In July 2015, my family and I spent 18 days traveling through Sri Lanka. It was truly astounding. Never ever have I met people this kind and caring, nor have I seen a country this rich in natural and cultural beauty. In my film “The Holy Land” I did my best to capture as much of it as I could.

Living in Austria, in the middle of Europe, cultural diversity is not exactly far away. It’s actually right on the doorstep. So why sit in a plane for 15 hours instead of 2 ½ and travel to a country as far away as Sri Lanka for holiday? Because it’s different. Different in every aspect.

Travelling with gear is always a bit of a hassle, but leaving something at home that you’d regret later is worse. My cabin baggage always ends up being too much for the limitations, but being nice and friendly goes a long way, and I’ve not had any troubles with carrying two full-size backpacks so far. I just don’t feel comfortable with checking either my camera or my drone. On the other hand, staying cool, while explaining to Turkish airport security what the hell I want with a drone in my carry on, is not exactly the most comfortable I’ve been, so that’s that.

When we finally arrived at the airport in Colombo, the single best travel guide was already awaiting us for pickup – a funny, friendly guy who was ready for showing us his country. He introduced the driver to us, and so we had our team set for the following week. After they dropped us off at our hotel for the night, we were on our own in the evening, so we decided to take a stroll on the beach. That’s where we had the first close encounter with the people of Sri Lanka. Ever Sunday they gather on the beach and simply enjoy life. The kids fly DIY kites and play with each other, while the adults have picnics all over the place. Serendipitously, a family’s soccer ball was blown – carried away by the strong wind – and landed right in front of our feet. Next thing we knew, we were playing with them, having fun while the sun was slowly setting. That evening, we met about 50 locals who were just happy to get to know us. Only having been in the country for 3 hours, we already knew it was going to be an amazing experience all the way through. And that was without seeing anything besides the airport, the hotel, and the 200 meters of beach.

Shooting there was simply a pleasure. The people were always welcoming us with shining smiles, and everywhere we went was beautiful. Because Sri Lanka is one of the lesser developed countries, the folks were fascinated by our shiny cameras – and of course by my drone. Wherever I unpacked the little quadcopter, they were astounded and wanted to catch a little on-screen time.

The whole week of touring through the country was a great experience with lots of temples, national parks, great food, and there was never a boring second. I had my camera with me pretty much all the time during the week, so I ended up with a LOT of footage with a few casual drone flights in between. After that, we proceeded to a small town on the east coast for a little over a week of beach, sun, and watersports. The people we met there weren’t any different in their kindness. I didn’t spend too much time behind the camera in that hotel, so from there I mainly had underwater and aerial footage.

Editing pretty much started on the plane home where I put together a little trailer. Back home, the tedious search after a suitable song started, but after quite some time sifting through Musicbed, I stumbled across “The Spectacular Quiet” by Lights and Motion, which was a perfect fit for what I was planning. After my preselection of the footage, I easily would have had enough material for a feature film, but compressing it in just under 4 minutes forced me to pay really close attention to perfection. What I really love about shooting while travelling is that the minute you return home the beautiful memories slowly start to fade, and while editing I have them available at the click of a button.

It was such an astonishing experience that I still struggle to find words for describing it. I can only recommend everyone visit this amazing island and meet these awesome folks.

Click below to connect with Philipp Kommenda:

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Email: p.kommenda@me.com

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Eric Cheng of Make magazine compiled a list of unintentional water submersions, and after four quadcopter drownings he attached buoys to his drone. Luckily, he wrote that piece over a year ago, and since then, drones have advanced to the point of having decent water capabilities.

While we could provide you with a list of the top water compatible drones on the market, we thought it might be more helpful to list the most important features you’ll need if you intend to fly your drone over water:

Waterproof – Some drones completely encase all the electrical parts, including the camera. Others, you have to provide the waterproof casing for the camera, specifically in the case that you’re shooting with a gimbal and GoPro. Still others, like The Splash Drone, are made with waterproof wires and circuits.

Landing Gear – Can it take off and land in water? If you generally start shooting from land, you probably don’t need to worry about having water landing gear, but if you find yourself taking off from a boat frequently, having the ability to take off straight from water might be a helpful feature for you.

Underwater Footage – If you want to capture underwater footage, you need to consider where the camera sits on the drone. Some drones sit above water, while others are able to go a little below the surface and capture underwater activity. These options generally involve a gimbal and GoPro, so when the drone is floating on the water the GoPro is suspended underneath the water line.

Surface Footage – Some people need to shoot the water’s surface. Just as some drones hang the camera slightly below the water, other drones land with the camera just above the surface. The trick is finding a drone that will capture the surface while moving around to get every angle you need. Parrot recently released a drone that acts much like a speed boat, using an attached mini drone to propel itself around the water’s surface.

Inclement Weather Capabilities – If you’re filming around large bodies of water, storms are a reality you have to deal with frequently. Storms can also provide some of the most interesting and exciting footage, so it’s tempting to send a drone out in the middle of a storm. Usually that ends in disaster, but there’s at least one drone on the market claiming to be able to navigate rain. If you want to be the next storm chaser, the QuadH2O is your new best friend.

At the end of the day, no matter what kind of drone you have, use common sense when flying to keep your drone out of harm’s way. If you do, you’ll have great videos that you can then send to friends, family, colleagues, and clients using Wispeo.

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