Valley of the Gods

RaptorMan · May 7, 2016

Just north of Mexican Hat is the Valley of the Gods. It is a bit like Monument Valley with Mesas, Buttes, Towers and other such formations. The video was shot as most of my video is shot near sunset and is in 4K.

In 2011, for the first time in the 50 year history of Dr. Who, principal photography was done in the USA and it was done here at the Valley of the Gods.

Brian

DesertWindAero · May 7, 2016

Very nice job...

How many flights did it take to get all the shots you wanted before editing?

RaptorMan · May 7, 2016

DesertDenizen said:
Very nice job...

How many flights did it take to get all the shots you wanted before editing?

Four flights at two locations within Valley of the Gods...

Brian

The Editor · May 8, 2016

RaptorMan said:
Just north of Mexican Hat is the Valley of the Gods. It is a bit like Monument Valley with Mesas, Buttes, Towers and other such formations. The video was shot as most of my video is shot near sunset and is in 4K.

In 2011, for the first time in the 50 year history of Dr. Who, principal photography was done in the USA and it was done here at the Valley of the Gods.

Brian

Forgive my ignorance but with all the footage you are posting on your recent travels - I thought all UAV flying within National Parks was banned sometime ago?
Was this not the case?

The last I heard, each superintendent was directed “to use the authority under 36 CFR 1.5 to close units of the National Park System to launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft…” This policy is still in place and the public may not use unmanned aircraft in the national parks.

Or so I thought........

SanCap · May 8, 2016

The Editor said:
Forgive my ignorance but with all the footage you are posting on your recent travels - I thought all UAV flying within National Parks was banned sometime ago?
Was this not the case?

The last I heard, each superintendent was directed “to use the authority under 36 CFR 1.5 to close units of the National Park System to launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft…” This policy is still in place and the public may not use unmanned aircraft in the national parks.

Or so I thought........

For this thread I believe Valley Of the Gods is BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) not a National Park.

Dr. Ifly Drones · May 8, 2016

"Monument Valley is located on Navajo Nation land and visitors exploring the area usually travel with a Navajo guide. A permit from the tribe is needed before you can hike into the backcountry. Valley of the Gods offers similar scenery without the tribal restrictions; it is located on BLM land and is open for hiking, backpacking and camping."

The Editor · May 8, 2016

Thanks for the clarification guys.

RaptorMan · May 8, 2016

The Editor said:
Forgive my ignorance but with all the footage you are posting on your recent travels - I thought all UAV flying within National Parks was banned sometime ago?
Was this not the case?

The last I heard, each superintendent was directed “to use the authority under 36 CFR 1.5 to close units of the National Park System to launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft…” This policy is still in place and the public may not use unmanned aircraft in the national parks.

Or so I thought........

Neither Mexican Hat nor Valley of the Gods are national parks. Valley of the Gods, in fact, permits people to dry camp for free and many do. You can see in that video several RV's either parked or driving. In addition, my flight technique is to not hang around one area for very long -- as a photographer it's just common courtesy to take your pics then step aside so others may have a shot. Additionally, I endeavor to avoid areas where other people are though they can sometimes come up to you as the RV did in Valley of the Gods.

Oh, and I did not go to or fly in Monument Valley!

Brian

White Airwolf · May 14, 2016

The reason you are not allowed to fly in any of these regions, whether it's a National park or not, is because of a battery leakage should the drone crash.
You should respect this

RaptorMan · May 14, 2016

White Airwolf said:
The reason you are not allowed to fly in any of these regions, whether it's a National park or not, is because of a battery leakage should the drone crash.
You should respect this

Actually, they're against cars as the blinker fluid may leak...

Brian

Dr. Ifly Drones · May 14, 2016

White Airwolf said:
The reason you are not allowed to fly in any of these regions, whether it's a National park or not, is because of a battery leakage should the drone crash.
You should respect this

You're not serious right? I can assure you that has nothing to do with it and the contents of a LiPo, it's relatively benign. I've meet with the National Park Service and they have several reasons but, that's not one of them...

SanCap · May 14, 2016

White Airwolf said:
The reason you are not allowed to fly in any of these regions, whether it's a National park or not, is because of a battery leakage should the drone crash.
You should respect this

That is funny but the premise actually comes from when someone crashed a Phantom in one of the boiling pots in Yellowstone National Park. The park was worried about what the lipo did to the water and minerals in the boiling pot. A crashed drone could destroy Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring

Larry@drones4peace · May 14, 2016

RaptorMan, awesome stuff. I'm feeling a road trip coming on...

slim.slamma · May 14, 2016

SanCap said:
That is funny but the premise actually comes from when someone crashed a Phantom in one of the boiling pots in Yellowstone National Park. The park was worried about what the lipo did to the water and minerals in the boiling pot. A crashed drone could destroy Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring

Yeah that 1 had my antenna's up

Thanks for clearing that up had me wondering what the hell is really in the battery

RaptorMan · May 15, 2016

Larry@drones4peace said:
RaptorMan, awesome stuff. I'm feeling a road trip coming on...

I live in the SLC area so I get to travel through the west as I please, but I had been working in upstate NY for a few years at the Global Foundries Semiconductor FAB just north of Albany. If I were still working there I'd love to do some flying along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers.

The west has some amazing scenery and has the advantage of massively greater sight lines owing to the fact we don't have the vision obscuring forests they have back east. Yes, we have some forests in the mountains. but down in the plains the typical plant life is shorter than a man so you can see horizon to horizon.

Brian