Off to Tasik Perdana

It was a workday afternoon and as I didn't have a clinic afternoon clinic that day, I managed to leave the hospital early. Idlan had tuition in Melawati, so I was alone at home. Time to get my drones out then.

Again, I wanted to keep things quick and simple, I went to Tasik Perdana this time. I arrived there at around 6 but the light was not right. I had some ice-cream and waited until 6.30, got the gear out and started flying.

Trying to get a feel of the place ...The KL skylineGoing to the edge of the lakeIt was overcast but the light was good enough. I flew from one end of the park to another. I also tried out the 4K video for this outing. It took me longer at post-processing to get the footage out, but in terms of quality, it was definitely better. But since I couldn't play the footage at such high resolution with my 4K TV, I wasn't sure if it was worth it.

But the photos I managed to snap from this outing was definitely worth the trouble. By the end of the flight, I was gaining confidence on what I can do with the drones as well as appreciating its limitation. Again, both the snaps and video footage exceeded my expectations. But I must do some more training on how to use the Final Cut Pro ....

The pavilion at the parkThe Masjid Negara at the foregroundThings look different from up above ....The park was empty at the timeI finally packed up before Maghrib. By that time, the park was almost empty ....

The Maiden Flight

Sunday Morning, and I have less than half a dozen patients to review in the ward. I decided to start the day early with a short drive to Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. There was a fun run going on in town and some of the route were diverted. I didn't have any issues getting there though and at around 7.30 am, I got everything set up.

Then came the calibration and pre-flight stuffs. All the connections were in order and I have updated the firmware on the drone the night before. All charged up and with the press of a button - or in this case, a swipe on the screen - the Phantom 4 was airborne. And off it climbed!

I picked an open space around 100 meters from the car park. There was no trees to block my view and I soon got the drone flying above the famous Tasik Titiwangsa. I snapped some photos, pointed the drone towards the city centre and snapped some more. Next came the video recording. For the first flight, I decided to keep things simple and recorded the footage in HD rather than 4K.

45 minutes later, I was out of juice from both the battery packs and it was time to head home and study the footage.

A new perspective into my photography from this angle. Shame that the light was not the best ...There was a miniature radio car circuit right next doorMe with some spectators at base camp ...The maiden flight went off without an issue. There was a couple occasions where the connection with the drones dropped due to interference, but it reconnected within a few seconds. ANd the footage looked amazing.

I wished that the weather was a bit better. It was an overcast morning and the sun was well hidden behind a wall of cloud. There was hardly any contrast in my snaps but the angle alone from which the photos were taken guaranteed a different perspective on my snaps. I kinda loved it! And the quality of the camera was much more than I expected!

I also realised than how important planning was for each flights, what route to take and when to get images or video. I still got plenty to learn plus I would need to sharpen up on my post-processing workflow as well. I needed some training for Final Cut Pro!

All in all, it was a great outing which made me dream for more .....

For a Different View

A few years back, I was in awe of a series on Discovery called "The World from Above". I was guilty of recording the episodes and watching them again and again. It was basically aerial footage on famous landmarks with narratives in the background for colour. It was both eye-catching and educational. Especially when it features the UK, on landmarks which I knew but taken for granted. The particular episode featuring New York was my favourite. And don't get me started about San Francisco!

And then I read about the availability of drones for aerial footage. I always thought them as cumbersome, difficult to fly while getting decent footage would take some training. I was wrong!

The more I read into it, and looking at the videos on YouTube, I realised that it was quite simple. All you need is a bit of time and passion.

My interest peaked when I read about the Phantom 4. It was a drone which was easy to fly and had a decent camera attached to it, for both video and snaps. Did some homework and find out a bit more about the pricing. So, last weekend, I bought one.

Getting the blades in orderTrying to understand the parts ...The remote was still in the plastic coveringIt was not exactly cheap, but to be honest, it was cheaper than a decent dSLR. And I started flying them the next day. All you needed extra was a smartphone, or in my case an iPad which would act at the display. The flying was done via a remote plus touchscreen. And to take photos and video, you just press the screen. The camera was a 12MP affair, of a decent point-and-click quality - with an f2.8 aperture - and it was capable of capturing 4K footage straight into it's memory card.

Flight time was also rather decent with a battery unit lasting about 25 minutes - my set came with 3 batteries for an hour of flight. It came in a slick portable case, which meant carrying the drone around a piece of cake. The whole package weighed less than a couple of kilo trams.

Going through the instructionsReady to fly!I should have bought one earlier as the footage from Langkawi would have been amazing! But never mind. I would still have to get proficient with it and with every flight I was learning something new. Definitely a keeper! Now, I would have to get some free time to fly the damn thing!