A lot of things slowed down in January of 2024. Having just taken two big trips, it was time to stay local. Despite a resolution to save money, I went skydiving with a friend. I am a licensed skydiver, but I don't own my own rig, so it can be an expensive hobby. AJ hurt his ankle after a rough landing, so we stopped fairly early. That didn't stop me from using my Sigma 60-600mm. It was bright and sunny that day, which is perfect for that lens. I managed to get some photos of people as they came into the drop zone.
Additionally, the drone was still fairly new to me, so I had the urge to fly it. I did not realize that on this model of drone, the proximity sensors deactivate at night, even if you have a clear view on the screen. I learned this because I was flying the drone from my girlfriend’s (now wife’s) house to downtown Wilmington (not illegal - it was “Line of Sight”) to get an aerial photo of some of the churches. One of the churches had an interesting statue on the spire, so I brought the drone in for a closer look.
As the drone moved forward, I lost signal temporarily, and the drone did not receive my plea to stop going forward and flew directly into the church’s roof. I watched in horror as my $1200 drone tumbled through the air, surely to be found later and traced back to me. To my surprise, the tumbling stopped and the drone was staring downwards towards the ground. Miraculously, the drone had managed to catch itself mid-air and remain upright and airborne, at which point I flew it directly home. I replaced the rotors and a plastic panel component, and it was back in action.
The 60-600mm lens is great for horizon photos because the long focal length makes the sun appear extremely large. I woke up early one morning in January just to capture photos of the sunrise. My editing at the time left a lot to be desired, and I ended up going back later to reduce some of the intense vignetting I had originally applied to the photos.
