chuckography: "It droned on and on and on.."

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

"It droned on and on and on.."

Having a mini-copter hovering overhead - with a camera pointing down - seems to be the new way to picture a scene.

I've had a varied and long career in photography but have not bought a drone copter . Yet,

Saturday was the 9th annual Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk, and 20 members of my photo group in Charleston, S.Car., were among more than 1,100 participating cities all around the world.

We always submit a group photo, and this year - for the first time - member Joseph Nienstedt brought his new drone and did a smooth flyover to take an aerial view of us standing before a local landmark in the "Holy City," so named because the view from offshore showed many, many steeples.

This fountain is shaped like a Pineapple, the symbol of hospitality, and is one of two beautiful fountains at our Waterfront Park, which overlooks Charleston harbor.

I grew up hearing that this is where the Ashley River and the Cooper River come together to form the Atlantic Ocean.

Made sense to me as a kid growing up downtown in an historic city.

As Leader of the group, I am able to submit one picture into competition with more than 1,100 of my peers.

I entered a view of a fountain's rushing water caught with a fast shutter speed as it streams past a church steeple in the background.

Two years ago, one of our members placed in the Top Ten and received about $650 in prizes.

Yes, he owns the drone and he used it to create a clever video and submitted it. Hope Joseph wins again!

After the photo walk, we had lunch at Tommy Condon's and repeated something we have done each year - place all the cameras on the table.

What an impressive pile of money!

Of course, with ALL the cameras on display, we had to use our Smart phones to grab the moment.

(Click on the photos and links for more details.)

We also took a "traditional" ground level
group shot.

That's Doug DeLong hustling into the frame.
His camera had only a 2-second timer setting before the shutter snapped.