The Great Canadian Geese Highway In The Sky

So after work, it was just another routine ride to the Nature Center and Doar Prairie Park for a fatbike spin. With the above zero temps I figured I’d do my usual drone schtick. Today I felt like focusing on the Doar Prairie Restoration park which is open to pedestrians and bicyclists. Anyway, as I was setting up my shot of the “sign dust-off” I saw roughly six groups of Canadian Geese in V formation travelling south. Still having 15 minutes of battery capacity, I put the drone in high-tail-it mode to try and get in front of them, but not really in front of them if you know what I mean. I was at 80 feet and they were at ~150-200. Definitely want to keep a respectable distance away from wildlife. I shot them at 1080p 60fps which in general allows up to 150% digital zoom without sacrificing much in the way of quality.

I wanted to get in below them with the gimbal tilted up so they wouldn’t get “lost” in the background surface noise. The sky needed to be the backdrop! Well, that was the plan. Those birds were moving Fast! When I thought I had plenty of time to setup ahead of them I was mistaken. Since I knew I wasn’t going to get into a nice pivot position, I brought everything into smooth cinematic control and worked with the shot before me – steady and just begging my cold fingers not to jerk the controls in any way. Even though I couldn’t set up the best shot, it turned out very nice. On a nicer day I would have hovered up there for the next wave, but my fingers were getting pretty cold, and besides, with a “golden hour” waning I only had so much time to get my shots in. I’m happy with the results. I’ve been listening to AVAWAVES via Spotify in my curbside ear, and came across Ocean as I was riding over there. I knew that was the music I’d go with for this shoot. It just fit like a glove.

Enjoy!