Annual Fall Drive 2023

Tony Yang November 13, 2023 0 Comments Automotive

Wow, it’s that time of year again where we have our annual Fall drive in northern New Jersey with our friends on some beautiful windy roads with stunning scenery! We started the journey meeting up at Roosters Coffee in Ledgewood, NJ. They’re a brand new coffee shop that has delicious breakfast and coffee served all day. After my 6 shots of espresso, I was ready for a spirited drive through Sussex County towards Delaware Water Gap.

Our route included a road called Shades of Death Road, passing Godlewsky Farms, and stopping at Airport Cafe in Blairstown for a photo break while watching gliders take off and land. Our final destination for lunch was Joe Bosco Authentic Smokehouse BBQ.

We really love that our drives include our significant others and it’s not just a “driver’s only” type of event. There are things to do, places to see, and delicious food all around. It’s a small private event that I love hosting every year, and doing research on new roads during the rest of the year.

Please enjoy the video!

Greece Vacation Video

Tony Yang November 20, 2018 0 Comments Vacation

Greece was the first international country we visited where I had a chance to fly my Mavic Pro. There was some nervousness when bringing a drone to a country where I wasn’t familiar with the culture or local laws, but as soon as we got into our rental car and drove around the city within the first hour I felt pretty comfortable. I don’t know if it’s the culture or the economic status, or a combination of both, but everything about the Greece felt laid back, it felt like I could do no wrong here as a tourist, especially during the low season in March.

We have plenty of photos in our previous blog posts Part 1 and Part 2. It was nice being able to film with minimal people in the shots and it also helps to start filming early in the day before the bus loads of tourists converge. There were no signs anywhere in the city of Athens that prohibited drone flying, even around the ancient ruins. I took off from outside the perimeter of the sites and made sure not to get too close. I definitely don’t want to be responsible for any damages or injuries. The only place in Greece I noticed “No drone” signs was in Santorini. I can only imagine how it would be a prime spot for all pilots to fly. Of course, I did fly mine too only because it was low season and I thought the impact to the handful of tourists would be negligible. I made sure to stay away from residences and hotels, just a few overhead shots over the water.

Some of my favorite shots were Olya driving the car while I chased us with the drone at full speed. It really shows how important our drives are during our vacations, being able to stop anywhere and see the sights that aren’t on the tour bus agendas. However, sometimes we would arrive at a spot only to be followed immediately by a bus full of Chinese tourists! This literally happens in every country.

Please like the video if you enjoyed it!

West Coast 2017

Tony Yang February 20, 2018 1 Comment Vacation

Welcome to our third trip to the West Coast together! We “planned” a trip in early December of 2017 to photograph Yoom and Jeff’s beautiful wedding in San Jose. We usually extend our stay in the West Coast because we really enjoy traveling, new sights and new food. I quote the word planned because we decided to try something different this time around. While I usually plan a detailed spreadsheet for our trips, we decided this time around to rent a campervan and just see where the road takes us day to day. Always having somewhere to sleep allowed us maximum freedom in exploring outside the city area.

The Story of the Lost Mavic

Tony Yang November 28, 2017 9 Comments Photography

This is a story of how I could’ve prevented this “adventure” of ours if I had just followed the warnings and RTFM.

If any of you really knew me, you would know that I am a late adopter of technology for many reasons. I prefer to wait for the prices to go down on the novelty of the item and the competition driving the prices down. I also like to wait until it’s been tried and tested so the kinks have been worked out or there are enough firmware updates to solve any major issues. I’ve always been curious with drones, but not being a professional videographer did not justify an expensive toy for me where I couldn’t make the money back. It was with the encouragement of my wife to make more recreational videos that I decided rent the DJI Mavic Pro from Unique Photo for a weekend at the Poconos. After a successful and very fun first weekend with the drone, I decided to jump the gun and make the purchase. To feel more comfortable about flying an expensive wonder of technology around in the real world, I decided to spend hours flying simulations to get acquainted with the controls before I ever touched my first drone controller.