After a full day of photo editing, it was time to fly. Yes, I picked up the DJI Mavic Mini. A drone that’s smaller than my kitten. This blog post really isn’t much for my architectural photography (at this point), but a couple of my first photos with the mini quadcopter! These 2 photos are of the ever-evolving skyline here in London, Ontario.
Quick thoughts on Mavic mini photos
To be honest, the photos I shot with the Mavic Mini today reminded me of shooting on the iPhone or a phone camera. The images aren’t super unbelievable but they aren’t terrible either. Right now, the photos are shot only in jpeg and not RAW. I have no idea if there will be an update in the future related to the photos, but you can still push the jpegs a bit in post. For these first photos, I used Lightroom and a little Photoshop to edit them.
For a device this small, I’m blown away at what’s possible. In both photos, you can see the growth of One Richmond Row and how it impacts the downtown skyline.
Making Time for Exploration & Creative
The battery for the Mavic Mini lasts 30 minutes. It’s probably less during the cold. Today, I was flying for only about 17 minutes and my hands were pretty cold. With such a small window of time to fly, I figured I could try to make time for exploring the sky with this little thing.
With such practice, maybe my videos will be watch-able! On my first flight, I did shoot some video; however, it makes me dizzy and I think you’d need some Gravol to watch at this point. As well, the editing takes me longer than I’d like still – it’s a weekend kinda thing.
Heading into 2020
For years, I’ve been trying to create video content without much luck. Heading into 2020, I just want to play in this realm. Getting out for 30 minutes will be good for me and I am going to commit to creating 100 crappy videos as a good beginning. Quantity over quality! That said, I’m actually enjoying the images coming out of the Mini at this point (and price point).
As well, playing with more of this type of creative, I’ll not feel so weird or nervous flying a drone in the city.