Drone video

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, things are slow, and everyone is feeling a bit sluggish. That’s the excuse for this post, featuring another Russian soldier caught out by drone pilots in the wrong place – their Ukraine homeless – at the excruciatingly wrong time. Or in other words, herewith another video of a UAV dropping an explosive load on a Russki soldat doing number two – this one a form aerial bathroom humor decidedly short on the yucks.

Professional photographer Carlos Gauna has earned a great many followers with his drone videos of close encounters between people and sharks in the waters off Malibu. Now he’s gaining attention for using his UAV to allow a spear fisherman avoid a potentially toothy confrontation with a Great White coming his way.

As DroneDJ has noted in the past, the swiftness, agility, and powerful imaging tech drones provide have revolutionized the way surfing is photographed, affording spectators nearly first-person perspectives of what riders see. Now, a UAV has allowed one of the sport’s pros to film some arresting footage of his own – this time of fellow competitors being closely looked over by a very large shark.

The different use cases being found for UAVs seem as inexhaustible as they are diverse. And now, to that list of mostly productive and pragmatic innovations, a video adds the unabashedly goofy repurposing of a DJI agricultural drone as a personal aircraft (and/or toy).

In a development that will please pilots sick of being harassed by drone-hating antagonists, a man in the UK now awaits sentencing for having brandished a gun while accosting a real estate agent doing aerial work near his home.

In a move likely to send millions of previously disinterested people rushing to get their hands on a drone – or conversely expand the ranks of those demanding a universal ban on all UAVs – a contributor to Reddit has generated much amused commentary with his modification of a DJI craft to simulate a pigeon defecating on objects from on high.

It has long been rumored that after fighting off the brutal winter offense Moscow has waged since the New Year’s holiday, Ukraine  plans on unleashing a spring onslaught against Russian forces in the east – which, if it occurs, may feature thousands of explosive-packed FPV drones.

The Magic Kingdom got a little extra special – and weird ­­­– this weekend when visitors at Disneyland spotted a banned drone hovering overhead, until it navigated to one side and promptly crashed in some bushes. Strangest of all: the aerial invader made its appearance above Frontierland, not Tomorrowland as might have been more logical.

If only haircuts were as exciting. When bull moose crave a more light-headed feeling each winter, they rid themselves of their weighty antlers with a sudden, mighty shake of the noggin that snaps them right off – an entirely unpredictable gesture performed deep in the wild that a Canadian drone pilot with impeccable timing somehow managed to capture on video.

Video footage taken during the last seconds of what were reportedly drone attacks by Ukraine special forces against Russian positions and vehicles have surfaced on social media, including an astonishing shot of a UAV flying directly into the open back doors of a Russian armored vehicle as it tries to escape.

Though as soul-obliterating as the outcome of Sunday’s World Cup final in Qatar was to France fans around the globe, it provided millions across the otherwise suffering Argentina cause for unchecked joy and celebration – some of which was captured in an arresting drone video filmed in Buenos Aires.

Fans of DJI are known to be passionate and loyal to both the brand and its products, but they may also be at risk of seeming just a bit literal – possibly to the point of, if not humorless, at least over seriousness. Or at least that’s the vibe in responses to an online video trying to have a bit of fun by evoking DJI offices populated with drones working among employees.

Readers of DroneDJ will remember a story published earlier this month about video captured by a Ukraine drone – which later went viral – as it dropped a series of grenades on a Russian soldier lying on his side, who responded by irritably tossing the munitions away before they exploded. Now information has arisen claiming to add details to the story behind the footage.

It’s been a spell since DroneDJ looked in on aerial DIY maestro, engineering whiz, and geek genius supremo Nicholas Rehm, who of late has been working new scientific magic developing a bodyless multi-rotor drone that uses 300% less battery power when the entire craft starts spinning like a detached helicopter blade – and remains aloft with two of its three motors shut down.

If you’re a baseball fan, or just appreciate exceptional sports content in general, chances are you’ve seen or shared the viral Wrigley Field drone video that the Chicago Cubs put out last weekend. Now, catch the breakdown of all the hard work that has gone into making that video appear as thrilling as it does.

It’s the sort of legal conflict likely to proliferate as the number of UAVs flown by private users continues to multiply. A couple in Massachusetts is threatening “criminal harassment” charges against neighbors who used drones to capture video evidence of continuing motocross races on their property that officials previously ordered to cease.

If additional evidence were needed to demonstrate the eye-popping improvements drones have made to filming the world’s best surfers carving waves, two recent videos have provided it by capturing perspectives that would have been impossible to capture otherwise. 

It’s frequently been said war is hell, and now dark mockery is being thrown into its merciless mix. Evidence of that came with a video uploaded by Ukraine drone unit Aerorozvidka illustrating what it calls the “dronephobia” affliction of an apparent Russian target on the ground melting down at the approach of a hostile UAV.

In recent years, aerial tech both large and small has been developed and deployed for a rapidly expanding number of uses – from business applications to research, photography to firefighting, leisure flight to warfare. This weekend, a pilot in Northern Ireland city of Belfast took his drone to the sky to capture video of one neighborhood’s annual celebration for posterity – notably, this year’s truly insane “wheelie bin” garbage can race.

The broadening deployment of UAVs for rapidly diversifying purposes in recent years has allowed operators to get eyes on – and in – places that were previously inaccessible, when not intentionally shut away from outside observers. Among organizations that have taken to the skies for closer looks are animal rights activists, who now operate drone missions to obtain video evidence of inhumane treatment of livestock on massive “factory farms.”

In case anyone needed additional proof of just how grim and merciless the invasion of Ukraine has become, contributors to a few Reddit subreddits have helpfully provided new evidence. Yesterday, a video was posted featuring footage from a purported Ukraine drone as it hovers over, then drops a grenade near a Russian soldier as he tries to empty his bowels – immediately generating bountiful commentary, none of it sympathetic.