Tag Archives: drone photography

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.

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“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.

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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 me 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

Posted in Drone Photography, Real Estate Photography Also 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.

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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.

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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/.

Posted in Drone Photography, Shot of the Day, Travel Photography Also 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.

Posted in Drone Photography, Shot of the Day Also 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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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

Posted in Drone Photography, Event Photography Also 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

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