Drone Photography Northport, NY Motorcycle Travel and Adventure Writer
Michael ONeill Photographer Writer Motorcyclist Adventurer
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Photos From The Road

Drone Photography Northport, NY Motorcycle Travel and Adventure Writer

"I roll out of the driveway at first light and head immediately down Main Street to the waterfront in Northport Village. There is a beautiful, nearly clear sky with the wisps of delicate cirrus clouds taking on the warm orange, magenta and purple hues of the rising sun. A local constable seems a little interested in my presence at this early hour on an otherwise vacant Main Street, and watches for a few moments as I break out a camera and tripod to take a few pictures. Satisfied that I’m not up to anything nefarious he continues on his patrol giving me the perfect opportunity to send my drone up over the water for a bird’s eye view of the harbor. For the record: I am an FAA licensed drone pilot, and I’m navigating in Part G general air space, totally legal to be flying in; but rather than be forced to plead my defense up front, I choose to wait until prying eyes are elsewhere. If some busybody complains, or the police officer returns, I have all of my necessary documentation with me; but, as I’ve learned in many endeavors in life, forgiveness is always easier to get than permission".
-Excerpt from the book "Road Work: Images and Insights of a Modern Day Explorer".
The advent of reasonably priced unmanned aircraft systems (Drones) has opened up a whole new world of imaging possibilities for myself and other creative professional photographers. As with all other electronic marvels, the technology advances at lightning fast rates. The latest offerings from companies like DJI are smaller, more energy efficient and have greater imaging resolution than the models of just last year; and they promise to get better and better at an increasingly rapid pace. As an adventure travel photographer I have embraced this technology and, as one who travels by motorcycle with limited storage space, am thrilled with the compact size of these modern aerial imaging tools. There are limitations to their performance, of course, but they have opened up a whole new world…with entirely new vantage points…for the traveling photographer. As a working professional I, of course, have gone through all of the necessary steps of study and testing to be certified to fly an unmanned aircraft system. I hold a valid FAA Part 107 certification and am well versed in the theory and practical application of the flight knowledge required to obtain such certification. Constant practice keeps my skills sharp. I record mainly still photographs…my specialty and first love; but also record 4K video cinematography for those clients that require it. In the past few months of adventure motorcycle travel I have captured images in The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, in the Amish Country of southeast Pennsylvania, in The Adirondack Mountains of northern New York and right here in my home town: Northport, NY, where this aerial view of Northport Harbor at sunrise was captured.