iPhone Hiking Videography
As I've started making 'How To Hike...' videos, which are basically just home movies of my hiking areas, I've tried to take shots more interesting than just holding the phone at eye level, and panning around.
I've started integrating reveals, pushes and pulls, close ups of non-eye level subjects like rocks, or grass, etc., just to keep things interesting for the viewer. Stuff you might see on the Learn Online Video YouTube channel.
Check out this sequence in a large rock garden on the Backbone Trail, Santa Monica Mountains, CA:
Drone Videography for Hikers
I've started contemplating getting a videography based drone, like a DJI mini 3 pro. Just one more way to make a hiking home movie interesting. I'm in the research phase, and I'll share what I've learned so far:
I started off my research by trying to think up all the qualities that would make a drone good for putting in a pack, walking out in the wilderness and grabbing some footage, often on hostile landscape for drone flying (small openings between tall, evergreen trees, jagged mountains, windy alpine areas, etc.).
Click here to read my thoughts on what would be the best drone for hiking related footage.
Leaving No Trace in the Air
I also read some scientific studies regarding how drones affect wildlife, particularly birds and mammals. So what is the best way to get some killer wildlife footage, without disturbing the natural behavior of any animals in the area?
Click here to read a list of ways to avoid disturbing wildlife with your drone. Just some thoughts based on the studies I read.
Watch for Drone Scams
When doing research on buying a beginner drone, I came across this toy drone, that has a bunch of false or misleading advertisement online about it. The advertisement makes it seem, to the beginner drone purchaser, like it's a much higher quality drone than it really is. And apparently this particular model has been around a while, and keeps popping up under different names for marketing purposes.
Read my article about this scam drone that seems too good to be true, so you don't get fooled into buying a cheap toy, when you really want a videography drone.
Can Drones Fly Far Enough For Hiking and Landscape Videography?
With landscape videography in mind, can an affordable videography drone fly far enough around your hiking area to grab appropriate footage? That was my next question when researching which drone should I buy for hiking related videos.
Check out my findings in my article, How Far Can a Drone Fly, which talks about transmission distances for various drones in different pricing tiers. It also touches on total linear distance a drone can fly but doesn't give solid answers, since each manufacture would have to do their own studies under standardized conditions.