(149) Early Bird's Eye View

Another check on the weather forecast meant I was out the door by half seven this morning and heading for the Lomond Hills to get some miles in while the sun shone. I decided to stop en route and fly the drone over the  Fettykil paper mill, something I've had on my list for ages. Although fairly extensive, the mill complex is almost completely hidden from view from most vantage points, but the flying camera easily reveals the extent of the factory. Once up in the hills I stopped at Harperleas reservoir to re-shoot aerial footage that I've taken previously but under dull grey skies. The difference that a bit of sunshine on the landscape makes to the aerial perspective is immense. On the return trip I decided to try out the drone subject tracking feature and see if I could film myself on the bike. It's very easy to setup but once activated, any input from the RC joysticks or buttons cancels the 'follow me' operation. I don't have any means to mount  the controller on the bike handlebars so had to settle for placing it in the topmost pocket of my backpack which did cause the tracking mode to be aborted several times. Nevertheless, I did manage to get some footage and try a couple of different settings. The main blip is a still from the video when I was nervously watching to see if the drone would successfully avoid the trees as I picked up speed on a descent. It did! First extra is Harperleas reservoir and West Lomond hill. second extra is the Fettykil paper mill, looking towards Leslie and the Lomond Hills.