My Dad, Justin, the two dogs and I stayed at Woodtick Camp over the weekend. Spending time at other camps made me miss my own. We’ve all been so busy, camp has been neglected. Justin and Dad needed to make firewood for hunting season and winter trips. I needed to get autumn video of the camp. It was a beautiful weekend and there wasn’t a better place to spend it (the poker run on the South Branch for the Annual Log Jam in Ewen would have been a close second).
We hauled all my camera gear down the hill and I videotaped Dad and Justin sawing and splitting firewood. They also boiled and scraped Justin’s buck skull from last hunting season to make a European mount to add to the camp wall with Dad’s. I wish the camera could capture how bad that smells. Too bad Smell-O-Vision never took off in the 60’s. We cleaned out mouse nests and took a hike to Dad’s deer blind (a hill he sits on that gives him a good 180 degree view of the woods below). I’m not sure how much of the hiking video is usable as our two dogs were at “Grandpa’s” side the whole time. It might look like they were his. We didn’t want to lock them in the camp though. Lola and Annie love roaming the woods too.
Another mission was to test out my DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter (aka Drone, UAS – Unmanned Aircraft System) that I haven’t had much time to play with. I want to use it to get great aerial shots of camps; however commercial use of drones is still illegal. Right now they are approved for hobby use up to 400 feet in the air. This film is a hobby project, right? The Forest Service decided it was a commercial film project and made me get a permit to film in the forest though. There is some hope. The FAA has just granted six American production companies permission to fly commercial drones.
http://www.today.com/news/faa-grants-6-tv-movie-companies-permission-fly-drones-2D80176837
According to the news story the FAA is taking requests for exemption grants. After finding the press release on the FAA's website about allowing the six companies to use drones I clicked around to find where I can apply. After skimming half a dozen pages I didn’t find the application. I will keep looking and read all the materials because after testing my drone at camp, I want to use it for the film!
(http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=17194)
We hauled all my camera gear down the hill and I videotaped Dad and Justin sawing and splitting firewood. They also boiled and scraped Justin’s buck skull from last hunting season to make a European mount to add to the camp wall with Dad’s. I wish the camera could capture how bad that smells. Too bad Smell-O-Vision never took off in the 60’s. We cleaned out mouse nests and took a hike to Dad’s deer blind (a hill he sits on that gives him a good 180 degree view of the woods below). I’m not sure how much of the hiking video is usable as our two dogs were at “Grandpa’s” side the whole time. It might look like they were his. We didn’t want to lock them in the camp though. Lola and Annie love roaming the woods too.
Another mission was to test out my DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter (aka Drone, UAS – Unmanned Aircraft System) that I haven’t had much time to play with. I want to use it to get great aerial shots of camps; however commercial use of drones is still illegal. Right now they are approved for hobby use up to 400 feet in the air. This film is a hobby project, right? The Forest Service decided it was a commercial film project and made me get a permit to film in the forest though. There is some hope. The FAA has just granted six American production companies permission to fly commercial drones.
http://www.today.com/news/faa-grants-6-tv-movie-companies-permission-fly-drones-2D80176837
According to the news story the FAA is taking requests for exemption grants. After finding the press release on the FAA's website about allowing the six companies to use drones I clicked around to find where I can apply. After skimming half a dozen pages I didn’t find the application. I will keep looking and read all the materials because after testing my drone at camp, I want to use it for the film!
(http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=17194)