Westbury Cement Works
Last week saw me spending more time back in Westbury cement works. The last kiln has now been demolished and I spent three days, on and off, filming the process. Weather and the unpredictability of knowing when each section would fall meant that this was all filmed and photographed from the ground. I got some pretty good video and stills, despite the poor weather and lack of light most of the time.
The site is looking pretty bare now, with only around four buildings left to be demolished. I often stand looking at where the chimney used to be, trying to picture it towering above, and in a strange way I miss it not being there!
Published!
I was excited to receive my copy of Drone Magazine this month as Skynamite features in it! I’d written a four-page article with pictures about our time spent covering – surprise, surprise – the demolition of Westbury cement works. The article looks great and the pictures look even better! I’m very pleased with the feature and have to say thanks to Ian Collen for running with it.
Calendars
Our 2017 calendar sales have been going nicely. I always knew it would be a bit of a gamble producing a calendar that featured the cement works, as it obviously has a limited appeal. But I have enjoyed my time spent covering the cement works and I am quite proud of the work we have done there to date. So I thought that a calendar would show this well and I knew it would be nice for the people who have, in one way or another, a connection to the place. Check it out in the store!
Stolen Image
I was surprised and shocked to learn last week that one of my aerial images has been used without my permission! I obviously wont go into detail here about it, but this experience proves that you do have to be careful with any images that you put online or send via email.
Keeping Up With Drone Tech
The week also saw some big new announcements from DJI – the amazing Inspire 2 and, in my opinion, the even more amazing Phantom 4 Pro. The latest incarnation of the Phantom packs a serious punch. Anyone familiar with the Phantom will know how small and portable it is, and now it packs in 360-degree collision avoidance, a one-inch sensor, 20MP camera and what every DJII owner has been waiting for for the past couple of years – the ability to record 4K video at 100Mbps! This little drone is now incredible value for money.
The Inspire 2 is obviously a far more serious drone with a very impressive spec now - Increased flight time, dual battery redundancy, dual IMU’s, collision avoidance, smart return home, capable of 67mph (handy if you’re filming cars and other fast moving subjects) and a very impressive camera spec.
However, part of me is still more impressed with DJI’s little Mavic. OK, the camera on it isn’t as good as on what I’ve mentioned above and it won’t be able to handle wind like the Inspire; but it is VERY portable. I think the Mavic will do for drones what the smart phone did for photography. It’s so small that you can have it with you pretty much all of the time, so playing by the rules of course, you will always be able to get that aerial shot, wherever you are. I’m excited to get my hands on one, that is when they’re available…
Tomorrow…
As I sit and write this with a dull gray sky emptying its rain onto the window, I’m wondering – will it stop so that I can fly this week? We need to get back to the cement works. We have some indoor flying to do there and also need to get some shots from 400ft of how the place is looking now, minus the two kilns. So I’ll go and check the weather forecast and decide if I need to charge batteries. We have to be extra vigilant when flying there now. Now that the chimney is gone planes and helicopters seem make the most of it and sometimes to fly over the site quite low!
