Drone for fireworks? Let's see 'em!

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/03/2022 11:19:56 PM · #1

I took a few last night from our front yard ... the fireworks were about 3 miles away as the crow flies. So, I'm not saying these are the greatest photos. Lol, far from it. :-)

The long view for perspective.

Some cropped to give the fireworks a slight fighting chance to show up. :-P

Now, given the above, who has any good ones to share?

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

07/03/2022 11:55:55 PM · #2

I was thinking of giving this a try, but I chickened out for fear of disastrous consequences in the dark :-) I'm scared to fly in the dark...

Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R IOS

07/04/2022 12:30:31 AM · #3

Yeah, flying in the dark is different for sure. One of the last times I flew (in daylight) I ran out of battery power and had to search the neighbors field for 30 minutes before locating the drone. That was going thru my head last night! :-} One of the neighbors was having a huge bonfire as I was flying and I had to venture out a ways (1/4 mile approximately) to get past it for the fireworks.

...anyway, on a FB Drone group there has been some really awesome drone firework captures - but they were right there on the spot (up close).

markwiley

Fujifilm X-Pro2

07/04/2022 04:24:15 PM · #4

I have not tried it. I was considering it for tonight, but the nearest display has been cancelled due to the local mass shooting.

Last year there was a drone flying in among the fireworks' blasts at a local display. Seemed crazy. Also, annoyingly distracting for the viewers.

07/04/2022 06:07:12 PM · #5

Originally posted by markwiley:

I have not tried it. I was considering it for tonight, but the nearest display has been cancelled due to the local mass shooting. ...

Yeah. Heard about that on the news. :-(

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/04/2022 06:11:51 PM · #6

I've been looking at some other photos and the more exciting images are right there at the fireworks level. I read one post where the drone operator was flying in the fireworks, self-admitedly stating it was risky - the footage was crazy!

Seems that many that are posting images are actually grabbing video and pulling a screenshot from playback. Hmm.

I tried some various settings in Pro mode and ending up flipping back to the Smart shot mode. Hard to get the timing correct with the shutter lag, etc. Might have to try Pro mode again and do long-ish exposures and keep the shutter open. And try to get much closer. :-)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/04/2022 08:01:49 PM · #7

Originally posted by markwiley:

Last year there was a drone flying in among the fireworks' blasts at a local display. Seemed crazy. Also, annoyingly distracting for the viewers.

These days the increased awareness of fire danger is leading a lot of places to replace fireworks with coordinated drone displays.