Blossoms of Light Virtual Tour at Denver Botanic Garden

This year I had the opportunity to shoot a 360 video at Blossoms of Lights in the Denver Botanic Garden. I mounted an Insta 360 1X on a selfie stick and walked the tour. It was hit or miss since I was shooting lots of static photos too; in any case, I know I could get smoother, higher quality footage mounting the camera on a drone and shooting in cinematic mode, but I would need to coordinate with the Gardens on something like that.

DJI Aerial Photography Academy Training Course Gathering

I couldn't help accepting an invitation to attend the 2019 DJI Aerial Photography Academy training course in Denver this week. It was hosted by two former DJI employees and they did a nice job of delivering the inside scoop on the drone industry (past and present), as well as, insight on the tips and tricks professional photographers are using to get the most out of the technology.

I would recommend this course for anyone interested in Aerial Photography using DJI products. They discussed the in and outs related to; government regulations and guidelines, business opportunities and best practices, as well as, how to get the best results using the plethora of hardware and software tools out there to make it all happen. It was nice to sit with people from all walks of life and hear the different ways they were using the technology.

Shooting 360° videos and framing in post production

I've been experimenting with 360° videos lately. In an earlier post I showed an interactive 360° video using the Ricoh Theta SC mounted on top of a drone. It's 4K, but I think the overall quality suffers a bit due to capturing the entire sphere. The Insta360 One X camera is 5K, but it has similar quality issues. The Ricoh Theta Z1 has a 1" sensor, so WTF...perhaps I'll see if I can get my hands on it.



In any event, it was pretty easy to capture footage with the Insta360 One X on a selfie stick and frame the results in post using Premiere and the GoPro keyframe plugin. Think of it as 360° video that you can frame from any angle on the sphere in post processing.

2019 Colorado Fall Foliage

I couldn't resist shooting one more day of Fall foliage around Clear Creek, Georgetown and Quanella Pass. All the leaves drop off this time of year and it's so hard to get around after the first snow storm, but WTF...it's Colorado, it'll be 70° by the weekend!

Mounting a 360 degree camera on a drone

I've been experimenting with shots using a 360 degree camera (Theta SC) mounted on a drone (Mavic 2 Pro). There's some issues, but WTF...it's new functionality and it goes with the territory; in any case, just click and drag your mouse over the video to explore the video. My guess is we'll start seeing more of this sort of thing.

Adventure United Kingdom

I spent a little over a week in the United Kingdom this Summer, WTF...you have to get out and see new places and make new friends every once in a while. I arrived in Edinburgh from Munich for the last weekend of EIF and Fringe and stayed at the University. It was hopping and certainly a must do for any theater enthusiasts. After three days of taking in the festivities it was off to Derbyshire to visit the area my ancestors came from and then to Liverpool for some Beatle nostalgia.

Finally, it was off to the Isle of Eigg. I've been writing songs about this place for several years now and visiting the island did not disappoint me. I made new friends from Ayr, met Charlie and Maggie, explored Massacre Cave and even took a run on the "Singing Sands" of Laig Bay. It was really a great experience.

EIF and Fringe 2019, That's a wrap!

I traveled across the the pond to experience EIF and Fringe this year. The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) is an annual event of performing arts in Scotland. I saw three shows and took in the night walk too. It was nice meeting some of the creative folks for the festival. The shows here are innovative and WTF...let's figure out how to get WYSIWYG here. 😊