Western Railroad Discussion > Eye in the Sky Above San Timoteo Canyon/Beaumont

Photos taken on 8/24/14 with my GoPro Hero3+ with the "medium" setting. The drone is a DJI Phantom 2 which has a H3 3D gimbal stabilizer.
Pic 1-El Casco
Pic 2-Ordway
Pic 3-Ordway

George Cataulin
San Diego, CA
Left Coast Rail Videos

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Last one-
Pic 4-East bound manifest at Beaumont above the Centennial Memorial bridge.

George Cataulin
San Diego, CA
Left Coast Rail Videos

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Awesome! I love the photos at Ordway with the orange groves.

-Tom

I would stay away from any houses if you don't want to be hassled.
I can easily see you having to explain yourself to Riverside County Sheriff deputies after a few complaints.
They may not take your toys, but why set yourself up for an unplesent afternoon?

Looking GREAT LCRV!!!!...MJ

Great! Bet video would be nice to, The new Rail-fan tool of The Future.

Dad-gum, I just LOVE these pictures taken from drones!

PHall Wrote:
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> I would stay away from any houses if you don't
> want to be hassled.
> I can easily see you having to explain yourself to
> Riverside County Sheriff deputies after a few
> complaints.
> They may not take your toys, but why set yourself
> up for an unplesent afternoon?


Legally, there's nothing they could do about it. If he was directly over or closer to the houses, I could see there being complaints, but where that image is from seems fine.

Yes, its all legal and swell and the neatest photos UNTIL one of these guys takes YOUR photo in YOUR back yard.

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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> Yes, its all legal and swell and the neatest
> photos UNTIL one of these guys takes YOUR photo in
> YOUR back yard.


I don't disagree that it's a problem (obviously) when that kind of thing happens (and it does), but again, until the FAA sets regulations it's all moot. Last I was aware, so long as you fly below 400ft for non-commercial purposes, there's very few regulations in place.

I really appreciate you sharing the still photo results from your drone. I'm not much into creating videos, but I can think of hundreds of places where I would like another 50 or 100 feet of elevation to take a photo.

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY

My initial reaction to these drone shots always is, "nice layout!"
You seldom see the real thing from that angle. Not to mention the wide angle makes it look model-like as well.
It actually becomes a great resource for modeling ideas.

Nice pics! Thanks for sharing.

Awesome stuff, I'm really enjoying all the drone footage lately. So what is the cost of one of these setups? How hard are they to fly?

Dave Toussaint
Riverside, CA
SoCalRailFan.com

Nice shots George!! San Tim canyon is now my railfan hangout spot (it helps that I happen to live nearby.)

Thanks for posting.

Greg

Not to single out any one poster, but now that the novelty of drones is wearing off, is it possible to switch to a non-fisheye lens? Never have been a big fan of them.

darkcloud Wrote:
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> Not to single out any one poster, but now that the
> novelty of drones is wearing off, is it possible
> to switch to a non-fisheye lens? Never have been
> a big fan of them.

The GoPro is inherently a "fish-eye" camera. George did state in his OP that he used the medium setting which reduces the effect. There is also a narrow setting available which would reduce the angle of view even more. For a more "normal" view, a different camera would probably be needed. I myself, like shooting wide angle (not necessarily fisheye). I often use my Hero 3+ Silver as a viewfinder-less point-and-shoot still camera!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/14 12:19 by FrensicPic.

GREAT pics!! Thanks for posting.

Great shots George ! .

Take care Dave

Mr. Cataulin would seem to be a drone railfan photography pioneer. The first major innovation in the hobby since digital cameras.

Best regards,

Rob L.