mavic pro

A little “What’s In My Camera Bag” video since it’s been so long! I didn’t even realize that my camera gear is all black.

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I knew we were going to get snow for almost a week but I didn’t think much of it. Every time I checked the weather, it said the high was going to be in the 40’s so I figured if we did get any kind of snow, it wouldn’t stick or it would just end up becoming rain. I was wrong.

When it actually started to snow on Tuesday afternoon, it really came down. I was shocked when it was sticking to the grass and even created some slush on the roads. So I tried my best to capture it all on Tuesday around my neighborhood, but I wasn’t really happy with anything I captured. I went to sleep hoping the night air would be cold enough to keep the snow on the trees.

So I woke up Wednesday morning, packed up my drone and camera gear, and crossed my fingers that there would still be snow a little further out west in Virginia. I was right! I was so excited to fly, especially when the sun started to come up. The winter glow really came alive on the snow-covered trees and I couldn’t help but smile (even if I was by myself, standing in the shivering cold). I was getting wind warnings the entire time I was flying, but I’m so glad I pushed it a little bit further to capture this.

I really hope we get more snow later on in the season ❄️❄️❄️

My camera settings for this image are F2.2 and 1/640th sec and ISO 400 with my DJI Mavic Pro

All photos available for print and licensing >

So after taking a few pictures of the coast, I thought it would be a perfect time to fly the drone for a bit. I prefer flying in the early morning because there are fewer people out who may be bothered by the drone. So I got the drone up in the air and began to fly around the water.

It’s always an interesting perspective from up above. You never really know what you’re going to see until you’re up there. I was able to capture some cool images but I ended up really liking these “self-portraits”. I had no idea how clean looking the sand was until I saw it from above. I thought the lines that cars created in the sand were cool but my favorite of them are these long shadows Andrew, Frankie and I created.

So from left to right is Frankie, Andrew, my black camera bag, and then me 🙂 LOL I had no idea my camera bag would create such a long shadow and so when I looked at these images on my computer, I was a little confused as to what that 4th shadow was. When I zoomed in and figured out it was my camera bag, it made me like this image even more. My camera was definitely like the 4th person on this trip. LOL.

My camera settings for this image are F2.2 at 1/800th sec ISO 400 with my DJI Mavic Pro.

All photos available for print and licensing >

Just a mile away from where we stayed in Mission Beach was Belmont Park. It was fun because everytime we drove home, it was the landmark where we knew we were almost there. And traveling with a toddler, he definietly made sure we all saw it each time we drove past. For the two weeks that we were there, we always said that we would go, but never ended up making it. Oh well, there will definietly be a next time!

One of those days that we were driving home, I was thinking about interesting places I could fly my drone. I don’t think you understand, I really became drone obsessed while I was away. So as we drove past the park, it struck me that flying over Belmont Park would probably be interesting. I envisioned a really cool lines from the rollercoaster and had no idea what else they had in the park. I just knew there was a lot and that it was big. I also knew that I wanted to do it early morning so that there would be no visitors or anything in the park just in case. So the very next morning, I woke up, hopped on a Bird Scooter and scooted my way down to the park. I went across the street to Mission Bay so I had plenty of room to take off and land but still close enough to fly.

It just so happened to be one of the only foggy mornings that we were there. I was able to capture some cool images but it really wasn’t what I was looking for. I figured I could go back on another day when the sky was a bit better so I hopped back on the scooter to go across the street to check out what it looked like on the beach. As soon as I got to the beach, the skies cleared up and I was able to capture what I had envisioned.

I love the perspective and all the cool colors and shapes. Now this really makes me wish we were able to check the park out. I love rollercoasters and fast rides.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/100th sec and ISO 102 with my DJI Mavic Pro.

All photos available for print and licensing >

Home from California and it honestly feels a little different being back.

Why? Because I was so used to the beautiful California weather and as soon as I stepped off the plane, all I saw was snow. So sad to have missed the first real snow we got in the Washington DC area but not sad because I had a blast on our trip.

Even though a majority of our time was spent in San Diego and we had a trip similar to this around the same time last year, it was still like our first time there. It was a different experience because this time we went with our cousins and we stayed directly on the beach. Living that beach life was so great. Sometimes instead of driving the rental car, we would just take scooters to get around. We took Frankie on walks on the beach which he loved because he had so much open space to run around and overall just looking outside the windows of our airbnb at sunset was a view that stopped you in your tracks. I loved it.

It also allowed me to spend more time practicing and capturing the city from above with my drone. By the end of the trip, I tended to reach for my drone more times than my actual camera. I love just standing on the beach and seeing different points of view with just a slight movement of my finger. It made taking pictures a little more relaxing.

This image was taken just a few steps away from our airbnb in Mission Beach one morning just after sunrise. It was cool because our view was of the ocean but right behind us was Mission Bay. It was so nice to be surrounded by water.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/280th sec at ISO 100 with my DJI Mavic Pro

All photos available for print and licensing >

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN 

It’s the last day of 2018 and I thought it would be fun to look back on the past year and relive some of my favorite travel moments from the year. It’s interesting because I do something similar to this every year and every year my favorite images are almost always different from others. I try not to let emotions play into the selection but it can be difficult. You’ll see what I mean 🙂

I had a fantastic year of travel and so blessed to be able to experience everything that I did. I’m lucky enough to have visited the Europe, Caribbean and of course different parts of America. So let me know what you think. Click on each image to read the original blog post:

drone, mavic pro, california, san diego, fiesta island, birds, selfie, fly, dji, bird, seagulls, practice, socal, water, beach, island, dog island

One of my very first drone images from San Diego. Taken around this time last year, I loved being in Southern California in the winter time. I got my drone at the end of 2017 so I was just practicing flying when I took this image. I really didn’t think much of it until I saw that bird fly below close to the water. With the placement of where I’m sitting and that bird, I love how everything lines up. Definitely expect more drone images from me in 2019. I’m hooked!

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