Category Archives: Drone Photography

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 , , , , , , , , |

Shot of the Day, August 2 2021

August 2, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends. And Happy Monday to you.

I’m not going to belabor the story here but rather keep it short and simple…I took the drone out for a few shots along the Tacoma Waterfront a few weeks back and snapped this photograph of the Port of Tacoma along Commencement Bay. The change in the water color to a carmel/brownish color is the result of glacial runoff from Mt. Rainier that comes down the Puyallup River and empties into the bay. It’s always a various shade or carmel but this time of year it gets particularly noticeable when higher temps melts more snow off the mountain and it picks up more silt as it rolls down. You can see the river about mid way up the picture in the back behind some of the building and steam stacks.

Enjoy the picture.

Chris.

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

My Drone over Pierce County

July 21, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends,

I hope that you are well this very fine day. I know that I am!

Today, I though that I would post another video of shots of various places around Pierce County, Washington, where I live. As you know, I recently earned my FAA Part 107 Commercial Drone License so I have been on a tear to shoot video and photographs of places I visit and am able to get the bird in the air.

This video contains some shots of my neighborhood, Bradley Lake Park in Puyallup, Les Davis Pier and Dickman Mill in Tacoma, Alder Lake in rural Pierce County, and Dogwood Park in Eatonville.

There is nothing fancy here. Just some cool shots that I wanted to share.

Enjoy the video and as always..blessings.

Chris.

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Shot of the Day, July 11 2021

July 11, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello again friends,

Today is a busy day for me. Well, you know, this will be my 2nd blog post of the day. Of course, nothing else in my life is going or right now. Haha. Or is it?

Yesterday, I had to drive out to see my friends at YSS Dive in Hoodsport, Wa. I like to get out to Hoodsport and dive occasionally (some great diving in in Hood Canal), and if not to dive then to just visit. And yesterday was a social visit more than anything else (no dives planned). So off I went but brought Tweetie-bird (the drone) with me to see if I could get some shots of the area and whatever else might have come up. When the visit was over, out came the bird and up I went.

So for today’s 2nd post, I am going back to a shot of the day. This photograph is a high aerial image looking down on the Hoodsport Marina and part of downtown Hoodsport (the YSS Dive shop is in the photograph just off to the left of the pier). At the time I took this image, low-tide had just occurred so the water level was really low. You can also see some of the algae bloom going on right now as the water warms up and things in the water start to grow.

I hope that you enjoy the photograph and it somehow enriches your day. And if you enjoy my posts, please don’t hesitate to comment or head over to my Instagram page to follow for more pictures.

Blessings,

Chris

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

Video over Pierce County, July 4, 2021

July 11, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends,

So if any of you follow my Instagram or Facebook pages and posts, you’ll know that I took the drone out for an extended flight on Independence Day last week. I flew over Thea’s Park in Tacoma, some of Commencement Bay, the Puyallup River, and some of the old fields in Puyallup, not to mention over the neighborhood fireworks once the sun set (click on the word “firework” to be taken to that post).

What I hadn’t done until now is post video of those flights. Here is short compilation video (click the play button in the center of the screen to view).

Click on the tile to view that video. I hope that you enjoy some of the footage. And please call me if there is anything we can do to help you with your business or personal project.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out my other YouTube videos and follow me on Instagram.

Blessings

Chris.

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

Interesting Perspective of Fireworks 2021

July 5, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello Friends,

And welcome to your annual post-Indepedence Day hangover. I have to say that having the 4th on a Sunday really makes for a nice, relaxing Monday. Right?

So yesterday I took the drone out to a couple of places I hadn’t been before to check them out and get some shots. I’ll post those later, although I took mostly video. Anyway, when the sun went down and it got dark, of course all the neighborhood crazies came out and turned our quiet, little area into a war zone. Needless to say I had to drug the dog again to get him to calm down, but once he started to relax and I took the drone out again to get a few photographs of the fireworks from the air.

I have never flown the drone at night, but I am perfectly legal and licensed to do it, so I put it up but didn’t move it one-inch from straight up (I really want to be in a more open area for extended night operations). I adjusted the camera settings and started shooting.

This is a real cool perspective-much different that from the ground. But one thing that I noticed was different was with a light breeze having an open shutter on the camera creates a little background out-of-focus blur. That’s ok for these shots as the fireworks themselves turned out good, but of course I would rather have no movement on my camera when the shutter is open.

Nevertheless, I am happy with these photographs. I hope that you enjoy them too. (see more of my fireworks photos at the following link: https://chrismckennaphotography.com/2019/07/fireworks-2019/ )

Blessings,

Chris

Also posted in Event Photography Tagged , , , , , , |

Shot of the Day, June 28 2021

June 28, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Wow, two of these posts this year! What’s up with that you ask? Not sure, but perhaps this post has more to do with the outside conditions around there than anything else.

We are in the middle of a record breaking heat wave across the Pacific Northwest these last few days. It is not normal for temperatures to reach 100 degrees and for the last few days we have been well above that. In fact, the forecast today is for Puyallup to reach 115. Unheard of.

So what are people doing to stay cool? Of course, if you have air conditioning it is normal to stay indoors next to the cooler, but for the rest of us we need to get close to the water. Whether that is Puget Sound or a lake somewhere, we flock to the edge of the water in an effort to stay cool.

Yesterday, we were at a graduation party at a house on Lake Tapps, Washington, and of course I had to bring the drone along and see if I could get a few shots. I was mostly just showing friends the flight abilities of this machine, but when I could I took some video and tried to compose something photographically. The bright sunshine and super washed-out highlights of taking photographs on days like this make it challenging (underlining the need for me to get some ND filters for this drone), but it’s always worth an effort to get what you can.

So this is a photo of Mt. Rainier in the background against the eastern edge of the lake and Snag Island bridge (and a private airfield also in the foreground I believe).

Anyway, enjoy the photograph and as always blessings to you. And stay cool!

Chris

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

Drone Photography Now Available for Business and Personal Use

June 26, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends,

I am pleased to announce that I have passed my FAA Part 107 exam and am now a licensed commercial drone pilot with capability for drone aerial photography and/or video.

What does that mean for you? Well, drone photography offers a perspective that ground photography just cannot provide. In real estate, aerial photography is the perfect way to show off the surrounding environment of your property. Why? Because location is everything. And for many industries, location sells.  For others, the use of aerial photographs or video can be included in digital marketing (and print with photo) on your website, social media posts, and email campaigns. It really doesn’t matter what your business does or where your business is located, by adding stunning visuals it will truly complement your marketing and creative efforts on getting your message out. And finally, keep your employees and crew safe and out of danger by using my drone services for various inspections and assessment of hard-to-reach or potentially treacherous places and situations.

Our aerial photography and video services are not only just for business, but also for every individual. Consider a personal portrait session and wedding photographs that can now have a new perspective for a truly unique image. We are only limited by your imagination and what is legal and limited by FAA regulations.

Please give a call and let’s talk about how we can help you achieve your goals.

Blessings,

Chris.

BTW-don’t forget to visit our Instagram page.

Also posted in Architectural, Engagement Photography, Event Photography, General, Landscape and Nature Photography, Photography Tips & Techniques, Real Estate Photography Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |