Manhattan Beach, CA —I met with my favorite Media Guru, Michael Rosenblum  yesterday.     He’s a long time TV producer and founder of TheVJ.com .   Michael is giving 30 rookie Video Journalists their hands on training to cover news for Spectrum’s SOCAL-1 , 24/7 news startup.     I suspect there’s no doubt that this offering will shake up the L.A. news market in a big way.    Gone at SOCAL News1 are the news crews and the obscenely expensive TV gear.  The news stories will either work or fail through the individual efforts of these hand picked youngsters.  These lucky VJ’s will be seen by all manner of agents, producers and TV network decision makers. Those talented ones, that shine will have unlimited opportunities.   Spectrum has already done the same thing in NYC and this concept is spreading over the nation. Traditional TV new is in a death spiral over their insane fear of making the slightest ...

NJ Governor Chris Christie captured by an  exclusive drone photo by, NJ Advance Media Los Angeles, CA —The FAA is over-regulating while moving at a snail’s pace as drone technology is advancing at supersonic speed.   Right now camera drones manufactured by DJI are totally safe and virtually crash proof. Despite claims of potential airline crashes and total mayhem there is not a single death, serious injury or significant property damage from our modern camera drones.  They've been around for years now.  TV news is spending millions that they really don’t have on $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 per hour news choppers.   Drones operate at a tiny fraction of the cost of news helicopters and they are much safer.   There are already million of drones out there in the hands of Americans of every description. Noisy helicopters are a serious distraction to first responders even at the 500-foot altitude they are required to maintain.    T...

Let me begin by saying my views on this subject are my own and doing what I suggest could result in prosecution. The risk however is very low… Being an avid photographer for most of my life, the amazing drone technology has become an exciting addiction.   Ive been flying them for over four years now getting images I could only dream about before.   Placing great musical soundtracks on my videos has been pure joy.   I fly really safe having never once damaged property or caused injury. I follow sound advice like staying away from other aircraft, flying well below 400 feet (flying higher does not aid in capturing great images).  I fly sober and watchful and accordingly I have never needed crash repairs. I won’t ever ask permission to flyover or photograph private property.  That’s constitutionally protected activity that fixed wing and helicopters have enjoyed for years and there is plenty of settled appellate law that guides me.   As for th...

I Los Angeles, CA--I had my somewhat pricy DJI Inspire 1 camera drone for five months.   I love the product and it never gave a bad moment.  Well not quite.   DJI has an update policy from Hell.  They suddenly announce a firmware update.  You can't fly until you get to good internet service with a computer, download and install the update.   That is a disaster when you drive to a location for a shoot and everything stops.   Okay that sucks but while attempting my last update for the cold weather battery fix things went to Hell. The camera stopped retaining the little SD memory card spitting it out!  There suddenly was a second problem with the coupling of the camera and gimbal to the drone.  Contact was somehow lost.   Technical support was sympathetic and told me to take it to Fedex and provided several explicate pages of instructions on shipping it back. The repair facility is in nearby Carson but they demand it be shipped by Fedex eve...

Santa Barbara, CA--Private Security is really more about deterrence, and loss prevention.  Bringing in drones is a perfect application for security contractors to rid their clients of burglars, sex offenders and vandals.  Of course homeowners associations can create their own in house program but it's generally not needed.  However there are times when criminals show up in soft target communities then it's time to call in a qualified security contractor with drones.   Wether it's a burglary or vandalism problem drones operated and flying at less than 300 feet can can easily observe and record the deeds.  Ground security and police can be quickly alerted to handle enforcement activities. Drones are excellent for all industrial security applications.  They can be sent up as needed to examine areas or for responding to various alarms and such.  Drones have been used to smuggle contraband into correctional facilities.  Actually those kinds of faciliti...

Los Angeles, CA —The word of the day is FLIR !  I knew this was in development but now it’s actually here!  FLIR became a major public safety and search & rescue tool more than two decades ago.  Now even civilian camera drones are in the FLIR mix!  Flir has primarily been delegated to expensive cameras carried on board conventional aircraft for military, police, fire and every public safety application. Recently the popular drone maker DJI and Flir teamed up to offer these now affordable lifesaving cameras.   They can now operate from the popular DJI Inspire1 and Matrice 100 drone platforms.   That means anyone with these drones can save or at least protect lives.   Flir is simply an optical device that captures imagery of heat signatures or thermal patterns.  At 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit our bodies are normally warmer than the ambient air temperature.  At night the outside air is almost always colder than the bodies of hu...

Los Angeles, CA —Let me offer this lifesaving idea for the thousands of watercraft both large and small sailing the seas. Drones are perfect as a backup to radar for observing watercraft in the area.   Drones won’t be affected by watercraft power failures. Additionally the drones can be sent up with special flashing emergency lights.   Unlike sending up a flare drones can stay in the sky for extended periods of time.  The only real issue is educating boaters about recognizing the drone distress signal indicating a boating emergency.