Category: Image

Panoramic shots

Trying out the panoramic feature of the DJI spark. Impressed, but not blown away by it.

I found it really easy Todo, with the drone doing all the hard work taking the images, a great mode for capturing the vista. However, I find myself unable to position the drone where I want, always seeming to stop short. Not a limit on the drone, but for some reason my brain always stops in that same position!

Power of the edits..

While I always like to process images as little as possible, if at all, some times it’s a requirement of every shot.

Here, for instance this shot taken from my Spark. It lacks depth and colour. Visually, it just didn’t stand out.

However, a little time spent in the Google Photos editor tweaking exposure, clarity, saturation and blacks improve things.

Shadows have a bit more depth, the colours are less muted but still hold the autumn setting.

You don’t take a photograph, you make it

Ansel Adams

So, don’t be afraid to play with the sliders, just don’t overdo it, and keep it realistic and you’ll do just fine.

Toft Gate Lime Kiln

So it was a trip to the top of Greenhow hill today. Lord was it cold and windy. But the little Spark did a sterling effort of dealing with the wind.

Up at the top of Greenhow hill is the old Lime kiln at Toft Gate.

The kiln was loaded with limestone through the top and with coal through the rectangular openings in the end and side walls. A stone lined flue runs from the kiln up a gentle slope to the chimney base in the distance. Life must have been hard up here. I’m suffering just with the cold wind, I hate to think what it was like being up here, mining the ore and loading it, moving the spoil, let alone the children that would have had to clean out the long flue leading to the chimney.

Theres plenty of grassy hillocks and curious dimples in the landscape between Toft Gate and Grassington – many of these are remnants of the limestone industry. People would mine the area, and transport it out to the lime-kiln where it would be burnt and heated to release the quicklime, which was then used in the local farms for fertiliser.

I decided to try the editor built into the DJI Go app, and it’s not bad really. Its most useful if your away from the main editing system you use, and just need a quick and dirty instagram upload or something, it wont really replace a dedicated editing software, but its intended use its not too bad. Once you play around with it and learn what it can, and can’t do as the information on using it is a little thin, it can yeild some good results. The auto create function can be a little odd, but that’s what you get for a random selection..

Little Drones

I recently purchased a DJI Spark drone. I’m having loads of fun working out how to fly it, and get those fantastic cinematic shots.

So far, I haven’t really got the hang of shooting with it, but damn it’s fun. However, finding somewhere to fly it, legally is troublesome. Your not supposed to fly within 50 meters of any person or property. My first flight didn’t obey that. We have an area in Harrogate called the Stray. A huge grass area, I played about scuttling the drone around, up high and just working out how it all works. My second flight was amongst the walkers, cyclists and dog walkers on Bilton fields. I found a nice quiet area and sent the drone off on its merry dance. All fine until a dog took an unhealthy interest. Watched the owners chase it about for ages until they caught it.

As I’m not using Windows anymore, finding a Linux based video editor that ticks all my boxes is a little complicated. I’ve settled for kdenlive at the moment. But time will tell if I settle with it. The cache editor built into the DJI app is quite good for quick edits.