Autumnal Morning
There is nothing as unpredictable as the British weather. So planning a drone flight is always completed with the caveat that ‘if the weather is ok’.
It’s mid-September now and the autumnal light brings with it the opportunity for some amazing images. Golden colours in the countryside and pink skies above collaborate to make some incredible images. Couple this with some misty mornings and we really do have the opportunity for a drone pilots aerial photography nirvana!!!
Well that’s the theory anyway.
It was one such morning I headed out with the two dogs, Kodie and Shadow and the two drones, Kenny the DJI Spark and Ghost the DJI Phantom. We headed for Anderton, the plan being to walk along the River Weaver and cut back into Marbury Park, literally five minutes from where we are moored on the Trent and Mersey (I live on a narrowboat with my beautiful wife and two dogs, you can follow our adventures here - Narrowboat Chronicles).
We had the mist and we had the sunrise, unfortunately we also had a very high layer of thin cloud, so the exceptional Sunrise shots were tempered by this cloud that was not forecast!!!. Not letting this minor hitch to deter our enthusiasm we still headed out coffee in hand.
Although the lack of a spectacular sunrise was disappointing, there is a lot to be said for the calm and still conditions around sunrise and sunset and this morning was no exception. There was no wind at all and the light had that diffused other worldly feel to it that is perfect for capturing aerial images with the drones.
First stop was the bottom of the Anderton boat lift and the adjacent Tata chemical works at Winnington, Northwich. Heavy industry has left its mark on the landscape and there is nothing like industrial decline to get my creative juices flowing. We then walked along the river toward Marbury. Here we pass the WW2 sunken concrete barge. Purportedly used to carry fuel to other ships during the Normandy landings, the barges were constructed with a concrete and iron mix called ferroconcrete.
We then put the drones away to enjoy the walk to Marbury. the cloud were begining to break and I kept catching fleeting glimpses of a blue sky.
Arriving at Marbury we headed down to the Mere as I was hoping to capture the mist laying over the water. Although the mist was disappointing I focused on a boat house and jetty. Flying Ghost up I was presented with one of my most favourite drone images that I have ever taken.
It was worth all the effort just to capture this one image. The ripple at the end of the jetty, the ducks asleep and the mix of different colours of the boats.
There is one major problem though. And in fairness in over 150 flights this is the first time that it’s happened - my Sim card in the drone failed!!! Luckily images and footage cache to the device you use to run the DJI App, so I do have the images. Unfortunately they are low resolution compared to what I pull of the Sim so anything larger than the image above becomes very pixelated.
So you know what this means…. I need to get out again soon…………