In July 2016, my family took a trip to Cannon Beach, OR for a Stonely family reunion, which consisted of my 5 younger siblings and their respective families. We rented a huge home and spent some quality time together, both young and old. While I am only 48, and since both my mom and dad have passed away, I’m the oldest in the family.
I was able to convince my wife to let me take my DJI Phantom 4 drone on the trip, and boy, was I ever glad that I did! There were a few times that I got up at 5:30 am and took the quadcopter to the beach to capture the sunrise, not to mention the few excursions to Cannon Beach and Hug Point. I also scouted out Indian Beach with my brother Todd, and then went there again.
It’s so funny that every time I fly my drone, especially around people, I attract a crowd. Someone inevitably comes up and asks a bunch of questions, which I enjoy immensely! I even had a very pleasant conversation with a Cannon Beach policeman who was patrolling the beach one early morning. I made sure that he understood that I knew the rules about flying — I had spoken earlier with a very nice lady at Visitor’s Information when we first arrive to ensure that the local restrictions were understood — and then we shared anecdotes about flying.
(By the way, my drone was simply hovering in place taking tons of cool beach shots while I talked with the patrolman!)
One of my favorite video sessions was on a trail through an old forest very close to Cannon Beach. It was a path about 10 feet wide that sloped slowly upwards, so I had to both watch my drone’s elevation and direction so that it wouldn’t crash into the ground or the nearby trees. As I was filming, I kept wondering if I would come across Paleolithic creature munching on the foliage, or if I would feel the thumping of a dinosaur as it came crashing through the trees. It was awesome!
Anyway, we totally enjoyed our vacation, and I have spent the last few weeks creating videos and enhancing photos from that trip. You can see my photos throughout this website and my videos by clicking here.
