California
About this Project
California is where I go for photo and video assignments every year. It is my favorite state! So I’m always challenged to document the many different aspects that make California the magnet for vacationers and thrill seekers. California is so diverse with it’s mountains, beaches, farms, cities and deserts. It’s also a great place for sports and iconic stadiums like The Rose Bowl. Even though I’ve been there many times, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of things to do and see. The people are great too. I’ve worked with surfers, free runners, car and motorcycle enthusiasts; you name it. This shot to the right is of the historic Star Theatre in Oceanside, CA. I’ve always loved it and wanted to capture it from above without any distractions, so I picked a quiet Sunday evening at dusk. It is important (and required by law) to use anti-collision lights on your drone when shooting during twilight hours. I love using the Pico Max by AVEO. It is small yet very bright and is easy to install. The Phantom 4 Pro by DJI does a great job at holding steady so as to shoot with very slow shutter speeds. I’ve shot as low as 2 seconds with great results.
JOSH ROCKS
While I was at Oceanside beach in California relaxing one day when this young kid runs toward the surf and does a one-and-a-half front flip and dives into about 2 feet of water! After I got over the shock of what I just saw, I approached him and asked I could do some photos of his magic. This led to us doing a drone video in Temecula in amongst this cool formation of boulders. Josh Rhodes is a very gifted acrobatic free runner. Using his skills coupled with my DJI Inspire 1Pro, we made a high-energy drone video bringing some of California’s greatest assets together: its awesome people and gorgeous landscape.
Sean Matic and his motorcycle bud Michael did a fantastic job epitomizing the excitement of cruising through the Angeles mountains on their custom street bikes. It turned out to be a longer day than I anticipated. We had to cover so many miles of road to properly scout where we were going to do our shots. You always have to take great caution flying drones in the mountains around Los Angeles due to low flying helicopters. Terrain difference can also be a challenge in terms of depth perception. All in all, we had a great time and came away with a nice piece. This is an iconic area for California drone photography!
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AEROJO
Drone
Productions
AEROJO Drone Productions is a full-service drone imagery company based in Denville, New Jersey. We provide drone services worldwide.