What the best time to fly?

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Just knocking on the door of the knowledge bank - when's the best time to fly?

I like morning - as there is no wind. However shooting some real estate video, a few neighbours have come out of their homes and told me that my drone woke :-( Sometimes the sun not being so high in the sky causes an immense amount of glare.

Midday is perfect I've found in regards to lighting. However wind has picked up by then. Video quality is not the best.

Night time - not the best camera, also no headlights ;-)

I was just curious to find out when do you fly?
 
I like early to mid morning and early evening. Shadows aide in definition for both cases. High sun still works but it is not as dramatic.

Try 9:00 am. It the neighbors are in bed at that time, then they need to wake up. ;0}
 
There's always the Golden Hour. Just make sure in the morning to be away from homes where you might wake people. Evenings should be fine.
 
I'm not a morning person, so I always find myself flying in the afternoons.

Afternoons are always a bit more breezy tho.

But a lot also depends on the area/subject you're trying to shoot, and which direction the sun is shinning, as it'a never quite ideal shooting in the direction where the sunlight is hitting the GoPro lens at an angle where the props cast a shadow on it, or you'll get the funky light streaks that cannot be fixed in post.
 
You might find this useful : (the following is a straight copy and paste from my Blog http://www.peter-evans-photographer.com/blog, so the images referred to are there, not here)

"This is really useful for photographers (and painters too).... a program that tells you where the sun / moon will rise and set relative to any location on any date. For example, this screenshot shows a location of a disused factory where I shot in October and where I want to shoot again next spring.

The yellow and orange lines indicate the direction of the sun relative to this exact location at sunrise (07:22) and sunset (20:50) on 16th April 2014. This knowledge is so useful because, having been there before, I know exactly where I want my model to be in relation to the windows and doors in the building and now I know what times I need to be there to get the light I want. For example, I know that, if I were shooting there on 16/04/14 then I need to make sure that my model can be available for the period between 07:30 and lunchtime.

Here's another example; this time at a chateau near to 'chez nous' where I hope to be shooting in February or March.

The only snag with the program is that it doesn't tell you if the sun will actually be shining when you get to your location! :)

Seriously though, I'm going to find this very useful and I bet you will too. And what's more, the program is free for both Windows and Mac users. Mobile versions are available as low-cost apps over on Google Play for Android and on the Apple Store for iPhones and iPads. You can find all the versions here http://photoephemeris.com/buy-download. The Android app, for example, costs just €3.74 and comes with lots of additional features; I've already downloaded it to my Nexus 5.

My thanks to Mike Watson and C.J. Glynn over on Photo Net for the heads-up on this."
 
For me the best time to fly would be during the golden hour when the sun rises in the morning or sets at night. My preference would be morning in the summer because thats when its so early everyone else are still in bed. You have the place to yourself so no worries about flying above people, also the wind tends to be calmest.

Peter

You beat me to it with that post as I use that app also. I found a new one yesterday which I quite like.

Its called Sun Seeker.



It also has a 3D Virtual Reality view for when your standing there and the sun is hiding.



They all do the same thing of course but are vital for exploiting the Golden Hour.
 

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Hmmm, over on Google Play it's just under 5 euros with no option of a trial or 'Lite' version. That's a bummer as the reviews are overwhelmingly negative. Apparently it works well on iOS but not so well on Android.

Did you follow the late, great, innovator/control freak or the Gobbling Google Guys ?
 
Peter Evans said:
Did you follow the late, great, innovator/control freak or the Gobbling Google Guys ?

Aha. Yep I sold my soul to Mr Apple and own far too many of their products :roll:

At least I got a free trial on IOS. I decided to buy the full version. To be honest it does not really add anything much to the party so I would keep your Euros :D
 

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