot 'em up, post them on your social media and there you go. Aw, you've gotten "likes" from a few friends. Cool. The second kind is self-promotion.     You have a product, service or idea that you want to capture but you don't quite know how to make it look appealing. Worse yet, you're not clear about what you want people to do after they watch this.   That's where we can help.  A lot. We work backwards (try it sometime!) by helping you to determine what you want people to get from the video. Is it more 'likes", branding or product recognition, do you want to sell a product or service? Is this a demonstration video on how to use the product/service? What's the expectation from creating one or more videos? Do you want to make a sale, demonstrate and engage an audience or is it something else?    This information must be determined prior to shooting for an optimal use of your time and ours. We can help you with this part, because we sit and evaluate the best options specific to your desired results.   How we work  with you:  We can meet with you to carefully determine a number of the factors listed as well as other criterion ahead of time. Who's your target audience? What would you like them to do after watching the video (share, buy, find out more?). What kind of budget are you setting aside for this? Is your short video a one-off (a single video with a "let's see what happens" effort) or part of a plan that comprehensively aims to achieve a set of objectives, like generating more customers, creating a product buzz, clearly documenting boundaries and views, staying on the customer radar for a future purchase, influencing, driving specific sales, posting a how-to or something else?   Is your subject or topic a simple, easy-to-explain or demonstrate product? If so, you can create a series of short shoots for social media that showcase the product, happy people using it or satisfied customer endorsements.   Is your project or promotion more difficult with several layers, aspects, benefits or too much information to fit on one mind-numbing long video? Split it up. We'll work with you to determine the selling points so that each may be made into a separate but unified approach to marketing yourself.   Um, this sounds difficult. It can be hard to do something that you have little interest or skills at creating. We can help by holding your hand through step-by-step methods to get to your goal: More sales, more eyeballs, more orders, greater visibility. Whatever you may have to offer, we can help to make it more compelling to do.   I have a camera on my phone.  Why do I need you guys? You don't need us to post selfies or do a live stream from Cancun.  Unless you're serious about doing something constructive and increasing the profitability of whatever it is you do, sell or offer to your customer base.    You need us to craft a cohesive marketing vision using you, your staff, your customers in testimonials, all with your tag line and a high degree of consistency and purpose to move you ahead and in front of whatever distractions there may be.    This is life right now.  Shoot it.     Business is meant to be rewarding. You don't have to be good at every facet of running a business. We can help you to go towards the next level of success by coordinating with you and ouur team strengths. Together we can be much more successful than individually.     “Within all of us is a varying amount of space lint and star dust, the residue from our creation. Most are too busy to notice it, and it is stronger in some than others. It is strongest in those of us who fly and is responsible for an unconscious, subtle desire to slip into some wings and try for the elusive boundaries of our origin.” – K.O. Eckland      About us: Air805.com features aerial video and still photography for real estate, special events and fairs, corporate promotions, urban planning and for growing your business, no matter if it's "just you" or a team of 5,000. Well-planned and highly effective photography with an award-winning photojournalist.

Drone Pilots, a new challenge!

Drone Pilots, a new challenge!

Piloting an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is my new challenge. Like many around the world who have dreamed of flying but could not afford the costs, flying a drone may just be the next best thing.    Whether it's time, money, location or age keeping you from becoming a pilot,  learning to fly has been my own undying passion! I'm sure many others share in this desire to be above the daily fray, to rise to where many have yet to explore, free from roads and the land-bound pull of gravity. Learning the FAA[1] certification program, regulations and arcane vocabulary, highly detailed and confusing charts, A.M. radio communication, navigation, protocol and so many other aspects required to pass the Part 107 test, if you want to be able to fly for income.Imagine what's involved;    There are so many places that you can't fly, possibly because of the delicate nature or potential environmental impact to flora or fauna, the danger of causing an accident or endangering others, interference with existing commercial and private pilots, fire and rescue services, law enforcement, encroaching on private property, National Parks, military property exemptions and much more.   There are maximum height restrictions, limit to how early or late you can fly without modification or permission, visibility guidelines, clear communication and weather patterns. Everything that can create interference with an action, a person or an event can (and probably is) be regulated. What is Part 107? "The FAA Part 107 is a set of rules for operating a drone commercially (i.e. flying a drone to make money) in the U.S. It is also used to refer specifically to the certification drone pilots must have before they can legally offer professional drone services".   So who needs to get certified under Part 107? "If you plan on flying your drone for any non-recreational purposes, Part 107 rules are applicable for all drones weighing less than 55 pounds and used for non-hobby purposes". So that means that if you charge someone to take a video or photo with your drone, you need to get certified by the FAA. Well, for me, The roughly $2,000 [2] that my new drone and equipment costs is so much less than the costs of flying with an instructor. A small Cessna and instructor costs about $170 an hour to fly around here, and the medical requirements, preparation, scheduling, equipment and supplies. Costs easily top the cost of a consumer drone after a couple of flights. And unless I have a "Charlie Brown" moment and lose my drone to a tree (or worse, kerplunk into the Pacific), it's all good.Wow, with so many rules, are there any benefits to flying drones?     Part 2: Buying a drone – Leonardo DaVinci“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”   [1] FAA Federal Aviation Administration [2] General price point of a DJI Mavic 2 Pro basic set   About us: Air805.com features aerial video and still photography for real estate, special events and fairs, corporate promotions, urban planning and for growing your business, no matter if it's "just you" or a team of 5,000. Well-planned and highly effective photography with an award-winning photojournalist.

Air805: Buying a Drone

Air805: Buying a Drone

Buying a drone is about getting your eyes in the sky, seeing what you can only imagine; a beautiful POV [Point Of View] of a house, property, trees or coastline shot at sunset, perhaps starting a hobby or business doing something that you'd probably do for free (but don't tell that to anyone)! The ultimate option of buying a drone with built-in GPS allows you to actually let go of the flight controls and get your bearings... You now have the luxury to just fiddle with the camera to go for the POV or shot that really looks good. Imagine that the drone with GPS is a tool, like a magical tripod that holds your camera steady at 300 feet above the ground while you frame your shot. An average 15 to 20 minutes of battery life gives you plenty of time to get the perfect shot from different heights, angles or times of day. See more about choosing a drone in another post! There are industries that use drones daily; real estate and property management services, realtors, insurance companies and adjusters, event planners, convention centers, promotional companies, celebrations, special events, agriculture and pest control, viticulture (wines and grapes), music venues and concerts, trails, geology, buildings and architecture, historic finds, some spelunking and so much more. (Tell us what you find interesting below)Beside weddings and sunsets, what else can i shoot with a drone?   While I've done quite a bit of research before deciding on my own requirements for a drone and know that like Charlie Brown's kite, I may end up irretrievably stuck in a tree, my first purchase may never quite meet my imagination or grandiose expectations. So I'm glad for the time spent researching, the amount of information I've accrued, the insights I've gained into potential 'retirement' businesses (things you would do whether you got paid or not!) and some of the really nice friendships I'll make along the way.     Can you get into flying drones for less than $2k? You bet! (I've always looked for a way to use that expression in a blog!) Sure, there are discount sites and import marketeers selling drones for $40 and up.  You'll need to decide what you're willing to sacrifice if you're buying a drone under $800... Is the camera any good and easy to use? Can I transfer the video easily? Will the batteries hold up? Is it legal to fly? Is the controller user-friendly? The controller that comes with the drone I've selected allows me to see what I'm recording and to get a spatial awareness of the surroundings where my drone is, in real time.  When I looked over the under-$100 drone options, there were a lot of questions that I could not find answers to, and many more questions regarding copyright issues as some of the drones look identical outwardly to the genuine and legitimate manufacturers. Even if they look just like another popular drone, do they have the same features? Much like highly maligned cars made in the early 2000s in China, some of which did not earn even a single star on the Car Safety Ratings (crash tests), those cars looked almost identical to what was already on the road in the USA but did not provide any of the safety, security or reliabilityof the American cars. Perhaps there's a similar caveat to buying a discount drone compared to a full-featured and tested $2,000 drone.   You'll know soon enough! Disclaimer: I bought a small drone a couple of years ago for under $40 and never even took it out of the box. I was very disappointed when I opened the bright packaging as reality met head-on with expectations and promotional hype. My apprehension in flying such a spindly, poorly-crafted and constructed product outweighed my desire to become airborne and to photograph from a unique aerial perspective. I figured that this would be a single-use drone if I ever flew it!   See more about choosing a drone.    Here's wishing you all a new experience, an opportunity to see your country with a fresh pair of eyes, and a bold willingness to learn something new.   “Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.”  – Socrates ©2017 GiralMedia / Air805 Joe Giral   About us: Air805.com features aerial video and still photography for real estate, special events and fairs, corporate promotions, urban planning and for growing your business, no matter if it's "just you" or a team of 5,000. Well-planned and highly effective photography with an award-winning photojournalist.

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