Fargo, North Dakota.

It’s been a rocky start to getting the drone I purchased to automatically update its airspace database information, but after returning it to the manufacturer, they replaced the unit and this one is working properly. Now I am learning more about camera operations having learned to be comfortable flying the airborne camera. I got into drone flying because of Civil Air Patrol. They are ramping up mission training for using drones in several important operations, not the least of which is search and rescue. At some point I expect our ground teams will be able to deploy a drone to search areas where their vehicles or even walking the area is either uncomfortable or hazardous.

While it seems YouTube is filled with drone videos, I’m not much for working with videos. Maybe I’ll get more accustomed to that skill, but since I bought a Mavic Air, I will be learning how to operate the camera system for still photos. So far, I’ve just been using its automatic exposure modes, but I’ll soon start experimenting with using the manual camera functions.

About the photo: A nearby park is just east of the I-29 and I-94 Interchange in south Fargo. I went to this park in the hopes of capturing a spectacular sunset. Though not “spectacular”, I gathered several images, some of which I will share in future ‘Drone Sunday’ posts. This image was captured at f/2.8, 1/390 sec, ISO 100. I’ll be looking forward to traveling to more photogenic places where I can capture more aerial views. I am really looking forward to some of those fabulous Arizona sunsets.

John Steiner