aerial san francisco

[mthd]

i've been doing some aerial photography lately from a hexacopter. it's a pretty big bird to lift my d810, but it's been fun. the biggest challenge is finding safe and calm places to fly the thing that have interesting photographic subjects...

here's a few shots, in a random order. they vary wildly in quality.

1 above china beach on an unremarkable afternoon.


2 from a random quiet intersection on telegraph hill. bad lighting, nice scene.


3 this is basically from our front door, but not looking towards our building.


4 from alta plaza park


5 ditto


6 got brave and flew in the financial district on a deserted holiday morning. once again, bad lighting.


7 the first real modern office tower in the city, and still one of the best.


8 new buildings shoulder to shoulder, over the transbay construction site


9 cranefest on rincon hill!


10 from pier 30-32 in the few minutes it took security to head over to my remote corner.

[mthd]

11 one of my very first shots, from rincon park.


12 i should not have flown quite so close to cupid's bow given my early lack of control, but i like this shot.


13 from the eastern slope of lafayette park at dusk. vibration of the copter plus twilight makes for tough shooting and generally poor quality.


14 this is my favorite one so far. woke up and saw this great fog out the window, ran up to lafayette park for a quick flight.


15 same moment, different angle and crop.


16 and another poorly lit shot, from over one of the parking lots in the northeast waterfront.


17 a beautiful morning at crissy field. unfortunately all federal property is off limits for flying, so i likely won't revisit this spot.


18 and this one is not from my hexacopter. it's from the upper deck of a united 747 inbound from hong kong a few days ago.

[MaxtheUrban]

Pretty freakin' gnarly man! Awesome perspectives and angles of the city! Sweet work!

[ConstructDTLA]

These are awesome!!

[mhays]

Best SF thread ever. The city shots are the best. But for beauty and drama from a generalist perspective, the last shot should be the cover of a book titled "bridges of the world" or something.

[gothamite]

I feel like I'm there!

[mthd]

thanks guys. i've got some more ideas for the next few days which should be fairly clear and calm

[fflint]

Oh, this is going to be fun!

[simms3_redux]

Easily the coolest pictures of San Francisco in a while. Please continue taking more and make this an ongoing thread. My favorite shot of yours so far is the view down Montgomery. Love those canyons. I also like your view from Lafayette Park, the first one, with the fog.

Forgot you and I live so close by (literally within 3 blocks).

I was strolling around Pac Heights with a friend today/tonight. Took some shots, but none nearly as interesting as these!

[simms3_redux]

Originally Posted by mthd

thanks guys. i've got some more ideas for the next few days which should be fairly clear and calm

Please go to Buena Vista or Corona Heights!! Also, Potrero Hill and Nob Hill. I'm salivating!

[Danny]

Outstanding project! Thanks a lot for all these wonderful pictures.

San Francisco is beautiful, as you show in your shots.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[jg6544]

Beautiful!

[PBuchman]

These are absolutely wonderful! Please keep them coming.

[mthd]

here's this morning's work. the local hood, st mary's, and a first scouting pass in potrero hill...

[sterlippo1]

mind blowing

[OhioGuy]

Very nice!

[SLO]

That last one.....awesome. Thats my fav skyline view coming from the south on the 101.

[photoLith]

That one from the plane is freaking sick man.

[Coldrsx]

Excellent photos, thanks.

[Driver8]

Outstanding. In addition to the beautiful shots of the waterfront, I particularly enjoyed the overhead views of the neighborhoods and the apartment buildings like the ones in picture #15.