Who is #Donald you ask?
A drone. Yes, I purchased a drone last December and immediately named it Donald. You can view photos and video captured by Donald here. Unfortunately, Donald's life was cut short this past Thursday as he swerved into an oncoming tree on the North Umpqua River and fell to the water below. The last moments of Donald's life are captured in this instagram tribute.
So sad. Donald and I had a good run of video projects, photography and flights. I realize #Donald is a piece of plastic I gifted human qualities and personality, but that was half the fun. this Donald also taught me some things.
1. Find a Unique Perspective. It probably won't be long before people get used to the view from above. In the meantime, it's this unique perspective that makes these images interesting. It doesn't take much elevation gain to provide a view that someone hasn't seen before.
2. Look at the world differently. Donald literally changed the way I look at the world, instead of looking at the world from the bottom up, I started looking at the world from the top down. I'd drive past grain silo in the Oregon high plains and think. I wonder what that looks like from above.
3. Take chances. Donald's dead, so some may disagree with this lesson. I launched Donald off of bridges and floating boats. I flew Donald threw factories and close quarters. I don't regret any of these decisions. These are photos that you don't always see, because they're a little risky to capture.
On Wednesday a package will arrive with #Donald's replacement. I'll let Linsey do the honors of picking out a name. I'm already eager for the next chapter and future lessons learned.