Absolutely no fear of flying

I’ve been in the story business my whole professional life. First as a print journalist for newspapers and now as a filmmaker.When I worked at newspapers, I never really agonized about technology, because those thousands of pages of newsprint were considerably old school: words, ink and paper.Then the internet hit and technology vastly changed everything about that medium.As a filmmaker, I never really cared that much about technology either. As long as our gear captured the kind of images and audio we wanted to get, that’s all that mattered to me. When I think back to the first “real” video camera we ever bought — years before we established Sweet Pea — I shake my head at how awesome we thought it was and how amazing I considered the images coming from that beast of camera were.Of course, comparing it our current cameras and digital recorders,  that camera would be like a rotary dial phone along side an iPhone.So, while the heart of the story remains my primary consideration, I’m glad we are constantly assessing and upgrading our equipment so that the beauty of what we’re capturing shows through.That’s why we now have a drone.No, it’s not the invasion of privacy type, or a spy machine or something that will be making deliveries from Amazon.It’s an aerial video drone that Dean decided we could really put to use after he attended an inspirational workshop in New Orleans this winter. I thought we’d come home with Mardi Gras beads, not dreams of a four-propeller copter that buzzes in the sky.Owning and operating a drone is a huge undertaking for a studio our size. Cost. Regulation. Insurance. Safety. But when we saw the kind of shots we could get with a drone … well, let’s just say we tossed away those New Orleans beads and started saving. Dean purchased a small “practice” quadcopter and has been practicing ever since.The real drone — a DJI Phantom — arrived a few weeks ago, and this video is just a snippet of the first taped flight we had with it. We’re already thinking of ways we can incorporate it into our shoots to add more drama and beauty.What do you think of the footage?Stay tuned for some absolutely amazing shots that we’ll be capturing this year!Cheers,Cindy