Cascade Freeride - Bad Moon Rising (drone vid)

There is no doubt that drones will be able to deliver footage that will be amazing and evolutionary. I am a total novice. But check out my first attempt at automated flying/filming.

vimeo.com/258375397

Fun video, but I opened hoping it was from sonic youth's bad moon rising album- would have been more sinister for what I was thinking- you like selfies? In the near future you'll be walking down the street and personnel orbiters will be droning around all the good people. Catching every breath on their personal drone. No use getting too worked up about it, but keep it out of the wilderness- you know, the federally designated kind- and respect nature, they don't have Facebook - people have to have their needs filled, but there needs to be a place to escape from them. I think drones make excellent snowball practice!

I loved the great jump at the start. Looks like a "normal" cascade pow day.

you like selfies? 

No man. Haven't taken a selfie since 1993 with my friend on a bachelor chair lift.

My goal is to capture cool skiing footage. Not to harass elk or human beings. Please do not assume that all droners do that.

I understand if you don't like drones. Cool.

Hi Griff - I don't have a problem with drones, per se, but do have a problem when not used properly. I don't assume you'd spy on me when I'm enjoying myself (that's where the snowball comment came from - of course the video filmers can take away my privacy, but wouldn't you want to have target practice if someone did?! That just sounds like a lot of fun to me), but like dog owners, there are good and bad users of this liberty. Good users make fun videos. Good dog owners have fun with their companions in the woods. But bad drone users and bad dog owners...well, we all suffer their folly, don't we.

Cat's out of the bag already, we'll see how far people will take this technology. It is pretty awesome - like the first Go Pro video footage I ever saw - I knew this was a game changer in how people express themselves.

Read my note again, and yes I am sarcastic to a fault, but I really was asking a lead in question for the comments that follow, not taking a pot shot at you, Griff. Those who love selfies will love their own personal drone following them around in life. Trust me, we'll see it our lifetime (I hope!).

Thanks for the fun video and drone footage. Just wanted to point out how it can be misused as we are starting to see beginners using this technology and wanted to make my crude points. I can go where they are illegal and will not bother me, and that's fine with me. We allow snowmobiles in the winter at certain places, why not drones? Everyone gets their jollies as long as they respect each other's space. That's fine with me. Keep on filming and I'll watch.

FWIW: www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/files/pdf/pol...Drone-UAS-Policy.pdf

Outside the Alpental permit boundary - you pretty quickly enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area where drones are banned -- not that the USFS does any enforcement -- except on a complaint basis.

South of Snoqualmie Pass -- there is a lot of non-Wilderness USFS lands -- but other restrictions may apply -- consider contacting the Ranger district administering the land.

But the first video you posted DID show you harassing wildlife with your drone even though you insist it didn't bother them. It clearly shows your drone lowering into a herd of elk and them spooking because of it.

I understand you like drones. Cool. Keep it where it's legal.

Notice in the elk vid that there are people jogging and taking pictures of the elk with dogs. It is not conclusive that the drone spooked them as my flight records show that it did not descend below 35 feet.

Yet as noted previously, I have lived in this valley for 23 years and would not harass our elk.

Tayers -

My vids are my art. I need technology to get footage to make vids. Like a GoPro or drone. That's it. Nothing sinister about it.

Yes I know the rules had everything appropriately lined up to film. Nothing broken.

Griff

My vids are my art. I need technology to get footage to make vids.

Just keep in mind there are many of us who find the tool you use to produce your "art" extremely annoying.  Calling it "art" doesn't make it any less annoying. 

The noise of a drone makes me want to jump out of my skin and shoot the d**n thing down. And I don't even own a gun. I can imagine how it makes elk feel.  

So, yeah, keep to the rules and practice consideration and common sense.

I'm not trying to start an argument with you Griff but those two statements are completely at odds with each other.

Hovering a drone 35 ft above a herd of elk would be a textbook definition of wildlife harassment!

No argument. We see it differently. But that said, completely irrelevant from the standpoint that the elk footage was 100% random and I have absolutely no desire and/or reasons to film any wildlife, ever, for any reason. I was practicing at my local ball fields and the elk were in the field/farm adjacent where they are regularly. All coincidental. I was there that day, I know what my motivations were and what I was being sensitive/respectful about.

I literally will not be filming wildlife at all. So that case is closed.

But I did learn something very tangibly from this thread. And today was reinforced at lunch in Seattle with my colleagues. There is plain and simple drone hate.

No reason for me to try and change anyone's mind. I am not a drone lover per se. Again, I am using it as a tool for my art. No quotations needed, you don't have to like my art or feel that it is not art, but I do it only for artistic reasons.

So it is time for me quit while I am very far behind. You will never see me or my drone again.

So all of that said, I've always enjoyed Griff's posts..   

Griff, I always enjoy your vids. Thanks for posting. Always good stoke.... BTW, On the drive home from work last night I noticed that the fall city market had a sign up for fresh elk meat...

So all of that said, I've always enjoyed Griff's posts..   

X2 - Keep-on Keeping-on Griff.
CU@lot4

Edited to add:
Personally I am not a fan of the tech, and the potential for invasion of privacy.
That said, instead of hijacking Griff's thread and turning into an ersatz referendum, let's start a new one that highlights the subject in the title. IMO it's a worthy subject worth debating, just not here.

Not a big fan of drones in the hills. I go out there for the quiet and have been buzzed by those annoying things on several occasions - once in a designated wilderness.

Regarding the elk thing - it's complicated. As a wildlife biologist with 35 yrs experience there is a lot of information out there in the literature. Yea - there may have been people on the ground taking pictures - but this is a common occurrence in the valley and one in which the elk have become habituated.

Because elk don't stampede doesn't mean you are not causing behavioral changes, increases in stress hormones, and generally affecting them. The Washington Administrative Code that WDFW refers to addresses drones but the language is vague - you are not suppose to "harass" them.

I would say being only 35 ft above a herd is too close. 100 ft - depends on the circumstances. 200 ft - maybe that is ok. Don't make assumptions, be over cautious. The US Forest Service drone hobbiest guidelines specifically say this:

---

Do not fly over or near wildlife as this can create stress that may cause significant harm, and even death. Intentional disturbance of animals during breeding, nesting, rearing of young, or other critical life history functions is not allowed unless approved as research or management.

---

www.fs.fed.us/science-technology/fire/un...tems/responsible-use



wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/drone-operat...ng-elk-herd#stream/0

"Even though an animal might not appear to be disturbed, it could be quite stressed--for example, a bird may choose to remain near a UAV even when stressed because it is incubating an egg or protecting its hatchling," says Jarrod Hodgson of The University of Adelaide in Australia. "It is likely that animal responses vary depending on a variety of factors, including the species, environmental and historical context, and the type of UAV and its method of operation."

ah, don't leave so quick griff... we are mostly a bunch of old cranky lads yelling get off our lawn, doesn't mean it isn't one of the best parts of our day?

On the drive home from work last night I noticed that the fall city market had a sign up for fresh elk meat...

Looks like somebody beat WSDOT to cleaning-up the dead one in the road on EB 90 at Exit 38 ;D

So it is time for me quit while I am very far behind. You will never see me or my drone again.

Fake news! I see you in line for chair 2 all the time

I'm not a fan of drones, but I am a fan of the footage they can produce. If used legally and respectfully, I have no problems and as far as I can tell, you are doing just that. Leave us if you wish, but at least drop a breadcrumb via PM to where I can find you next