Altitude

[AlanLichty]

Last year I decided to try shooting neighborhood fireworks from my old Mavic 3 drone and concluded that being up in the air with explosives wasn't a great idea. Shots like this one from last year left me thinking of staying on the ground instead.

After going back over those results I decided to do some quick research and it turns out that my flight altitude wasn't actually the number Adobe Lightroom was showing at 320'. Turns out LR is showing me the estimated altitude above sea level and not above ground level. The real flight logs shows that I was in fact at 110' above ground level which is not where you want to be when this kind of aerial display goes off. The second angle of research was looking up some of the fireworks being sold in Vancouver and it turns out almost all of them are built to go to 250' above the ground with a spread of around 200-250' in width for the cluster display. Flying to 400' above ground level should allow me to shoot freely without worrying about getting blown out of the sky tonight

C&C always welcome.

 

[JimFox]

Very cool Alan! I am getting primed for fireworks!

What about if you went with the opposite approach and only had the drone 50 feet above the ground? That way it would be under the bursts? Of course that's with knowing your neighbors don't shoot any fireworks under the drone.

 

[AlanLichty]

Very cool Alan! I am getting primed for fireworks!

What about if you went with the opposite approach and only had the drone 50 feet above the ground? That way it would be under the bursts? Of course that's with knowing your neighbors don't shoot any fireworks under the drone.

Thanks Jim - too many trees down at 50' which is why I want to use the drone in the first place. We have 70' cedars in our back yard and those aren't the tallest trees in the neighborhood. I set Return To Home for 125' when I fly in my area just to make sure I can clear all of them.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Another approach would be to stay clear of the area and shoot with the long lens. Of course that is not an option for Jim with his drone.

 

[AlanLichty]

Umm - the area in question is my own neighborhood. I live in a unincorporated part of Clark County and there are no restrictions on what my neighbors might set off beyond actual explosives. The shot above was taken from over my driveway and the rocket was launched from the street in front of my next door neighbor's house. There are a few folks within a half mile of my house that spend close to a thousand dollars on the stuff they are going to ignite tonight. Each one of the glowing pieces that fly out of the cluster like in the scene above will have a small piece of a cardboard like material that falls to the ground and we find pieces of them in our yard and on our roof every year on July 5.

 

[John Holbrook]

Umm - the area in question is my own neighborhood. I live in a unincorporated part of Clark County and there are no restrictions on what my neighbors might set off beyond actual explosives. The shot above was taken from over my driveway and the rocket was launched from the street in front of my next door neighbor's house. There are a few folks within a half mile of my house that spend close to a thousand dollars on the stuff they are going to ignite tonight. Each one of the glowing pieces that fly out of the cluster like in the scene above will have a small piece of a cardboard like material that falls to the ground and we find pieces of them in our yard and on our roof every year on July 5.

I guess some folks have money to burn—fireworks, that is! Hope your drone dodges all the flak—and returns with some great photos too.

 

[AlanLichty]

I guess some folks have money to burn—fireworks, that is! Hope your drone dodges all the flak—and returns with some great photos too.

Taking an early morning walk or run on July 5 here is a lesson in waste - there will be full trash cans from nothing but the debris on the street after their explosives fest.

Smokey Bear: "Remember kids - don't play with fireworks because they are dangerous. Leave that to the adults who have been drinking all day"

 

[AlanLichty]

Update after the fact - 400' kept me well above the danger zone and I was able to shoot down at the various displays.