Exciting day flying

[sharps45]

Went up a canyon to get some video of the river flowing through it. Started at the reservoir that feeds the river, just getting some stills. Then while Spark was up about 200 feet, over the lake, a hawk swoops down to take it out! For a second I thought about switching to video to catch the bird, but decided since I was that high, and over water to boot, I'd just better bring the drone in. Switched to Sport Mode, and with some quick maneuvering was able to bring it safely back. Later, while filming over the river, I backed up the drone a bit to fix the scene, and then on the screen- tree branches and the message cannot fly. I knew within a couple hundred feet where it was, but using the controller to locate the drone was useless. After about an hour of searching, and on the last tree before I gave up and crossed the river to search the other side, I found him under a tree, upside down. Absolutely no damage, and the polarized filter I was using was lying right beside the drone. Lucky day!

 

[Spark 317]

Glad to hear you found the Spark and the filter.

I usually hit the record button after the Home Point has been established and record the whole flight.

If I lose the Spark, at least I'll have a cached video stored in my device to help find it since the "Find My Drone" won't work with my WiFi only mini4.

 

[Huntman2014]

Went up a canyon to get some video of the river flowing through it. Started at the reservoir that feeds the river, just getting some stills. Then while Spark was up about 200 feet, over the lake, a hawk swoops down to take it out! For a second I thought about switching to video to catch the bird, but decided since I was that high, and over water to boot, I'd just better bring the drone in. Switched to Sport Mode, and with some quick maneuvering was able to bring it safely back. Later, while filming over the river, I backed up the drone a bit to fix the scene, and then on the screen- tree branches and the message cannot fly. I knew within a couple hundred feet where it was, but using the controller to locate the drone was useless. After about an hour of searching, and on the last tree before I gave up and crossed the river to search the other side, I found him under a tree, upside down. Absolutely no damage, and the polarized filter I was using was lying right beside the drone. Lucky day!

so polarized filters do exist??

 

[sharps45]

That was the only flight over the river I didn't start the video at take off

 

[GeoM1]

Great story!
As far as videos/pics go, I always shoot video. It’s so easy to grab an HD still from an video frame. And SD storage is really inexpensive.

 

[Tentoes]

Glad to hear you found the Spark and the filter.

I usually hit the record button after the Home Point has been established and record the whole flight.

If I lose the Spark, at least I'll have a cached video stored in my device to help find it since the "Find My Drone" won't work with my WiFi only mini4.

I usually hit record before taking off. Of course, sometimes I forget and miss THE BEST SHOT OF THE DAY.