So last Wednesday I was speaking to a friend of mine, Uday, the guy that I did my ‘riding on the great wall trip with’

You can view that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8QzrD5vTpA

Be careful, this is the full 46 minute version of it.

But Uday took some footage using his personal drone, and I was keen to see that footage because the scenery was incredible, and having a chance to view it from an arial perspective would really add depth in showcasing just how beautiful some parts of China really is.

So yep, was wanting to remind him that i would like to get that footage from him.

While he promised to send me the footage at some point in time, he shared this with me:

This is the same brand as his, but the latest model.  DJI is a Chinese company, and is apparently the maker or the best personal drones in the world at this time.

Since he shared this with me… I can’t stop thinking about it, and have been watching every video I can get my hands on.

Now, it’s a bit pricy. 999 USD.  And then 1,300 when you go for the extended pack – which includes chargers, spare batteries, spare propellers, a protective case, and all of that.

Signing up to the DJI website…because i really want to know more, and am seriously considering getting this, i started watching all their videos explaining about the product.  Which is where I also discovered this:

The street artist astro.

Now anyone will know that from my time in Paris, I really appreciated the graffiti art there, in fact I dedicated a facebook album solely to it.  (in fact I should repost those works here)

But this French graffiti artist just looks incredible!

Getting back to the drone though, i’ve been having a go at making my own moto-vlogs, or for those that don’t know – motorbike video blogs.   This is where you kind of ride around with a camera on the top of your helmet talking about things, and filming the situation as you see it.

My moto-vlog aims to be mainly about China, and riding a motorbike there, with the aim of improving your riding experience whilst in China.

I’ve already taken loads of footage, but of course I need to edit it into a video.  This…unfortunately takes a very long time.  Especially when you are really trying to create a certain narrative, or showcase exactly how awesome a certain situation/ environment is.

Normally I’ve been relying on pictures, and of course my moto-vlog camera, my Drift Ghost-S, but of course that doesn’t really allow the viewer to see the whole perspective as I see it.

This is especially so in a video I will be doing soon about our trip to the Moto-X track.  Where you can ride dirt bikes on a specially designed track, and do jumps and slides and all of that.
Of course I’ve already written about it, you can find the article here: https://sippingfromthebrewingpot.fyi/2016/05/15/moto-x-dirt-biking-in-shunyi/

The thing is, in this video, I will of course have all the pictures that are showcased here, I have the video that I took from my helmet camera, yet i can’t really show you all exactly how awesome that track is, how big it is, how exciting it is to jump of those jumps or 飞坡 fei po, literally ‘flying slope’ in Chinese, and how much air you can really get.
On the helmet camera if you pause the video you can see, but when the video is rolling, because there’s so much dust kicked up by the tyres, if you were watching it normally the dust covers the air that you get from the bike.

The point is, if I was to have this drone in a situation like this, I could have positioned it right next to the jump, at varying heights, could have ‘chased’ a rider around, could have got a centre position full aerial view of the track, and really given some perspective to just how awesome that day event really was.

Now you may be thinking…why didn’t someone just go out with a normal camera and sit by the jumps to take photos?  Well yes, someone did do that… but that also involves that someone walking around the whole day to those locations which means they’re not able to ride themselves.
And… a person with a normal camera can’t get aerial views and full perspective now can they?

Cameras, even the best cameras, only offer a single point, single location point perspective, by having the aerial option, you can really take into many perspectives at once.

Plus this particular drone has a tracking mode.   So… and i’m not sure what kind of limits it has in terms of speed… but i could literally set it to track myself, and then have it follow me around a track with no one else having to control it…or not being able to ride themselves.
How bloody awesome is that?

I shared this link with my dad, and he said that he’d be interested in getting one too because he and mum will travel to Canada next year to see polar bears or something, and again this would be perfect in all the places that they intend to go to.

I will do a bit more research and then I hope to get one for myself.

I will post my own review of it once, or if I get it.