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I'm not usually much of a "morning person" but decided to drag my sorry ass out of bed extra early yesterday, heading off into the darkness to catch what I was hoping would be a beautiful sunrise over the Yarra Valley. It was 4:00am and the thermometer said 3 degrees so the thought of turning around and going back to bed was veeeery tempting .

I found a suitable location on Google Earth (very handy tool BTW) and setup just across from St Huberts Winery where the fog seemed to have lifted a little.

I must say the whole experience was sureal and, in my opinion, well worth the effort... and the frost bite.

Edited 28/6/06 - Removed big ugly watermarks.. replaced with smaller ugly watermarks . Also added an extra pic .

Edited 1/7/06 - Movie link added
http://media.putfile.com/Lensaloft-Aerial-Footage











Edited - Big ugly watermark has now been removed

Sorry about the watermark. The original (ex watermark) images are still at home so these are just the shots from my website. Can anyone point me in the direction of a free gallery site so that I can upload shots without the watermark?

It's not free but Smugmug only costs about $20US per year and you can get a discount if you use a referral code from someone else who is a member there already. The member also gets a discount if you use their code. My code is iSaKz5fWXh3Ew but you'll find a list of forum member codes here if you wanted to choose someone else.

Great shots by the way - they'll look fabulous without the watermark.

very very very nice photos
#2 and #3 are my favs

well done and great effort for excellent photos!!

agriffiths wrote:Sorry about the watermark. The original (ex watermark) images are still at home so these are just the shots from my website. Can anyone point me in the direction of a free gallery site so that I can upload shots without the watermark?

If you are a gmail user, Google has one in beta - you have to apply and wait.
Otherwise, the Yahoo offering is pretty good, and many here use flickr.

I too like the shots, and the way the sun's ray's beaming down onto the vines, very well done and well big + getting up that early in such cold weather lately. I like Simon siad smugmug is good i have been on it for sometime now and find it great,although i use the pro package.
Cheers
John
BBJ

Great pictures - all of them look fantastic to me.

Awesome shots, love them all, you have to score 10 for getting out of bed at 4am,, not done that in a while, and not in winter,,

suzanne

Thanks everyone! It's always nice to get some friendly feedback .

I've got an old Pixspot gallery... would that still work with this forum? I had trouble a little while back when trying to post photos from that site.

I guess I was thinking about signing up to Smugmug anyway.

Great images there. i really do have to get up earlier.
On the uploading side, almost all providers give you 5-10mb free space with your account to use as a personal website, etc. You are paying for it, so use it. Ask them for the ftp details so you can upload the images to your own area, then simply insert the link here. I have my own domain, but I use the free space in my basic internet setup for a friend's small website.

Many good ftp programmes available for free like FTP Explorer, etc., on the download sites. I use Dreamweaver for all my sites and ftp but the free ones are good.
All the best
Col

... Obsolete ...

Stunning!!!!

Awesome shots.

Great shots what system are you using to get the camera up there?

I use flikr.com to host my photos it is free and works for me

Thanks for the tips people . I've got to do something about these watermarks!

Dug, funny you should query the system used. I've actually been working on this project for well over a year now but just thought I'd get some feedback on the photos themselves before explaining how I took them.

Believe it or not I actually took these photos with my feet planted firmly on terra firma. I have designed a UAV (fancy name for what is esentially a radio controlled aircraft) that uses a video downlink to relay video footage from the plane to the ground. I use this video feed to fly the plane into position and then trigger the shutter with a USB camera release.

It is interesting that the same laws that limit the altitudes of full scale aircraft do not apply to mine, allowing me to get more detailed close up aerials than would be possible with conventional aerial photography. There are a few CASA regulations that do apply, all of which I follow, but so long as safety is my number one priority it should never be a problem.

Sounds ultra nerdy I know but I've actually created quite a business out of it and have recieved plenty of work from Rural Planners, Building Developers, Insurance Agents, Crash investigators, Real Estate agents... and the list goes on. I've even been asked to get some shots of an upcoming wedding by a fellow wedding photographer. Sooo many ideas! I looooove it!!

Fantastic shots with an even more exciting description of 'how' !!!!
I'd be scared shitless the video/camera equipment would be damaged on landing ...... well done !!!
Rel

He he, thanks Rel. I've been a big fan of your photos in the past so your praise means a great deal to me .

As for landing, yeah sometimes it's hard to stop the knees shaking. They are always planned out though and I wont send it up if I think there maybe unecessary risk involved. I've got way too much time and money invested in this project to throw it all away on a crappy landing .

Wow, who'd have thought you could use spy technology to get great photos. Cool.

do you have any photos of your setup showing the size of the plane etc.

The watermark is very overpowering. You could drop the resolution which would make the images worthless for most purposes, but allow the forum to view them as they deserve. They are excellent pics.

Wow, you should get up early more often, these are great. I love the sunlight / shadows you get at this time of day and also with a higher then usual perspective.


Matt (I think the watermarks aren't intentional, but a result of the hosting). But I do agree they overpower the shots.

Very cool way of getting these shots but with the way lust goes on this forum, everyone will be wanting a UAV now! Birdy - can you get a good price through Mr Poon??

Ha ha, yep I've been a victim of lens lust as well as UAV lust and my bank balance has taken a beating!
I'm not sure which is more expensive... the UAV gear or the camera gear. Jeez, what was I thinking combining these two hobbies!?
I'll post some shots of my setup later on. In the mean time I'll try to do something about these watermarks .

Ok watermarks have been removed and pics have been replaced. No more big ugly watermarks. I also added an extra pic .

agriffiths wrote:I have designed a UAV (fancy name for what is esentially a radio controlled aircraft) that uses a video downlink to relay video footage from the plane to the ground. I use this video feed to fly the plane into position and then trigger the shutter with a USB camera release.

Please can we have a photo of the outfit ready to fly. i am fascinated. Sounds like a great little adventure. Opportunities galore for you.
Col

The Winery pics were all taken with my electric glider rig. Ultra quiet, very smooth and extremely stable. I used a pusher prop setup (motor faces rearwards and pushes plane) instead of the standard front mounted prop which tends to tear up anything that gets in its way. Safer to have around people this way. I only use the motor to get the plane to a suitable altitude, after which it is shut off and the plane glides along as I take the photos.

The design is basically a foam external shell which is reinforced internally with carbon fibre. I went with the foam shell because of it's excellent shock absorbing qualities. Both for vibration dampening and protection in the event of an accident.... I'd hate to put a dent in the ground .



I also have an electric Helicopter mounted on a camera gimbal. I've taken it appart temporarily while I install a new vibration dampening system, so I can't take any pics at the moment. Here's a couple of older teaser pics.

The Heli..



And the camera gimbal (mounts beneath the heli)..



The camera gimbal is designed to maintain itself level with the horizon as the heli tilts and changes orientation. The large oil shock dampers (springs) are positioned at 120 degrees to each other and stop the camera from swinging around beneath the heli.

There's a digital servo that controls the camera tilt from vertical to level with the horizon. I have a dedicated control system which can be setup as a two man operation. So while I'm flying the heli someone else can watch the live video feed and point the camera. I'll post some more pics once I've put it all back together .

the light is most beautiful in the 4th image

Thanks Wendellt
The sun came up very quickly so there was only really a 5 minute window to get the light in this position. It was a fantastic experience though.... I'm in love with the Yarra Valley now .

darn i forgot to read the whole post
you made an aerial cam to take these images

how freakin innovative is that, i applaud your ingenuity!

what was the focussing method you used to take these shots?

Man that's some seriously cool toys used to take those photos. I've always wanted to get into RC controlled flying machines, but thought it was too expensive to justify it, some how I settled for photography thinking that would be a fairly cheap hobby. (Gulp!, then I found the forums). What sort of price would a plane like yours cost ?

I set it up with centre weighted auto focus. I just push a button on the transmitter and the camera focuses on the object in the centre square and takes the picture. This has to happen very quickly obviously because the scenery is constantly moving.

I usually shoot in a continuous mode of two to three bursts, just in case I miss a shot. I very rarely drop the shutter below 1/400 and try to keep ISO at or below 200. It's a stable platform.. but not as stable as a tripod .

I'll have to admit that I'm not the first person to strap a camera to a UAV. Our airforce has been doing it for years . Perhaps not with the same artistic applications in mind though.

Hi Alpha... I almost gave myself a heart attack when I added up the receipts the other day. All up cost of the fixed wing system was $3,940 including the radio gear, video relay gear, GPS system and materials. That's not including the heli system... which I refuse to add up for fear of a second heart attack. I guarantee it would be more than the fixed wing though.
Then there's the hours and hoooooours of research and development... but hey, it's been a labour of love. My girlfriend will attest to that .

Thats what I suspected, expensive hobby but the results are very rewarding. Hehehe I had a chuckle reading of your heartattack when looking at the reciepts and then looking at your avatar, it's never seems as fitting
Do you have any shots of it in action ?

Yep, I've got some inflight video footage from the shoot that I can upload. No standard shots from the ground though. I'll have to reduce the video size a little (It's in DVD format at 3Gb!) but I'm more than happy to do it if people are interested?

If you could compress it using Xvid or Divx then I'd be keen to watch it, but don't bother if I'm the only one interested.

So utterly and entirely cool!

I'm definitely interested
Upload away !!!!
Rel

Late arrival to this thread, but let me just say WOW.

Love the UAV, love the shots, the whole thing is outstanding beyond description. I have said for some time that I will get into RC Aircraft when I retire (5-7 years to go), wouldn't have thought of doing what you are doing, and I don't have the technical expertise anyway. But WOW.

If you ever feel like having a meet with the UAV in the air, I'm in.

Would also love to see the video footage if you can be bothered getting it organised.

Great work.

Thanks guys . Greg, I'd be happy to meet up at the next aerial shoot. Where abouts are you located?
I did some editing of the video footage last night and have got it down to 5 minutes. (It was 45!) What's an acceptable file compression method? Alpha mentioned Divx. I'll see what I can do .

Ok sorry about the delay.... I've uploaded it to Putfile. WMV compression has stuffed the detail and dulled some of the colours but you get the idea. File size is 11.4Mb.

My apologies to those of you who hate Crouded House . Anyway, without further a do....

http://media.putfile.com/Lensaloft-Aerial-Footage

This was recorded from the live video feed with which I flew by on the ground. Camera was angled out towards the left hand side. Let me know what you think!

nice landing . thanks for uploading the footage - even with all the compression the amount of detail is impressive. it is truly an impressive set up you've got and whats more you really make it work for you. the soundtrack worked for me as well seemed to suit the footage. I would love to see some pics of the UAV.

Cheers Will. I must say that I was a little concerned about the close proximity of the power lines running across the road. The landing pattern would have been a lot smoother had they not been there..... yeah yeah, excuses excuses .

I actually had someone standing by to tell me if there was any traffic whilst I was setting up for landing. You'll notice that there were a few cars passing underneath in the video so there was more traffic than we had expected at that time of morning. During the last flight I actually followed a truck into the driveway. Unfortunately you don't get to see it on video since the camera was directed out to the side.

I wish I could find a better way of compressing the video .

As for the UAV I posted a couple of pretty non descript photos on the previous page of this thread. I'll try to get some more later on if you are still interested.

fascinating !!
what camera gear are you using in the plane ??
seems to be very nice quality

Thanks Big Red, I've used a modified Canon S80 in the plane. It's the closest I could get to DSLR without the weight.

The heli carries my D70 and a Panasonic DV recorder though . Once I get a fisheye I'm going to start doing elevated Quicktime Panos. This way I can hover over a building site and take 360 degree shots, then stich them all together and provide a virtual reality aerial view of the site.

I use the Panasnoic DV recorder to capture footage after a fire or disaster. My real job is in Disaster Recovery and the heli enables me to get to places that wouldn't normally be accesable. This was actually why I started building it in the first place.

Don't know what else to say other than "WOW"!

Looks like you've scored yourself an excellent little business venture there. Very inspirational stuff..love it.

(looks like i found a few extra things to say in the end!!!)

Liam =]

Thanks Liam .
Looks like I may have just picked up a gig doing Aerials for a travel and adventure show in Central Australia too!!

Fantastic! Well done!

wow! awsome. very nice scenery

i missed this thread completely.. i'm am absolutely amazed! well done ....

cheers

Thanks xerubus. I'm currently working on a new aerial platform. Will post some more aerial pics once it's finished .

Just found your thread. This is fantastic work look forward to seeing more.
Craig

Cheers Craig, if you'd like to have a look I have a temporary web gallery with some more examples over here:

http://www.lensaloft.com.au

I'll post some more once this new platform is up and running .