A Change Of Perspective: My First Drone Flight

If there’s one obstacle I consistently face when developing content in Canada, it’s trying to capture the sheer magnificence and scale of the beautiful land I call home. Whether it’s the breathtaking rockies to the west, the vast great lakes in the heart of the country or the towering Long Range Mountains to the east (if you haven’t been to Gros Morne National Park, put it on your list asap) — I always find myself yearning to share experiences beyond photos and words. Video content is naturally the next step, but the thought of venturing into the new realm is daunting: I’m petrified of being in front of camera and a bit of a technophobe. That being said, I love proving myself wrong and pushing beyond my fears so I recently accepted the #CaptureYourCanada challenge which involved — you guessed it — a drone!!

To celebrate Canada 150 (we can all now add sesquicentennial to our lexicon), Best Buy Canada asked me to share one of my favourite local gems via drone footage. After much deliberation, I decided to head to the Scarborough Bluffs for my very first drone flight…

I don’t know about you guys, but I hate learning alone so I enlisted the help of hubster for the mission. We kicked things off with a marathon of YouTube “how to” videos (I’m now thinking we should’ve just had the Geek Squad come over for a 101) and then drove to a large, empty field to calibrate our DJI Phantom 3…

I didn’t realize how many new factors I’d have to consider before creating aerial content — everything from the weather and distance to airports to the proximity of buildings and people. Turns out you can’t just fly a drone anywhere you like! We ended up unpacking Hector (thanks for helping me pick out a name on Instagram, friends!) and treating him to one of the most gorgeous landscapes in Ontario. Here is a glimpse of what he saw…

While our first drone flight was super short (I didn’t want to kill my new friend on our first adventure together), the experience inspired me to step out of my comfort zone to produce some fresh content. I’m now more excited than ever to learn a new skill set and aspire to create stunning videos like this one day…

I’m certain this new drone of mine will provide the perspective I need to truly appreciate the landscape we’re so fortunate to be surrounded by. Because sometimes we need to step back a bit (or in this case up) to admire her beauty…

A huge thanks to Best Buy Canada for sending over the drone and sponsoring this post as a part of their Canada 150 campaign. I’m beyond inspired and can’t wait to travel with my new friend Hector to capture more of this spectacular country of ours. Would love to know where your favourite gems are in Canada — please share via comments below!