Phoenix, AZ —Okay, I have to confess that my two camera drones have brought out the child in me!   I put one under my own tree last Christmas.   I’m middle-aged but have become hopelessly hooked on these incredible things.  I now own a  DJI Phantom 2 and a Blade 350QX quad-copters that use those great GoPro cameras.  For some unknown reason these multi-rotor camera drones have not caught the affection of women like they have men.   I don’t understand this since women are generally more creative then men.   I hope this changes because they have no clue what they’re missing. The popularity of the multi-rotor drones is exploding especially with photographers.   They allow limitless perspectives of the subject mater sought to make or capture breathtaking images.   They have starter drones on the substantially less-expensive end such as the Blade 200-QX that can help your child master the very important skills in controlling, operating...

Los Angeles, CA —Yes, I’m still in mourning over the loss of my new Blade 350 quadcopter and it’s GoPro 3+ camera payload.   Sadly this magnificent machine disappeared somewhere around the 405 Freeway and Wilshire Blvd. I will now be getting a replacement sooner than I anticipated!   The current FAA regulation precluding commercial use has been overturned in a Denver Courtroom.   I’m suddenly free to use a drone for investigation or newsgathering video right now!   On or about October 17, 2011 Raphael Pirker of Zurich, Switzerland was commercially operating a drone also known as an Unmanned Aircraft System over the University of Virginia. He was paid to gather video by a communications company. Pirker was also accused of flying the UAS at extremely low altitudes.   The FAA claimed he operated his drone recklessly.   Accordingly the FAA issued a civil penalty of $10,000.00 against Pirker ruling that FAA did not follow law when they promulgated t...

Los Angeles, CA —I thought I learned how to fly my new Blade 350 quadcopter very well.  It was now time to shoot some cool video over the trendy UCLA neighborhood of Westwood while I was in town.  I wanted video of the old movie houses and such from not so high above.  I carefully placed and set up a brand new GoPro 3+ camera on the gimbal and sent the drone all over the area for nearly 10 minutes.  I landed it perfectly and changed the battery sending it up to the Western sky.   I sent it up really high and unfortunately this time directly into the sun.  I was completely blinded and I maneuvered the control to the North.  However I completely lost sight of it and the advertised return home feature failed miserably.  It simply vanished from view. The little drone should have flown until the battery discharged and the thing would have slowly descended until it made a soft landing, but where?  I don’t have a clue!...

Van Nuys, CA —Today history was made!  I flew my Blade 350 quadcopter with a GoPro Hero 3+ camera.  The bad news is the area where I shot the video was boring.  I pepped it up for you with Gwen Stefani’s , Real Thing. I made every maneuver and angle I could which helps me determine the best angles to shoot from.   All I need now is the right subject or action to capture.  The idea is to find something to focus into or follow with smooth action. 

Blade 350 QX  Quad-Copter with a GoPro Camera Mounted  Los Angeles, CA —As a PI, TV news producer and filmmaker I’m always looking for new, quick and effective ways of quality image and video making.  Arial shots were always expensive because rotor or fixed wing aircraft was necessarily involved.  You got a one-time look for a lot of cash.  Satellite imagery was available but not on the Internet.  You had to buy expensive and often incomplete stock images from NASA.  The first game changer was Google earth that provided great images from most areas of dry land in the world.  The photo resolution was kind of so-so and the images are not regularly updated. Now there is the latest Gee Wiz video-making device ever!   It’s the Blade 350 QX offered by B&H PHOTO 1-800-221-5743  when combined with the popular GoPro cameras is amazing .  They are those new and rather small, easy to operate Quad-Copters that are...