Drone photography and videography of the Pittsburgh skyline

I’ve been learning a ton about shooting video and stills at night, using my drone.  It’s exciting and a lot of fun.  I’m not always that keen about getting up early to catch the sunrise, but once I get on-site, it’s a lot of fun and very rewarding. One of my favorite place to launch from is the little park right across from Monterey Bay, on Mt Washington.  I usually get my butt out of bed at 5 am, and make my way there at about 5:45.  I take my bag chair, and a yeti full of coffee.  I sent out the drone and see what I get.  Sometimes it’s great and sometimes, not so great.  Of course, a lot depends on the weather.

I have discovered that there is a small window of time where the brightness of the sky is just right, in relation to the brightness of the lights inside the building.  This “perfect time”, only lasts a few minutes.  Sure, the shots before and after can still be great, but not quite as sweet at the photos or video taken at the “Perfect time”.  The same applies for “sunset shots”, like the one above.

Now that the leaves are off the trees, I’ll be shooting a bunch more night shots.  Shooting the skyline, without the color of the green trees, just isn’t worth it.  Maybe I’ll give it a go with the snow on the ground, but for a while now, it looks like I’ll be shooting mostly night shots.  I’m in the process of putting together a reel of my Pittsburgh skyline video clips, and I’m missing some “unusual angles”, to round out the footage and give it some variety.  I can probably crop in and keep the winter trees out of the crop.  I’ll give that a try…

I feel I’m getting pretty good at flying the drone.  I have my license and I’ve been doing quite a few commercial jobs.  I’ll post some of it soon, but in the mean time, if you need drone stills or video for a commercial project, please give me a buzz! (412)418-2838 or mray@michaelraycom

Take care!