Sunrise Sunday

My sunrise buddy, Shyla, and I have seen some truly incredible sunrises recently. I find it so hard to get out of bed when it's still dark so that I'm ready for sunrise but the rewards are stupendous.

The clouds have been the source of amazing skies recently. Just this morning, the clouds made a brilliant pattern in the sky.

When I stand on the ground outside my house, I can see only pinkish hues through the forest. I don't know what I'll see when I pop my drone up above the trees. I usually start by looking east (photo above), and then I start to rotate to other views. This morning, I turned a little to the south, and I was dumbfounded by the unexpected colors.

Then, I turned toward the west. This view usually reveals snowy mountains below pinkish clouds. To my surprise this morning, the vibrant pink-orange clouds completely obscured the mountains. Alas, a cloud front over the Divide that completely obscures the mountains usually means big winds, and I was just about to encounter them.

Just as I snapped the photo to the west, the wind started to carry my drone to the east. Believe me, the air was perfectly calm when I started this flight and only about 2 minutes had passed. From experience, I've learned how to handle this situation, pointing the drone toward me and giving it full throttle. I know that I might have to wait out the wind gusts before it will be able to make progress toward me. In a worst case scenario, I'd land it in place if the motor weren't strong enough to overcome the wind. That didn't happen today. The gust died down, and it returned to hovering over me.

I was in a big hurry to get it on the ground for safety but I had time to snap a couple more photos as it descended. This one was my favorite.

I have been so happy to get to see the 360° view of sunrises using my drone. However, flying it requires more practice and knowledge than I expected. I think it's difficult because I'm flying at high altitude in the mountains where the wind can kick up in an instant.

My rule is that I must have had my morning coffee before I can do a sunrise flight. Trying to fly it while sleepy would not work!

Just in case you're worried, I don't think that any neighbors notice that I'm flying it at sunrise (no one has mentioned it and none live very close). It stays over our land and is high enough that it's not easily heard. I read that people worry about being spied upon by a drone - but consumer drones have cameras with such extremely wide angle lenses that people are too small to see in the photos (if flying at a reasonable/polite altitude). You probably can tell that from my photos.

Happy Sunrise Sunday!