“Mild the Night time.” That’s what drone pilot and photographer Craig Coker calls his drone images challenge.

Simply don’t assume that each reference of ‘drone images’ means the drone is taking the picture. That’s actually not what’s taking place with Mild the Night time.

With Coker’s distinctive model of images, the picture you’re taking a look at comes from a digicam on the bottom — however the drone is essential to the picture. That’s as a result of the drone supplies the sunshine supply for the picture.

Right here’s only one gorgeous instance from Coker’s “Mild the Night time” challenge:

Coker has spent years now toying with the idea of placing lights on drones, which might then functioning as an aerial, shifting highlight for objects on the bottom. With the launch of the Sony Airpeak S1 drone within the last week of 2021, his concept was lastly capable of pan out because the drone was able to lifting the lights he wanted to place within the air, whereas additionally flying in a dependable method, significantly at excessive speeds and on aggressive flight paths.

So with the drone in hand, he got down to obtain his imaginative and prescient of photographing varied athletes at night time. See how he did it in a 6-minute lengthy YouTube video right here:

How they pulled off “Mild the Night time”

The athletes/fashions used for “Mild the Night time” have been skilled off-road driver Blake Wilkey, skilled freestyle skier Joss Christensen and world champion skimboarder and social media sensation Austin Keen, and he labored with different crew together with Lee Stockwell, Brandon Skinner and Johnny V to tug all of it off.

The gear used was a Sony Airpeak drone, outfitted with a Godox AD300 outdoor flash and the Light & Motion Reflex S LED/Flash Head. Additionally they used a Gremsy Gimbal for tilt management and stabilized mild.

Utilizing a distant for the drone connected to a chest mount harness system, in addition to his Sony Alpha 1 connected to a tripod, Coker may fly the Airpeak after which shoot a photograph at mainly the identical time. And from there, he generated nighttime photographs with the drone performing as a flying mild part.

Whereas this particular instance is creative in nature, it may pave the way in which for different business and industrial functions which can be related in that drones aren’t flying cameras, however quite are flying mild sources. Coker mentioned rocket corporations like SpaceX who do a variety of their inspections at night time have approached him about utilizing the drones to highlight sure elements of the big aircrafts, or it might be helpful for search and rescue missions — a lot of which additionally happen at night time.

In regards to the photographer, Craig Coker

If the identify Craig Coker sounds acquainted, that’s since you met him final month on my web site in a Q&A. Coker is totally THE man to know in drones. He builds them, he consults on them and naturally he flies and images with them. At present, Coker has a contract with Sony because the Japanese digicam firm’s official drone pilot for its Sony Airpeak S1 drone. Not solely is he taking footage for Sony although, however he’s placing the drone by way of stress checks to seek out flaws in them, and he’s working immediately with designers to make recommendations for enhancements.

Previous to becoming a member of Sony, he consulted with different main drone makers together with DJI, 3DR, Yuneec and GoPro. He was instrumental within the 3DR Solo drone, the place he helped work on a light-weight supply for Solo too, and he was there within the early days of the unique DJI Phantom.

And never solely is he an knowledgeable in drones, however he’s an knowledgeable in motion sports activities. Up till about 10 years in the past, he was an expert freestyle skier, touring the world, which partly is what piqued his curiosity in motion sports activities images. He’s additionally an expert race automotive driver. The person is multi-faceted and exponentially extra multi-talented.

And with Mild the Night time, all Coker’s passions — drones, images and motion sports activities — converge into one.

“The thought of a light-weight supply on Airpeak has been unimaginable,” he mentioned. “I couldn’t do it with most different drones.”

Try a full review of the Sony Airpeak S1 drone here.

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