Good Morning all,
Pretty new to this hobby as probably many of you know.
Looking at all the footage of sunrises and sunsets, snow and ice etc is pretty inspiring so thanks to all who have made contributions.
At some point it was inevitable that I would have a go and before bed last night I thought if the dog or the birds outside wake me I’ll get up and have a go. So 4.50am the dog needed the garden and that was that.
It’s unlike me not to have everything charged. Normally my phone, laptop, watch etc are all kept max’d up overnight.
But no, unbelievable that I didn’t plug in my phone and perhaps not so unbelievable, I really never expected the outing to take place so all 3 drone batteries were semi discharged. This of course, coupled with the 0.5 deg C temperature had quite an impact.
Lesson 1 complete.
Also, this very chilly start feels somewhat colder when you are just stood still and when I went to change the drone battery my hands were too cold to manipulate the catch.
Lesson 2 complete.
Now, when the UAV app says sun rise 5.50am, it really was too early to get that dramatic orange ball low in the sky and it was at least 3/4 of an hour after that before it was glorious through the mist. By which point I was so very cold, I’d used 2 semi charged batteries no finger co-ordination and my phone was giving in, so I was really going to miss the optimal time.
Lesson 3 complete.
1 battery left my phone was dying even though I thought I had it set to charge from the controller (I hadn’t). So shaking away, I tried to navigate to the setting, do you think I could find it with my frozen fingers? Know your app!!
Lesson 4 complete.
Anyway I have footage, I did get to play with manual mode on video and photo so I hope there will be some pleasant stuff there. I haven’t looked yet. Just got home and put everything on charge and I’m almost warm.
A valuable combination of lessons all in one go I think.
Have a great week end everyone.
I think we’ve all been there to some degree or other. Mine is going out too early, and by the time the sun has come up as a big red ball I’ve already said f$#k this I’m too cold and headed home.
Nice learning curve, I now carry extra thick coats, running gloves and some hand warmers in the car just in case.
Bad luck on the batteries but the positive is there will be plenty more opportunities to catch the perfect sunset. On the flip side I’ve been fully prepared expecting a clear sky and then met with overcast cloudy greyness, equally disappointing
Early morning shoots = Thinsulate fingerless gloves
Battery reminder = Post it notes on the computer
Early morning shoots = Hot coffee flask and a good audiobook in the car waiting
Phone charge = 20,000Mah quick charger in teh car at all times
All valuable lessons learned. You are up at the best time for stunning light plus no-one tends to bother you at that time in the morning, I fly then all the time. A flask of something hot, gloves, extra layers etc. are all essential. I normally shoot some images/video about 20/30 mins before sunrise to get the glow in the sky, but then yes it can be another 45mins before you get the ball of sun in the sky, longer if there’s a layer of cloud on the horizon.
Have a shearling Irvin jacket and some good ski pants for staying out in the cold
Some good thermal gloves .
A thermal flask with some tee (+ a smich of rum ) …
For batteries have some handwarmer gel , stick it to your battery
Get a really high performance power bank and stick it to your RC to charge it .
I bought a heated gilet for this. Runs off a power bank, and with the adapter the comes in the mavic 2 fly more kit I can use depleted batteries as power banks.
I have gloves in the car, take a flask, and have extra layers available if needed. So don’t go home cold that often now.
Yes. I bought a cheap Chinese on off ebay. Had it over 2 years. No problem. Just order the next size up from what you think as a Chinese large is NOT a European large.
