Kaua'i, Hawaii
The next series of drone and GoPro footage is from our visit to Kaua’i in September 2022. We stayed at the Koloa Landing Resort on the south shore of Kaua’i and had a wonderful time!! This footage gives a taste of the sights in Kaua’i.
Koloa Landing Resort & Coastline
September 2022
This is shows the beautiful Koloa Landing Resort at Poipu, Kaua’i, Hawaii where we stayed. The footage includes the surrounding coastline near the resort.
Wailua Falls
September 2022
A beautiful water fall.
Maha'ulepa Heritage Trail Coastline
September 2022
The the Maha’ulepa Heritage Trail in Kaua’i, Hawaii is a scenic and semi-rugged (at least for 70 year olds!) hiking trail near the Grand Hyatt hotel. The trail itself is 3.7 miles up and back. The drone footage displays a portion of that trail (you can see some people walking it!), however it continues past where the drone footage stops at the green cliffs and goes further to the “cave”.
Na Pali Cruise
September 2022
This is GoPro footage from our Na Pali coastline dinner and sunset cruise on the Akialoa catamaran. The Na Pali coastline is a 15 mile stretch of scenic rugged coast on the northwest side of the island. Some areas are impossible to reach except by boat, while one beach could only be reached by an 11 mile hike (one way) up and down 4000′ of elevation.
The Actual Mah'ulepa Trail
September 2022
This GoPro footage of our hike on the Maha’ulepa Heritage Trail in Kaua’i, Hawaii. The above drone footage was filmed from one of the cliffs on this trail. The trail itself is 3.7 miles up and back. The GoPro battery ran out before the trail!! But this provides an “idea” of what the trail is like.
Snorkeling Off Anini Beach
September 2022
Well….this GoPro footage gives an idea of the “concept” of filming a snorkeling adventure. However, the footage itself is notable for two reasons: 1) The reef off the Anini Beach is particularly colorful (at least based on our prior snorkeling experience in Maui) and the fish weren’t bountiful…or big!! 2) The GoPro was mounted on a chest strap that pointed down. Frequently the view I looked at and wanted to film was ahead thus out of range of the GoPro shot. Live and learn….
Tucson, AZ
This drone footage was taken in the Tucson area. The first set of drone footage is our trip to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. To get to the Museum you travel through the West Gate Pass Scenic Lookout. Once at the Museum we saw a demonstration of the “Birds of the Sonoran Desert”; that footage is included here.
West Gates Pass
February 2022
The West Gates Pass Scenic Lookout.
Birds of the Sonoran Desert
February 2022
Technically, this is not drone footage! In fact, it is cell phone footage of a demonstration of some of the birds of the Sonoran Desert. But it’s pretty cool!
The next two drone videos are from our trip to Mount Lemmon. It was a very cool trip up the Catalina Highway which took us through multiple “Life Zones” (Sonoran Desert, Semi-Desert Grasslands, Oak Woodland and Chaparral, Pine-Oak Woodland, Ponderosa Pine Forest and Mixed Conifer Forests). There were several scenic pullovers on the Catalina Highway and I flew the drone on two of the pullovers.
Mount Lemmon - Part 1
February 2022
This was near the top of Mount Lemmon and was an actual scenic pullover where people stopped to view the sights and take pictures.
Mount Lemmon - Part 2
February 2022
Technically, this wasn’t an official “pull over”. But I thought the gulley running along the Catalina Highway was cool….so we pulled off the side of the road and flew the drone!!
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation
The next series of drone footage was from Mark and my trip through the 13 mile scenic drive at Red Rock Canyon. We stopped at several of the overlooks to fly the drone.
Calico
October 14, 2021
This was our first stop.
High Point Overlook
October 14, 2021
Our second stop.
White Rock
October 14, 2021
This was our third stop.
Pine creek canyon
October 14, 2021
Our last stop.
Santa Ynez Mountains - the road to solvang
April 28, 2021
This was a road trip to Solvang, CA. We stopped in the mountains off of highway 154 high above Santa Barbara to fly and catch some of the countryside. The drone went out about a mile and half…and…”drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome; time for this one to come home!” (Full credit to Mr. Peabody!). During the flight in the Solvang countryside…it was pretty windy and the high wind warnings on the drone abounded…so it was a pretty quick flight.
Let It Snow
January 16, 2021
A crisp January morning after a light snowfall that stuck to the trees, it seemed like a good time for a snowfall drone flight!
More Autumn - Indiana and Tennessee
October 2020
Foliage from Brown County, Indiana, Cumberland, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee in October 2020. The sound track was provided by Jeannie Ellenberger performing three songs – ‘Autumn Nocturne’ by Myron, ‘For the Beauty of the Earth’ by Kocher and ‘My Tribute’ by Crouch. The piano was recorded on the Cross of Grace grand piano using a Zoom F6 field recorder and two AKG C414 microphones.
Indiana Autumn
October 14, 2020
Barb and I took a day trip to Brown County, Indiana to view the changing foliage. We also took some footage of our neighborhood.
Back To California!!
The next series of drone footage was from our second pandemic trip to Carpinteria, California in August 2020 so could meet the new California Raymond, Paige Elaine!
Santa Ynez mountains
August 13, 2020
Barb and I took a day trip to the Santa Ynez Mountains and a visit to the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. Our first stop was a Vista Point along CA 154. This was my first attempt to fly from a mountain area. There was an unobstructed “line of sight” so this was the farthest distance I have flown – approximately 1 and half miles. It would have most likely been longer but I had arbitrarily set that maximum distance when I first set up the drone so it stopped at that point. The signal was still strong so I’m sure it would have flown farther. Maybe next time…..
Foxen Canyan Wine Trail
August 13 2020
Some footage of vineyards on the Foxin Canyan Wine Trail.
Flying With The Colorado Thompson's
July 13, 2020
During a visit with Kim and Linda we met Ryan, Gia, Bella and Sophia for dinner….and some flying! The drone chased the girls and Ryan tried his hand at piloting the drone. The music track was provided by Hyryder from their recording session at YouGetWhatYouPayFor Studio.
Carpinteria California
The next series of drone footage was from our trip to Carpinteria, California in June 2020 when we braved the pandemic and visited the California Raymond’s. Carpinteria is a small seaside community on the Pacific coast.
Carpinteria Beach
in the Morning
June 2020
I wanted to get some footage of the beauty of Carpinteria beach. Early morning before the beach got crowded seemed like the perfect time for this flight!
Kent Paddle Boarding
June 2020
Early one morning Kent paddle boarded off the Carpinteria beach. This was my first time to take the drone out over the ocean!
Exploring A Ship
June 2020
During my early morning flight to video Kent paddle boarding, I noticed a ship fairly close to the shore. So, I flew out to get some video of it. I have no clue what type of ship it is…fishing???
FRanklin Trail
June 2020
The Santa Ynez Mountain Range runs through Santa Barbara county and extends south, running parallel to Carpinteria. The Franklin Trail is hiking trail up the mountain. I set an altitude record flying up this trail, reaching over 600′.
Drone Chasing Luke
June 2020
Just a little playing with the drone’s tracking mode on the court!
Morning AT the Beach
June 2020
The California and Indiana Raymond’s gathered Saturday morning at the southern part of Carpinteria Beach. Kent and Luke jogged up the parallel path as the drone following them with it’s intelligent tracking mode….until it got caught up in the trees! I caught up with them on the other side of trees but could never lock on to them, so just manually followed them. Meanwhile the girls strolled the beach, with Avery playing in the surf.
Linden Street
June 2020
Linden Street is one the two main streets in Carpinteria. It stretches from the beach to where it intersects with Carpinteria Avenue (the other main street) in the middle of the city. You can see it continues on west until it reaches the foot of the mountains.
El Montecito Presbyterian Church
June 2020
A God’s Eye view of the California Raymond’s house of worship, El Montecito Presbyterian Church, Montecito, California. The music was provided by the pandemic remote recording of the Cross of Grace Jazz Quartet, New Palestine, Indiana. A “cross denominational” production!!
The Counrtyside
May 22, 2020
We had a “pandemic picnic” with cocktails and carry out food (to help support our economy) in the parking lot of St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield, IN. We set up our Bluetooth speaker with some music, fixed a cocktail and had a great time….out of the house!!!! It was perfect evening for the picnic….and flying over the farmland. We couldn’t help but notice this is God-fearing country had four churches in a half-mile stretch!
First City Flying
May 1, 2020
This was my first flying in the city. Downtown Indianapolis during the Pandemic “house arrest”. We had our weekly picnic downtown with Shapiro’s sandwiches on the American Legion Mall.
Southeastway Park
May 6, 2020
On a beautiful May evening I explored Southeastway Park, as did a number of other people antsy from “shelter-in-place” orders.
Fall Creek - Close-up
April 26, 2020
I “bravely” (perhaps foolishly) decided to fly in a confined space – up Fall Creek river. I was flying about 5 feet above the water and there were lots of overhanging branches that caused “angst”. I speed the video because I was flying so carefully slow!
New Palestine Football Stadium
May 6, 2020
So….just for grins, I flew over our children’s high school and shot some footage over the football field. My son spent a season as quarterback…until his dislocated shoulder! In recent years New Pal has become a football powerhouse.
Birds
March 11, 2020
This was just a bit of a shock to a new drone pilot – birds flying into your view!!
Crash
March 6, 2020
I’m about one week into drone flying and I’m in Las Vegas. I’m flying around the Ramparts Casino where we were staying. I got lost and hit the RTH (Return To Home). As I watched it flying back it was heading directly for the hotel building and as much as I tried I couldn’t get it go around the building! Fortunately, the drone is smarter than me!
First Drone Footage
March 4, 2020
This was my debut flight!! I cautiously flew around our neighborhood. And as erratic as the flying is months later, I was pretty pleased with it! I added some audio and sent this to our grown children as a remembrance of where they grew up.