Awesome Aerial

By duplicating and inverting aerial footage shot over New York City, filmmaker Humza Deas created a wild and wondrous new cityscape that’s grounded in reality but also completely surreal. The track is Periphescence by Glowworm.

Photographer and world traveler Ivan Bondarenko takes us on an aerial tour of one of Earth’s most spectacular locales, the lush, greenery-covered limestone hills near Guilin China, reminding us yet again how amazing our planet is. Shot with a DJI Mavic Pro drone.

Rctestflight shows off some eyepopping desert aerial photography, the most impressive of which are the nighttime shots starting at 1:09. They used multiple drones – one to capture the imagery and another to provide illumination using a powerful 1kW LED light source.

North Korea’s leader may be in a war of words with much of the world, but Aram Pen’s aerial video over the sprawling, though oddly still capital city of Pyongyang reminds us of the millions who live there who deserve a chance at a peaceful and happy lives like the rest of us.

We just saw a sweet video of a drone chasing down a locomotive, and now we have another awesome bit of aerial acrobatic footage as a quadcopter does its best to keep up with a couple of thrill rides at France’s Nigloland amusement park. (Thanks Hugo!)

Photographer Robert McIntosh created this impressive one-take shot using a deftly piloted palm-sized drone, a stripped-down GoPro, reverse playback, and the After Effects plugin ReelSteady to smooth out the motion. Here’s some of the raw footage prior to stabilization.

While it’s not likely to produce the kind of smooth and controlled video of a pricy drone, the AER looks like a fun way to capture short snippets of aerial footage and overhead stills on the cheap. It’s made from sturdy foam, and protects your camera from impact and water.

Want to get aerial shots, but don’t have a drone? YouTuber SamTime shows us a silly trick that gives the illusion of video shot from a drone. All you need is a selfies stick, some tape, and a tall friend.