Category Archives: Drone Photography

We Won a 2022 Telly Award!

May 28, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends,

We are excited and thrilled to announce that we have won a 2022 Telly Award (winner banner) for our production of “Around 2021“, a compilation of video that I shot around the region last year. It is a first for me to win at this level, especially since I haven’t really done much with video in the last few years-at least professionally.

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable television commercials with non-broadcast video and television programming added soon after. With the recent evolution and rise of digital video (web series, VR, 360 and beyond), the Telly Awards today also reflects and celebrates this exciting new era of the moving image on and offline.

The Telly Awards annually showcases the best work created within television and across video, for all screens. Receiving over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents, Telly Award winners represent work from some of the most respected advertising agencies, television stations, production companies and publishers from around the world. The Telly Awards recognizes work that has been created on the behalf of a client, for a specific brand and/or company (including your own) or self-directed as a creative endeavor.

To say that I am excited to have received such a prestigious honor is an understatement. However, I am humbled to have been invited to submit and be even considered for such an achievement as there are so many talented individuals and production companies creating and producing so many beautiful and entertaining programs and I would never want to presume that what we do is anything greater or more significant.

I want to thank you all for your support over the years and encouragement to keep going.

Blessings to you all.

Chris.

p.s. you can find the video at this YouTube link or on Vimeo.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Photography Tips & Techniques, Shot of the Day Tagged , , , , , , , , , |

Snow Days of Early 2022

March 7, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Hello Friends,

So the title of this article might be a little misleading…it should probably have read something like ‘Snow Days of late 2021’, since technically the snow dropped right before the New Years. But since I had created and posted my 2021 pics and video earlier in December I’m going to go ahead and count this post as 2022 snow.

Anyway, we had a major dump of snow in the Puget Sound area and unlike most years where it melts the same day it falls, this one stuck around for the entire week. And because it did, people like myself were afforded the opportunity to get out and enjoy it.

All of these photographs were aerial shots I took with the drone in and around my neighborhood during the snow event. I couldn’t get much further out than that, but that’s ok since I like some of the photos I took here. I even think there is a drone selfie in there, long hair, beard, and all. Haha.

Enjoy the photographs and as always stay safe and blessings to you.

Chris.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Tagged , , , , , , , |

“Around 2021” My Year-end Aerial Video Compilation

January 31, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Hello Friends,

It’s Monday and the end of the month, but we’re still in the first part of the year. For me at this moment in any year it’s hard to get excited about much. You know: short and cold days, long and cold nights, rain, wind, fog, etc. etc. But I have a dive trip coming up real soon and another later in the year so there’s that, and then there is my year-end video of drone footage.

I compiled a number of “shorts” throughout the year, some of those shorts were single knock-off videos and wouldn’t make it into the garbage can when compiling a year-end video, but this one is a little more deliberate and thought out, planned, executed, edited with love and care and contains footage that I have not released until this.

Some of the sites included in this video are around Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Puget Sound, Lake Tapps, and the Methow Valley to name just a few. I had a few snow scenes that technically I shot in 2021 but well after I started working on this video that didn’t make the cut. Those will definitely make it into the 2022 compilation.

I hope that you enjoy this video. Please follow the link back to YouTube, “like” the video, and comment if you so feel inclined.

Blessings,

Chris.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Tagged , , , , , , |

2022 Commercial Real Estate Video Available

January 1, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Happy New Years my Friends,

I hope that you were able to ring in the New Years is a safe and sane manner. We did-it was very quiet for us after about 10 p.m. when we left a friends house after a fun time playing cards and catching up on old times. Except for having the neighborhood fireworks going off until after 1 a.m. it was a tranquil way to usher in a new year and a new start.

Anyway, 2022 will bring me a full year of drone and real estate photography and video. In case you missed it, I passed my FAA Part 107 exam last summer and am able to fly an unmanned aerial system (drone) legally and without any issues with the proper certifications in place to put a commercial drone in the air.

So with a full year, I want to extend an offer to you to have my come out and film and photograph your commercial real estate and use the product as part of your marketing campaigns.

If you haven’t seen what that might look at, you can find an example of my video work at the link below. And as far as photographs are concerned, you can see some examples of that work on my real estate portfolio page, albeit that most of it is non-commercial RE. The video I take can be used independently or as part of a sales pitch published by commercial real estate agents. An example of a total marketing piece can be found at the following link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7164490/video/471901549 (please note this example is not my work nor am I associated with it in any way, shape, or form).

My rates are reasonable, my turn-around is quick, I’m insured, and available most of the time within reason. So don’t hesitate to call me and let’s at least discuss.

Blessings and God’s peace.

Chris

Also posted in Real Estate Photography Tagged , , , , , , , |

It’s Another Snow Day 2021

December 31, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Happy New Years my Friends,

If you live in the Puget Sound region, you are well aware that we had a bit of a snow event that kicked off on Christmas Day. As I mentioned in my last post it wasn’t quite the white Christmas that we always dream about but it was close enough for us not to complain. That event kicked off the week with a number of inches and as it continued into the week picked up a few more inches.

So I took the drone out for a couple of flights as the weather allowed. First around the neighborhood and surrounding areas and then down to a local lake for a bit of a flyaround. I tried the another lake yesterday and I was able to unlock the drone and get it airborne-something that I hadn’t been able to do in at that location for a while. I got a few interesting shots and compiled a bit of video for your enjoyment.

Enjoy the video. I’ll post some of the pics next week.

Blessings,

Chris.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Tagged , , , , , , |

It’s a Snow Day 2021

December 28, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Greetings Friends,

And Merry Christmas / Happy New Years to you.

If you live in the Puget Sound region, you are well aware that we had a bit of a snow event that kicked off on Christmas Day. It wasn’t quite a white Christmas for us but it was close enough for us not to complain. Overnight we accumulated a number of inches and for this area it means catastrophe, meteorologicly speaking. And in continued into Sunday and subsided yesterday.

So I took the drone out for a bit of a flight. First around the neighborhood and surrounding areas and then down to a local lake for a bit of a flyaround. I tried another lake but I couldn’t unlock the drone and get it airborne due to my own mistake with the coding. Nonetheless, I got a few interesting shots and compiled a bit of video for your enjoyment.

Enjoy the video.

Blessings,

Chris.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Tagged , , , , , , , |

Drone Launch Aerial Photography Contest 2021 Finalist!

December 17, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends,

I’m so happy to report today that one of my photographs (see below) was one of the finalists in the Drone Launch Academy’s 2021 Aerial Photography Contest.

Earlier this year, I was out flying my drone in the Mt. St. Helens area attempting to find a good vantage point of the volcano while still maintaining the legal ability to do so. When I was done and working my way back home, I decided to take the scenic route and find areas to fly around and shoot some photographs and video.

When low and behold I came across a lake that I knew had an incredible view of Mt. Rainier on one side, but it was inaccessible. Fortunately for me, I had the drone and was able to position it in an area to capture the photo. Luck was on my side, too, as it was during the golden hour and the light falling on the mountain gave me an incredible site to behold.

Anyway, you can find their post on their blog at the following link: https://dronelaunchacademy.com/dla-photography-contest-2021-finalists/

As always, thank you for your support and for being my friend. And if you want to view some more our my work, visit some of my portfolio pages.

Chris

Blessings and Merry Christmas to you.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Tagged , , , , , , , |

Some of my Aerial Drone Photographs Around Kona, Hawaii

October 23, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Aloha e na makamaka (Aloha my friends),

Last month I finally made it back to the big island of Hawaii. We have been trying to get back there for two years, but something called Covid kept getting in the way (you know, travel restrictions, testing, quarantines, etc.). But thanks be to God we got back for a week of diving and some relaxation. Ok, well not much relaxation but definitely some diving.

One of the things that I was able to do this time was bring the drone with me and get out flying a little bit. I managed to get it into the air more than once or twice and flew a little bit outside downtown Kona, on a lava field east of the airport (with FAA permission and all safety precautions taken, of course) and another close to South Point, around the Kona Small Boat Harbor, around Puako, and more sites along the south end of the island. And yes, the blobs are old lava fields.

I have to say that I am really enjoying the challenge of aerial photography. It is providing me some things to learn, new places to photograph, and new perspectives to see. It is not easy but it is something that I really enjoyed on this trip.

Lana koʻu manaʻo e hauʻoli ʻoe i kēia mau kiʻi paʻi e like me ka hauʻoli i ka hana ʻana iā lākou (I hope that you enjoy these photographs as much as enjoyed working on them).

Mahalo.

Chris

P.S. Want to see more of my aerial photography content. Click on the portfolio to see more. Thanks.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Shot of the Day, October 3, 2021

October 3, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Good morning Friends,

For today’s photograph of the day, I am choosing another aerial photo that I took last week.

I had some extra time to myself on Friday, so I decided to get into the car and drive. Once I loaded my car with my camera (of course) and the drone, I just set off without a destination in mind. I figured I would just let the car guide where and I was just going along for the ride.

Well, it wasn’t too long before the car decided that it wanted to head into the mountains. Headed south, it ended up near Mt. St. Helens past Randle, Wa. Well, not to belabor the point I got a chance to fly the drone on the outside of the no-fly area before heading back down and stopping at a few places along the way to get some more photographs.

One such place was at Mineral Lake. I used to fish there decades ago so I was somewhat familiar with the view, but the clouds and such were such that I knew that if conditions were such I would have a lovely view of the mountains. I launched the bird and off I flew to the other end of the lake, composed my photograph, and snapped away.

This stop did not disappoint. And the photograph didn’t disappoint either. In fact, its my favorite of the year so far (not that that is saying much with all the Covid crap going on) but still it far outranks all the others.

I hope that you enjoy this photograph as much as I do.

Blessings,

Chris.

Also posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Shot of the Day Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Shot of the Day, September 2, 2021

September 3, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hi Friends,

It’s been quite a month of August. Travel, diving, work, and a corrupted website that needed to get fixed kept us busy and off the grid. But I’m back now and ready to post.

I mentioned travel. I spent a week on the big island of Hawai’i diving and trying to soak up some rays of relaxation. Well I got the diving in but not so much relaxation. In between dives, I was able to break out the drone and get some flying in. These particular photographs are ones I took of the Kona harbor just north of the city. I took these for a project I’m working on.

I hope that you enjoy them.

Blessings,

Chris.

P.S. If you want to see more of my aerial photography, be sure to visit my portfolio page at this link: https://chrismckennaphotography.com/portfolio/drone-aerial/.

Also posted in Shot of the Day, Travel Photography Tagged , , , , , , , , |