ICELAND

A long awaited dream came true when we visited Iceland end of September 2023. We spent 9 days there and drove about 3000km. We did not passed the ring road, but travelled from Reykjavik to all directions within reasonable distance. I must admit we were quite lucky with the weather. Out of 9 days 3 fully sunny, 2 light rains, rest just cloudy and manageable wind. The week before would have been all sunny. I think it is a really good time to visit the island, as day/night hours are equal and it is off-season already (still there were awful lot of tourists on specific destinations, influencers making ridiculous tic tok videos in front of waterfalls, that you just want to capture for a sec...). Filming: The shots were made with my custom design FPV drones, 1 inch and a 7 inch long range. 5 inch were better in tight situations, but maximum distance is 1,5km - and the distances can be pretty huge here - just as the winds on surprise. Always check the wind as several times I had to turn back, as the drone were flying 20km/h against the wind, but 140km/h backwinds. On the top of a cliff the wind can be extreme, and blow you off to nowhere if your battery is rather low. I was mostly filming with Gopro Hero 11 Black and mini, Gopro labs firmware, custom Log profile, 150mb/s 4K 4:3 (I can pan in post up and down, reframe) 60fps (for smoother speedramps) only 8 bit colors in this mode (10bit of the gopro is just a horse and pony show - dont believe the hype) 90 shutter angle (less motion blur during shakes, I added motionblur in post) Fixed white balance (4500-5500 or even native, which is more difficult to grade, but have better dynamic range) I use Gyroflow for stabilisation Davinci Resolve + Fusion for editing, grading and VFX. I'm aware that I might have crossed some lines from certain aspects flying my drone. I have been doing this for 6 years (licenced and professionally) and was aware of the limitations of myself and my machines. Do not attempt such stunts until you have necessary training and took all safety preparations before flights. Respect nature, people, written and even unwritten rules. I hope my video make more joy than harm in any sense. Quick hint travelling for summer and autumn in Iceland: It would have been better to rent a simple car with low consumption rather than a 4x4 as we were advised, the roads are pretty good everywhere - beyond that you have to hike or need a Moon Rover..