Chris Stritzel's Drone

chriss752 · PostNov 04, 2020#12020-11-04T06:58+00:00

As I've posted in other threads, I got a drone yesterday. This thread will be for some of my pictures that don't fit in to correct threads. Now, my drone is height limited to 120 meters (393ft). It's a DJI Mavic Mini and features a 12MP camera that can shoot 2.3K video at 30FPS or 1080 at 60FPS

Let me start with a real beauty (and my favorite building in STL)...

Below is a video...

moorlander · PostNov 04, 2020#22020-11-04T16:17+00:00

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Get your FAA certification to avoid fines.

framer · PostNov 04, 2020#32020-11-04T20:22+00:00

Good stuff!

chriss752 · PostNov 04, 2020#42020-11-04T21:20+00:00

moorlander wrote: ↑
Nov 04, 2020
Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Get your FAA certification to avoid fines.

I got a FAA Certificate of Registration to fly the drone around. They say I don't need to since it falls below the weight minimum, but that's ok.

Laife Fulk · PostNov 04, 2020#52020-11-04T22:08+00:00

Good deal! I know you can't fly over the NGA site for obvious security reasons, but would you be able to do any photos of Old North, St. Louis Place, etc. Basically the areas where McKee has a ton of land / buildings? I'd love to see if you can get some images that show how the existing building stock is holding up.

aprice · PostNov 05, 2020#62020-11-05T01:50+00:00

I love Midtown so much.
I already love this thread. Keep it up Chris.

chriss752 · PostNov 06, 2020#72020-11-06T00:16+00:00

Some pictures today to add to the thread...

framer · PostNov 06, 2020#82020-11-06T02:20+00:00

Love these overall, contextual shots. Keep 'em coming, please.

chriss752 · PostNov 06, 2020#92020-11-06T06:52+00:00

Thanks Framer.

I have a few more "test shots", like these, left. It all helps me get acquainted to the drone and how it works.

Also, I should've waited a couple more days. DJI came out with the "Mini 2" which is the successor to the Drone I have. It's supposed to take better photos and video. But that's ok.

pdm_ad · PostNov 06, 2020#102020-11-06T23:36+00:00

I'll join the others in saying thank you Chris. Great pics and videos.

chriss752 · PostNov 07, 2020#112020-11-07T03:06+00:00

Some more photos today. I'm now comfortable flying this around after several days of practice. So much so that I checked if it was fine, and I was told yes, spot I took the drone up to 1200ft. This gives us a glimpse about what the views would be like if an Aon Center (Chicago) just dropped into St. Louis. But first, here are some neat photos from closer to the ground. First photo is a bit over 200ft up. Second photo is 630ft up.

One thing I should note is that these photos are enhanced so that the colors were more accurate. The original pictures were appearing a bit dull. All in all, happy fall!

Now for the sky high...

Street overhead from 1200ft up...

PostNov 07, 2020#122020-11-07T03:16+00:00

By the way, I don't plan on ever going as high as I did again, so no one ask. It was far too complicated, but I'm happy with the results. Believe or not, the drone could go up to over 1900ft according to Google.

urban_dilettante · PostNov 07, 2020#132020-11-07T17:47+00:00

Chris, would you mind going that high again (maybe 1200 feet or more) and getting some more awesome shots?

(Great work, by the way. Looking forward to a future full of aerial project updates!)

chriss752 · PostNov 07, 2020#142020-11-07T23:54+00:00

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑
Nov 07, 2020
Chris, would you mind going that high again (maybe 1200 feet or more) and getting some more awesome shots?

(Great work, by the way. Looking forward to a future full of aerial project updates!)

Some parts of the City are height limited. So I could do up to 1640ft in some parts, but not all. For example, just South of Downtown is limited to 196ft and from there through to the Central West End to Forest Park is limited to 492ft.

The gateway arch grounds, jails, and the NGA site are geo-walled off.

Regardless though, I will be taking many more project photos utilizing the drone but still will use the typical on the ground fashion.

urban_dilettante · PostNov 08, 2020#152020-11-08T00:21+00:00

^ i was just teasing b/c you said not to ask.

chriss752 · PostNov 08, 2020#162020-11-08T00:24+00:00

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑
Nov 08, 2020
^ i was just teasing b/c you said not to ask.

I know. But it does deserve an answer. I would love to take it up to 1200ft again, but there were issues getting it up that high. The biggest was that the signal on the remote control was going in and out.

PostDec 18, 2020#172020-12-18T07:10+00:00

The drone has been fixed after crashing and breaking a leg/arm/wing (whatever you call it). Drone pictures should start being posted again soon in the correct project threads.

This thread will be for random photos.

symphonicpoet · PostDec 18, 2020#182020-12-18T07:15+00:00

Glad your bird is mended.

chriss752 · PostDec 22, 2020#192020-12-22T00:26+00:00

Some cool shots from today...

This one of Verve is cool because it shows the floor layout and you can see "On Olive" and the homes on Westminster behind it.

Here's a non-drone photo that I'll just add here. 3 cranes!

symphonicpoet · PostDec 22, 2020#202020-12-22T04:22+00:00

^Nice! I . . . uh . . . especially like that last one. I feel so dirty, but I have to admit, I like my crane porn. At least when there are local cranes involved. Cranes I could hope to meet, as it were.

sc4mayor · PostDec 22, 2020#212020-12-22T05:01+00:00

^ Yeah that last one is great.

chriss752 · PostJan 01, 2021#222021-01-01T01:54+00:00

Here is a Flickr album that includes all my drone photos to date. Cities featured: St. Louis, Kansas City, and Parkville.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/132292918@N06/8Dr5er

PostJan 04, 2021#232021-01-04T07:18+00:00

Took the drone up around Grand Center/Midtown today. Got some up close pictures of my favorite building - The Continental Life Building. It's interesting to see the details up close. One thing about these pictures is that they show just how much space there is to build on in the neighborhood. If every parking lot got a proposal for a 3-8 story apartment building with some office thrown in for good measure, this would be a very dense and busy neighborhood. For now though, it's nice to see all the major abandoned buildings being dealt with, or have been dealt with. The 2020s will surely bring infill to this neighborhood and I can't wait to see what it will be like.

Anyway, here's the Continental Life Building to kick things off...

View looking East over the former Mill Creek Valley neighborhood...

The Grand Avenue corridor through Grand Center....

Council Plaza and part of the SLU Campus...

View West over the SLU Campus...

Looking straight down at the Grand and Olive intersection...

Looking East down Locust...

The following videos require you to click on them to watch since they are on Flickr. I find them to be neat.

Video 1: Continental Life Building Reveal

Video 2: Flight up Grand

Video 3: Grand Center Flyover

pdm_ad · PostJan 04, 2021#242021-01-04T11:41+00:00

Nice shots Chris! Love the bank of fog out west in some of your pictures, it was an eerie sight as that rolled in around sunset last night.

chriss752 · PostJan 14, 2021#252021-01-14T08:21+00:00

Photos from Nashville. Coming tomorrow: photos from Port St. Joe, the bayside town in Florida where I spent many summers from when I was like 5 until 18 (before Hurricane Michael).

Centennial Park...

Vanderbilt...

Four Seasons...

Looking down Broadway (1st photo near 2nd Avenue. 2nd and 3rd photos are near Nashville Yards).

Looking down West End Avenue towards Downtown from near Vanderbilt...

Downtown/Lower Broadway...

SoBro...