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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Depth Rating. Depth rating refers to how far the drone can sink before it is no longer able to function properly. The lower the drone sinks, the more pressure there is on the casings of the drone. Before buying, have an understanding of how deep you’ll have to go to capture your footage, and make sure the depth rating fits your needs. In general, you’ll find that the cheaper the drone, the lower the depth rating – meaning there are drones that can go down 330 feet, but they’re thousands of dollars more than a drone that only sinks 150 feet.

Cable Length. ROVs don’t fly (or swim) unattached to you like air drones, which is probably a good thing because it’s hard enough controlling drones when you can see them in the air – it would be far more difficult when they’re a hundred feet underwater. The longer your cable, the deeper your drone can go, as long as it’s within the depth rating. Luckily, you won’t find a drone with a cable equal to or longer than the depth rating, so as long as you’re happy with your depth rating, you shouldn’t have to worry about cable length.

Video Features. There are two aspects of video you should check. First, does it have a live video feed? Or, do you just drive around and see the footage later? Second, how high is the quality of the video? Many cameras will capture footage in 720p, but they have the option of upgrading to higher resolutions, or you can start with an ROV with 1080p resolution.

Motors. The number of motors and their function makes a difference. The more motors you have, the faster you can travel through the water. Motors have two functions: thrusting and hovering. Some ROVs that don’t have hovering motors (they are also less expensive).

There are many other features you should look at when investing in an ROV, including battery life, Wi-Fi, and memory capacity, but the four mentioned are some of the main differences between ROVs.

After you’ve captured some awesome footage of a shark swimming straight at your ROV, wisp the footage to your friends, family, and clients (and us).

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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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You are definitely not alone. 2015 is supposed to be the year of the drone, and the Consumer Electronics Association expects sales to pass the $100 million mark this year. Drone maker DJI is on pace to do $1 billion in sales this year alone.

Because there are so many drones out on the market, it may be hard to know what you’re looking for your first time out. We’re here to help you with some tips and advice for videographers and cinematographers looking to get started in the aerial videography field.

First off, when you’re looking at any drone, there are a couple features to look for to help you capture good aerial footage:

• Livestream footage to the pilot – also known as FPV (first person view). While you can plan really well and throw a drone up there to get a shot, having FPV will help you actually frame your footage.
• Image stabilization. Most of the new drones coming out have a 3-axis gimbal, so this tip may not be very relevant in the future – but make sure if you’re looking at an older model you find one that can stabilize on all 3 axes (pitch, yaw, roll).
• Camera. Definitely look at resolution on your drone’s built-in camera – or how much camera weight a drone can hold if you’re looking to attach your own GoPro or something similar. Another thing to think about with a camera is its ability to tilt and reframe the shot during flight.
• Application information available. Most drones have an accompanying iOS or Android app that allows you to use the FPV and gives you information about your flight. Not all apps are equal and each one has different information they share. At minimum, make sure you have one that shows flight height and battery life remaining.
• Battery life. For short flights over a single building or to catch a specific scene, a battery flight time of 7 or 8 minutes could be fine. But if you are working to frame a shot and testing different angles, you’ll probably want to look for a drone with a battery life at least in the teens, if not higher.
• Range. You’ll need to know what kind of footage you want to get and the range you’ll need to get it. A lot of drones are limited to 150 feet from the controller, others can go much, much farther.
• Portability. Whether you plan on hiking up into the back country or travel around the city for some urban aerial shots, you’ll want to make sure you can port your drone around relatively easily. Find one that lets you easily take the rotors off, without a wrench or other tools, so you don’t have to pack extra gear if you are taking it into the back country. Many drones have rotors that can spin right off.

Here are a couple additional tips we found helpful: get a cheap practice drone and learn how to fly and crash it well. Really. That way you’re not throwing away $1,200 your second time out (and it’s not an exaggeration. Our second time out with the Phantom a technical malfunction meant we nearly got it hit by two vans and came close to clipping the top of a bus … another tip, don’t fly the drone near a busy road your second time out). Spending $1,290 to get a nice drone and a practice drone is better than spending $1,200 on a nice drone and then $500 two weeks later on repairs.

It’s also important to know what the airspace laws are in your neck of the woods. For right now in the US, drones can legally go up to 400 feet without running afoul of the FAA suggestions. You also can’t fly a drone within 2 miles of the White House, within five miles of an airport without permission, or in national parks. Outside of those regulations, flying a drone for personal or recreational use is largely unregulated. If you want to fly it commercially you need to get an exemption request from the FAA and a pilot’s license.

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