The Manic Mechanic

A couple weekends ago, during our monthly (give or take) visit north to visit to visit Jeff's parents, I took my quadrotor "drone" with me to try again to get some aerial photos of their house. I wanted to create a framed aerial photo similar to one I wrote about a while back. My first attempt was thwarted by unexpected problems with the GoPro camera that's attached to the drone. It locked up when I started the 2-second-per-photo shutter sequence (and I didn't know this until I had flown the rig for about fifteen minutes), and I had to remove the the camera from the mount in order to remove the battery and reset the camera. The glitch wiped out my settings and I had problems getting the camera to work right during the second flight, so I flew the thing around for the benefit of Jeff's youngest nephew instead due to time constraints, and figured I would try again in about a month. So after some tinkering with the camera I buzzed the yard, the neighboring farm and buffalo, and did some high-altitude shots of the general area. This time was successful. I have plenty of usable shots for the aerial photo, plus some other cool pics from up high.

While bringing the rig down, I noticed an Amish family trotting by. The kids in back noticed the drone at first and the family stopped in the street in front of the house to watch. I lowered the rig for them to see it better, but doing so, I momentarily lost it in the sun. When I moved to see it again, I was temporarily blinded and could not tell which end was which, so my attempt at getting a closer-in shot of the buggy and company ended up being several photos of the side yard and an old barn instead. All the better, anyway, since most Amish are not fond of having their pictures taken. After a few moments of looking (they seemed more to know what the floating thing was more than being totally puzzled), they trotted off up the road. I admire the Amish, they all are friendly and outgoing in this area, and despite being very traditional, they are not totally averse to some of the latest technology, as long as they can use it in their own way and it makes their work more efficient. Cell phones, cordless power tools, generators and the like help them get more work done, yet can be completely turned off and out of their lives at home. They've also treated Jeff's mom and dad very well over the years, you'll recall when their house burned down they were ready to begin cleaning up that very day and help dad begin rebuilding. I feel a bit of kindred spirit with the Amish, aside from the lack of technology and cools stuff as well as the entire religion thing, We are both very self sufficient, independent, helpful to others, and like the results of hard work and craftsmanship. If I were to get the required hat and lose the mustache from my beard, I could fit right in. But the mustache stays.

Here is my favorite shot of my buggy encounter:

Okay, I'm a big geek, and for better or worse, a bigger kid at heart. As such, I like toys. Toys in the traditional sense, yes, but for me, the more grown-up sort of toys are what keep me happy. Cool tools are toys, yes, but they allow me to create, build and fix. Different things that are part of my myriad hobbies are toys. Cameras, for example. There are at least a half dozen digital cameras around La Casa, not including smart phones and computers equipped with them, or the surveillance cameras and whatnot. Even my vehicles are playthings sometimes, as roads near and far that have had rubber from my tires can attest. Then again, there are things around here that can only qualify as playthings. The small fleet of various sized cheap RC helicopters I would terrorize the dogs with, for example. Snickles would bark and jump at the tiny Estes Proto-X quadrotor I would fly around the living room. That is, until he got a little too close and it bit him on the ass, eliciting a loud yipe before he hid under the living room table. Last Christmas, Jeff bought me a GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition camera, something I had been wanting for a while, after seeing what people have done with them. It's an amazing little bit of kit, I still have a time wrapping my head around a camera not much bigger than an Altoids tin able to shoot high resolutions stills, HD video, and, in the case of this model, video in 4K. Many evenings were spent browsing the internets for really creative and amusing videos shot with these things. I became especially fascinated with video shot from RC aircraft.

I think you might know where I'm going with this.

Earlier in the week, I ordered up a DJI Phantom2 quadrotor "drone." I purchased a gimbal mount to fit my GoPro as well. So far, I have just been flying the Phantom by itself, sans camera equipment, until I get the hand of it. Big kid fun was had. The thing is a delight to fly, and even a noob like me was able to maneuver the thing as if I had mad skillz. With summer deciding to get all hot and humid after a season of unusually cool and pleasant weather. I had fun flying the thing directly overhead as I walked around the field, across the street and around my yard and driveway with the most awesome fan in the world keeping me cool. No crashes either, except for a bad landing once as the battery petered out. I can attest to the thing being quite usable as a lawnmower in the field of overgrown grass.

So, while I get some flight time under my belt and become pretty sure I won't crash my precious into the ground, hang it in a tree or have it suddenly fly off to parts unknown, I will rig up the camera mount and take some aerial shots of Mayhem Acres and the surrounding area. I might take it with me to PA when we visit Jeff's parents and family, and take some bird's-eye shots of the new house. If it turns out well, I will make a nice big print and frame it as a gift. I will do the same for her too, in order to compliment the aerial photo that was taken one day over twenty years ago by a commercial outfit. It will be fun to see the contrast. Alas, any photos I would have would not show Mom and Patches, as that commercial shot had as a sort of happy accident. Mom is working in the garden, and Patches was standing guard as she always did. It is now one of my most treasured photos.